It appears that a potential unification clash between WBO super middleweight champ Joe Calzaghe and WBA/WBC title holder Mikkel Kessler is in possible trouble.
Calzaghe, has accepted an offer of $5 million dollars to travel to Denmark in order to fight Kessler in September. The problems at this point seem to fall on the fight date. Reportedly, Kessler's promoter Mogens Palle wants to schedule the fight in November in order to line it up with his 50th anniversary of promoting. Neither Calzaghe or Warren are willing to wait until November.
It was reported on allegedly's website, that an offer of $2 million has been made to WBA super middleweight champ Anthony Mundine (28-3, 22KOs) of Australia to face Calzaghe in September. The fight offer demands that Mundine face Calzaghe in the UK, which he may not be willing to do.
Mundine is the "regular" WBA champ, while Kessler is the WBA's "super" middleweight champ because he owns more than one title from a major sanctioning body. Kessler holds a decision win over Mundine.
FFS even Joe’s hardest critics could wait an extra 2 months to see calzaghe in a real fight again, its 2 months of extra preparation for him that’s all.
And the money up front is pathetic....NO ONE would ever agree to that, I don’t think it’s ever been done in the whole history of the game (at least cannot think of one offhand can you?).
I can think of literally dozens of reasons why paying millions up front for a big fight to a promoter in a different country would be a really, really bad idea, for a start -What if Joe pulled out and/or retired or something…..
DONT BE STUPID!!
Warren obviously doesn’t want the fight and is just up to his old tricks of bullshitting again.
money up front, good god what a cheek, youve got to laugh
I don't think it's out of order at all for Warren and Calzaghe to want the fight for September. Calzaghe last fought at the start of April. If he fights in November that's nearly 8 months between fights. A top level boxer shouldn't be out the ring that long. Warren would be doing his fighter a disservice to leave him on the sidelines twidling his thumbs for that amount of time then send him straight into the biggest fight of his career. Kessler's promoter wants to get off his high horse - this fight isn't about him the egotistical twat. Who gives a shit about his 50 years in boxing?
Calzaghe and Warren have took the fight on Palle's financial terms and are travelling to Kessler's backyard to get it on. Yet Palle is still throwing up obstacles. He can't have it all his own way. The short and sweet version is: he's a pudendum.
holyfields_ear wrote:I don't think it's out of order at all for Warren and Calzaghe to want the fight for September. Calzaghe last fought at the start of April. If he fights in November that's nearly 8 months between fights.
Absolutely nothing new. When was the last time Calzaghe fought three times in a year. And don't forget too he's alledgedly just had a career-threatening injury. Surely it's best to let it heel for as long as possible? Don't want anything going Ashira...sorry I mean wrong, in the ring.
I'll put 20 quid on Warren & Joe pulling out the fight saying November is too late. They therefore say to put back the Kessler fight until early next year, and announce a warm-up to take place in September. However, Calzaghe gets injured, and the warm-up is put back to November. Warren however refuses to cancel the warm-up, and so a fight with Kessler is put back to May/June 2008.
Yes buy Warren is asking for the money up front or calzaghe wont fight, no promoter would ever ever agree to that........which tells me Warren is bullshitting.
Warren has definatly NOT called Palle's bluff by accepting his deal.
An editors note has now been placed in the article reading
[Editor's Note: It appears that reports are now coming out that Warren is indeed willing to go ahead with the fight in November, and Mundine is still an option for September.]
ANTHONY Mundine's manager has invited Joe Calzaghe's camp to formalise an offer for a unification bout between the super-middleweight title-holders and rejected claims that the WBA champion was avoiding the Welshman, saying it was the other way around.
In an interview on 2KY's Big Sports Breakfast yesterday, Calzaghe's promoter, allegedly, said he tabled a $US2 million ($2.38m) bid six months ago for Mundine to fight the long-reigning WBO title holder - but had never received a reply.
But Mundine's manager, Khoder Nasser, rubbished Warren's comments and said he was the one who had approached the Calzaghe camp about a possible match-up between the pair and had been waiting to hear back for the same period of time.
While he now welcomed news that Calzaghe may be interested in fighting Mundine, Nasser doubted Warren's sincerity.
"We've been calling allegedly for the past six months trying to get Joe Calzaghe; we have never, ever, received a reply about an offer or a counter offer," Nasser said from the Gold Coast, where Mundine is preparing for his June 27 title defence against Argentina's Pablo Daniel Zamora Nievas. "He said he offered us $2m, but to start the negotiating process Frank has got to understand that saying ain't doing.
"If you want to negotiate to fight Anthony Mundine, do you talk to 2KY or do you talk to Khoder Nasser? Why wouldn't you send something through the fax machine with your signature on it?"
Denmark's Mikkel Kessler, who beat Mundine in 2005, has been seeking a fight with Calzaghe since last September, but just two weeks ago the WBA super champion and WBC titleholder's manager, Mogens Palle, accused Warren of shielding Calzaghe from the bout.
Warren now says Calzaghe wants to accept the offer and would be willing to travel outside Britain for only the third time in his 43-fight career. Whether the bout happens remains to be seen.
"allegedly is an astute businessman and he wants to keep his boy on top," Nasser said. "He doesn't want to put him in dangerous fights against Anthony Mundine or Mikkel Kessler or Bernard Hopkins or Roy Jones jnr, because they've all tried to get Calzaghe.
"Speaking to people in boxing circles, they've always told me he doesn't have Anthony Mundine on his radar. If you look at Choc's history, he's never once evaded a serious fight; he had only 10 professional fights when he fought Sven Ottke, a guy that had more title defences than he'd had fights, and he didn't shy away from Kessler for one second.
" … You've got to ask yourself, who has Joe fought over the past four years?"
jomothepure wrote:Absolutely nothing new. When was the last time Calzaghe fought three times in a year. And don't forget too he's alledgedly just had a career-threatening injury. Surely it's best to let it heel for as long as possible? Don't want anything going Ashira...sorry I mean wrong, in the ring.
True about the hands but if they say Joe's good for September then you have to assume that there isn't a worry there. Calzaghe doesn't do much sparring so I don't see how with little sparring and 8 months between fights he can produce his best in the ring and that is whats needed here - his best. He can get away with it against an Ashira or Salem like he has in the past but against Kessler it will show.
If Warren agrees to November what will Palle throw up next
I have heard of other fights where management have insisted on money up front before, or at least a partial payment, it usually indicates that they are not convinced that the promoter is able to deliver on their promises of a purse for their fighter. This is boxing remember, it's the bloody wild west, you cannot blame any manager (which is all Warren would be in this instance), for wanting to secure guarantees for his fighter.
If Palle is in Hospital, then he obviously has still retained the power of speech if he is asking for the fight to be moved to September, unless of course he has developed the ability to talk out of his rectum? Whether he is in hospital or not is an irrelevance.
Warren got stick before with the whole situation re: the Beyer fight, when he went ahead and fought on a date he said he couldn't do.
Correct me if I am wrong, but Palle made an offer to fight in September in Denmark, on his own fight card, so is it not a little suspicious when as soon as Warren agrees to the fight, suddenly Palle wants to move it?
Surely Palle knew that his 50th anniversary in the promotions business was in November before he made the offer, or did it somehow slip his mind that such a momentous date was about to transpire?
jamesmcdonnell wrote:I have heard of other fights where management have insisted on money up front before, or at least a partial payment, it usually indicates that they are not convinced that the promoter is able to deliver on their promises of a purse for their fighter. This is boxing remember, it's the bloody wild west, you cannot blame any manager (which is all Warren would be in this instance), for wanting to secure guarantees for his fighter.
If Palle is in Hospital, then he obviously has still retained the power of speech if he is asking for the fight to be moved to September, unless of course he has developed the ability to talk out of his rectum? Whether he is in hospital or not is an irrelevance.
Warren got stick before with the whole situation re: the Beyer fight, when he went ahead and fought on a date he said he couldn't do.
Correct me if I am wrong, but Palle made an offer to fight in September in Denmark, on his own fight card, so is it not a little suspicious when as soon as Warren agrees to the fight, suddenly Palle wants to move it?
Surely Palle knew that his 50th anniversary in the promotions business was in November before he made the offer, or did it somehow slip his mind that such a momentous date was about to transpire?
no, Palle said November beforehand. Boxing News reports that Warren is open to Nov.
I have heard of other fights where management have insisted on money up front before, or at least a partial payment, it usually indicates that they are not convinced that the promoter is able to deliver on their promises of a purse for their fighter. This is boxing remember, it's the bloody wild west, you cannot blame any manager (which is all Warren would be in this instance), for wanting to secure guarantees for his fighter
Yes but its still a very big stumbling block, and hardly indicative of Warren accepting the offer no strings and "calling palle's bluff".
Half the purse up front is one thing, the full amount quite another.
Who would really believe Palle couldnt/wouldnt deliver the full amount on his end after the fight??
Cmon!!
Calzaghe-Kessler in trouble -shock, gasp, horror. It's always been in trouble.
It looks to me like negotiations got so convoluted that Palle may have made an offer he couldn't back up. Believing as most do that Warren wouldn't accept. Then Warren called his bluff, the way I see it.
I would say though that Joe needs a big fight to both cash in AND cement his reign. If he does that, the next generation who comes by his record will give him the respect that we haven't all been able to muster up.
If he doesn't get the big fight, it just will not be good enough saying Hopkins, Jones, Kessler, Mundine, Taylor and Tarver all avoided me...If that's so, you do something about it yourself.
Wouldn't mind seeing Calzaghe-Mundine. Could be a very tricky one. Mundine is compact and defensively spot on. Joe flurries and is never accurate unless he throws his 3rd and 4th shots.
At least the big men from different countries are having their names mentioned in the same sentences and at least the promoters are starting to piss each other off. God knows we've been calling for Calzaghe-Kessler, Calzaghe-Mundine for long enough.
