Kessler shocks by withdrawing from Super Six
Just when the Super Six World Boxing Classic was enjoying prosperity and success, a second original contestant has withdrawn. WBC super middleweight titlist Mikkel Kessler has dropped out due to an eye injury that has been “bothering (him) for some time.”
Kessler was scheduled to fight Allan Green on 25 September in Denmark. At this point it is unclear if a replacement opponent will be fought, or if Showtime executives, who manage the tournament, will determine the situation for Green in some other way.
Kessler had two points in the tournament, putting him in contention with Carl Froch and Andre Dirrell. The three fighters scored one win and one defeat in two bouts. Kessler won his last fight against Carl Froch in April, and snatched the WBC title from Froch for his efforts.
Kessler’s dropping out poses a second problem for the Super Six tournament, as there is yet no venue for the Andre Dirrell-Andre Ward bout scheduled for 25 September. There has been much talk that the bout will be pushed back, but an official verdict has yet to be made.
In a press conference, Kessler said: “After defeating Carl Froch, I was on the way to win the tournament, so pulling out now really hurts. The eye problem has bothered me since the beginning of the Super Six in my preparation for the bout against Andre Ward. It also bothered me in the fights against Ward and Froch, and in my training for the fight against Green it has become unbearable.”
According to Michael Marley, who used to be Kessler's agent, doctors diagnosed Kessler with a kind of double-sight. Apparently in the ring he was seeing two of everything; which may account for why he had so much trouble with Ward and Froch. Marley also suggests that while the officially Kessler has said he will need nine months to recover, multiple European sources have suggested the injury could be career-ending.
“This is the most disappointing moment of my boxing career,” Kessler said soberly.
As it stands, there are currently five competitors left in the tournament. Things would be a lot easier to manage if Green were to somehow drop out as well (he’s currently ranked at the bottom anyway), but as such would be hard to justify, the problem mainly involves finding him a replacement in a division that has seen much of its resources either dried up or stored up on hold.
Lucian Bute has stated that he will face the winner of the tournament. While from a fan’s perspective it would be great to throw him in against Green, it isn’t likely to happen, as he is waiting for the bigger payday with whomever emerges victorious. There is possibly also Sakio Biko to bring into the tournament, but after losses to Bute and others he would only seem like the replacement he is.
The other solution, already hinted at, would be to skip right to the final round robin stage of the tournament, and have only the two fights still slated go to a final. Of course this would entail kicking Green out, which might be hard to justify to the fighter. At the same time, he is currently ranked at the bottom of the list, with one fight and a loss. But other contestants have had two fights. Green was a late tournament replacement for Jermaine Taylor, meaning he hasn’t had the opportunity to redeem himself in a second bout.
It would be rather unfortunate for him to be told he can compete in a prestigious tournament for titles as a late replacement, and then soon after that he's out again, with no rhyme or reason that could be attributed to him.
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