Dibella issues statement regarding Kessler withdrawal
In the wake of Mikkel Kessler’s sudden bowing out of the Super Six Boxing Classic tournament, Allan Green’s promoter has released a formal statement. Green was slated to take on Kessler in the Third Group Stage of the tournament on September 25 in Denmark.
“First and foremost, I want to wish Mikkel Kessler a speedy recovery. Eye injuries are very serious, and I hope Mikkel does everything necessary to heal up and continue his career at the appropriate time,” Dibella said.
He continued with information on his own fighter: “Obviously, all of Team Green is bitterly disappointed about not getting the opportunity to travel to Denmark for this great challenge. It is hard not to feel for Allan Green; this is the third training camp in the last year that he has had interrupted for various reasons beyond his control. In the coming days we will sit down with [Showtime Senior Vice President] Ken Hershman to discuss Allan’s future. We trust that Showtime will provide Allan with the opportunity to showcase his skills in a meaningful fight versus a world class opponent in the very near future.”
Due to Kessler’s decision, the Super Six is currently in sixes and sevens. They face dealing with Green, who was anticipating a fight and whose status is now completely in limbo in the tournament. Some have speculated that a replacement opponent will be brought in. It’s worth noting that Green himself was a replacement addition, taking the place of Jermaine Taylor after the first round of competition. As such, he’s currently only fought one fight, while others have fought two. There’s also speculation that Green may be removed from the tournament to simplify matters, but that would hardly seem justifiable for a guy who was thrown in and told he would have the opportunity to win the WBA or WBC super middleweight titles.
A third possibility it seems would be removing Green from the tournament, and yet offering some kind of incentive for the circumstances. As in, perhaps, he should be compensated with a mandatory bout against either the winner of the tournament or the second place finisher. The second option might be a better one, as a win would put him in contention for a legitimate title shot against the top titlists of the division.
Dibella's statement appears to be keep a couple of possibilities open. He didn't state explicitly that he wanted his fighter to remain in the tournament, suggesting he may be open to a deal with Showtime giving Green another high-profile fight with a good payday. This could help Showtime, if they can manage to book him a quality opponent, because it means they could simply drop him and make it a four man tournament, which seems the best solution given Kessler's withdrawal.
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