"Super" Six Tourney? Not Without Mikkel Kessler

Boxing Scene Cliff Rold6th August, 2009

It has generated genuine excitement in the boxing fan base. Combining a slate of prominent titlists, name brand veterans, and two of the most promising young fighters in class, Showtime's planned Super Middleweight tournament concept is a breath of fresh air.

There is a difference between concept and execution. The execution is hitting turbulence.

In the last week, fight followers have had the chance to read threats from Danish promoter Mogens Palle. Paraphrasing a letter released by the Palle camp and published at BoxingScene on Sunday (http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=21384), Palle is fixin' to sue everybody.

Okay, maybe not everybody, but in this case it could be everyone who matters. Palle claims his contract with WBA 168 lb. titlist Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KO) still has options on three more fights before Kessler is able to fight under another banner. By extension, the argument is that Kessler's participation in Showtime's endeavor, without Palle's involvement, violates a valid contract.

The contract in general has been tied up in Danish courts for a while now, Kessler of course claiming Palle's rights to him are at an end. Having not had access to the contracts, there is no comment here as to which side is legally correct. It's worth noting the option might be available to escrow a portion of Kessler's purses in the interim while the planned fights continue.

While not offering opinion on the contract status, the tournament's meaning to Kessler as a professional is evident. After rocketing through the top ten and capturing the WBA and WBC belts, he fell short against future Hall of Famer Joe Calzaghe in a 2007 mega-fight to decide the division's true king. It was a good fight and by no means a loss which should have blown his career off the rails.

It's been blown off anyways.

A botched negotiation for a bout with then still-compelling contender Edison Miranda on Showtime, and an inability to entice a Calzaghe rematch or a notable showdown with any other major name, meant fights instead with Dimtri Sartison and Danilo Haussler in 2008.

Who?

Exactly.

One could make the case that at least the Sartison fight was for the vacant WBA belt but, having lost the same organizations "Super title" to Calzaghe only months earlier, it was initially an honor up there with a participation trophy for Kindergarten soccer. After Calzaghe vacated his titles in the division, it made him the sole WBA titlist and at least lends him the titlist credential for the tournament…for whatever that's worth in an organization which recognizes just shy of an average two titlists per division (super, regular, or interim) right now.

Kessler needs this tournament to save a floundering career and the tournament needs the shine he brings to it. Still, it must be asked, could Kessler's spot be in jeopardy under the cloud of litigation? If so, who steps in? And most importantly, can the promotionally dubbed "Super Six World Boxing Classic" stay upper case "S" super without him?

It would be tough, especially considering who else is not involved.

The name most prominently excluded from the Showtime tournament is, and has been from the start, Canadian-based IBF titlist Lucian Bute (24-0, 19 KO). No firm explanation has ever been offered for why he was not invited but, well, he wasn't. The consensus top three Super Middleweights in the world right now, whether it be in the ratings at this site, Ring Magazine, ESPN, or FightNews, are Kessler, Bute, and the U.K.'s WBC titlist Carl Froch (25-0 20 KO). All have Kessler in the number one slot. Three of four have Bute at number two.

One of the strongest selling points of the "Super Six," besides the promise of a whole mess of fun fights, is the potential to crown one of the stronger champions in the sport. Starting without the division's number two man was an impediment to that in utero. To start, or wind up at some point without, arguably both of the two best fighters in the division is a dramatic injury to credibility in terms of determining a top dog.

The on-deck circle is already being publically filled, which may be a sign concerns are justified.

Reports this week peg contender Allan Green (28-1, 20 KO) being positioned as a 'first alternate' to the tournament with a highly winnable fight against middling Victor Oganov (28-2-, 28 KO) in October on Showtime as the stumbling block. On face, there is nothing wrong with getting Green ready. The tournament needs an alternate whether Kessler can go or not and Kessler is not the only source of early questions.

There are, and should be, questions about former World Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KO). Taylor has been stopped violently in two of his last four, most recently against fellow tournament participant Froch in April. Taylor is matched in the first round of the tournament against German-based former IBF Middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KO) and another knockout loss in possible. If such a thing were to occur, would he want to continue as a professional, much less in the tournament?

It's one of the most compelling start points for the "Classic."

From early on Green has been a one of the names prominently mentioned, after Bute, among fighters excluded. A legitimate power puncher, something the American side of the equation lacks, he is no more or less qualified than any of the American's involved given Taylor's recent losses and the still unproven resumes of former Olympic Medalists Andre Ward (19-0, 12 KO) and Andre Dirrell (18-0, 13 KO).

Various independent ratings show Green's merits regarded about the same right now as either of the Andre's. Green is rated in the top ten by Ring and ESPN and just outside of the top ten here at BoxingScene and FightNews; Ward is rated by Ring, BoxingScene, and FightNews; and Dirrell by BoxingScene and ESPN.

Green swapped for any of the Americans at any point wouldn't discredit the tournament and would certainly still make for exciting fights.

Green for Kessler is a different matter, at least in the early going. There is always the chance Kessler makes it through to his first scheduled battle, against Ward in November. If he were to lose there and then be forced out, the quick sway of public opinion would say he wasn't one of the top two anymore anyways and, by tournament's end, it wouldn't matter anymore.

However, if he doesn't make the tournament at all or, even worse, won and then had to be removed, what are fans left with? Certainly we'd have a 'surviving six,' even a 'strong six,' but super falls out of reach.

There is every reason to think this can all be worked out before the opening bells. Boxing is a money business and there is probably a number which makes Palle happy or at least makes him go away if he can prove his contract rights valid. All fans should have their fingers crossed for as much anyways.

Boxing needs an event like this one and it's too close, too enticing, to let it slip away or be impaired now. This corner doesn't claim to know how exactly to do it, doesn't really care how it gets done, but borrowing from Saturday Night Live, "Fix It!"

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