Press release from Team Palle on the fight, and training camp: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mikkel Kessler is going to the mountain top as he begins his campaign to establish himself as the worlds finest super middleweight boxer. The Danish boxer, a former WBA and WBC title beltholder, lost his crowns in a terrific bout against undefeated Joe Calzaghe last November in front of 50,000 fans in Cardiff, Wales. Now Kessler is returning to the ring in a June 21 bout for the vacant WBA super middleweight title against undefeated official challenger, Dimitri Sartison. Although the bout will be in the friendly confines of Kesslers hometown, Copenhagen, he is going to shortly begin training at the high elevation of Big Bear, California. Many boxers and mixed martial artists have long used the 2,064 meters high location as a training base because of the positive effect prolonged training at such a high altitude has on an athletes blood transportation system. Oscar de la Hoya was one of the first boxing superstars to buy a home and make Big Bear his training base. His Golden Boy Promotions colleague and former ring rival, Sugar Shane Mosley, wont train anywhere but Big Bear. Not only does Mosley own a home which includes a big garage fitted with a boxing ring in Big Bear, the former champion also enjoys the winter sports, especially snow-boarding, available around the mountain area. Former world heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs is another fighter who raves about Big Bear. That is a great move by Mikkel Kessler, Briggs said. He will get in great condition up there. It takes a few days to get used to the elevation but, man, I can really tell you there is a big difference when you come down the mountain and fight at a lower elevation. Big Bear is also a small town atmosphere, the people love boxing and they are so used to having guys like Mosley and Oscar around. There are really no distractions. It is a beautiful place of nature and a perfect place for Kessler to get ready. For his part, Mosley purchased his home about 10 years ago. He is in Big Bear now, getting ready for his end of May bout against Zab Judah. Kessler is expected to spend about three weeks in the mountainous area which is a short drive away from Los Angeles. He will then fly back to Denmark to get reacclimated for the title fight against Sartison. I am not taking Dimitri lightly, Kessler said. I know what its like to be a young, undefeated guy whose biggest goal is to win a world title. I am sure he is coming to Denmark to try to take my head off. For Kessler, the road back to the top of the super middleweight division begins on the mountain top in Big Bear.
Well Palle has been in a tight spot in regards to finding an opponent for Kessler he is not a dream opponent for anyone, thats why they should have gone for the Miranda fight. We will have too look at it in a possitive way which is that it will be good for Kessler to get back in the ring now. He still did not win the fight and he has to take his opponent seriously and win convincingly. A belt is of course good also.
Maybe they went the ABC route to fight Miranda later for a title, as I think Miranda will pick one up at least. Fight would be worth more later, but I must admit, from a fan perspective it is a bit disappointing to hear.
The problem is that Kessler doesn't NEED a belt to get big fights, or even to get title fights. Fact of the matter is that with Calzaghe moved up, Kessler is the second-biggest money name out there at SMW (after Taylor). Eventually, the beltholders should WANT to fight Kessler, simply because he earns those guys a bigger payday than fighting anyone else. I don't see how fighting for a belt against a no-namer helps his wallet or his legacy long-term. Miranda is a low-output, straight-ahead fighter whose style is tailor made for Kessler, and is well-respected enough that it could have launched him into more prominence both in the US and in Germany. A win over Miranda could have set up a fight with Taylor or possibly even Pavlik, which are the two biggest money and biggest legacy fights available for Kessler. Without the extra visilibity, it will be that much harder to get fights against other name fighters. Just a really dumb move all the way around. Palle continues to astound me with his incompetence as a developer of his fighters.
PLUS, I'll add that I'm pretty sure that if this is for the WBA belt, a Miranda fight could have been for that belt as well. Miranda is ranked higher by the WBA than Sartison. So there really isn't an excuse for taking this fight over a Miranda fight (or even over a Haussler fight for Christ's sake). WBA rankings: 1. Kessler 2. Miranda 3. Haussler 4. Sartison
Way to go team Palle! Fighting Sartison isn't neccesarily the problem. Fighters take lesser opponents after defeats. The 2 big problems here are 1 If you fight a guy like Sartison as a soft touch you dont take 8-9 months to do so. You get back in the ring as soon as possible for a guy like this. 2 And here is the big **** up-they passed up a Showtime fight with Miranda for this :-( If he lands a signifigant fight after this then all will be forgotten. But until then :rofl
would have been a fine opponent to step back into the ring with 3 months after the calzaghe fight, but when you leave it this long people expect someone more well known
Wrong! Miranda was ranked lower when Palle first refused the Miranda fight. Then he found out that Mundine wasn't going to fight Kessler and they contacted the WBA to get Miranda ranked higher (they had just gotten Kessler moved up to OC status) so they could fight him for the title, but Miranda had already signed to fight Abraham by then.
its next to impossible to get out of a Palle contract. As for Sartison he's got to be the worst promoted fighter around - 10 more easy fights and he would have been great. Instead they feed him to Kessler after only 2 10-rounders because he TKO'd a guy who went the distance to a guy who went the distance with Kessler!
If they could get Miranda moved up, then it could have been arranged. If they just waited instead of suddenly and incomprehensibly pulling their offer from the table, there would be a Kessler-Miranda title fight scheduled on HBO on US soil. Instead he gets to fight a no-name for less money and less exposure in the comfy confines of Denmark. Stupid move either way. Also, I think I'm right. The rankings I pulled from the WBA were their March rankings. It wasn't that long ago when Kessler pulled out, probably sometime after March, which would mean that Miranda was already the #2 contender when Kessler pulled out.
Faetter_BR! You usually have a pretty good take on boxers punch power. I'm curious as to how you judge Sartisons. Is there enough punch in him to take Kessler out with one blow? And how would you compare him to Mirandas power?