palle stated on todays pressconfrence i copenhagen that they had turned down an offer from HBO that would contain 4 fights . 3 in smw and 1 in lhw. no names were mentioned. but palle said that when kessler beats jc the money in that offer will increase big time! hes right on that but what if kessler looses? http://www.knock-out.dk/news.show.asp?newsid=2850
He should still get a deal with HBO, unless the Americans write him off as an overrated bum, which would be ridiculous.
Well as we don't know who he was supposed to fight or the money that was offered it is hard to really say if the decision was the right one or not. They could have been offering him little more than he was earning before. I doubt he was offered a mulit million dollar contract based on the fact he is still unproven against the elite and Kessler is yet to be proven as any kind of draw in the US. I am sure Kessler and Palle have thought this through. Even if he does lose Kessler is young and can come back and as long as he isn't dominated could still earn good money and even a HBO contract at a later date.
Palle plays a patient negotiation game, we've seen that for the past few months. He's also good at it and got a great deal for Kessler for his fight with Calzaghe. I'll be very surprised if he doesn't sign a deal before the fight though.
He should have taken the offer. While I don't think he'll be written off as a bum if he loses, the more Americans see him, the more they'll realize that he's not all that exciting to watch. A fight against Calzaghe should be entertaining, because both guys will be bringing their A-games, but it's the presence of Calzaghe that will make the fight interesting. Put him in against just about any other top SMW (other than maybe Berrio, who also has an entertaining, all-out style) and he probably won't look much more exciting than Taylor or Winky.