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In news that should excite basically nobody, Mikkel Kessler will be moving up to light heavyweight with his next fight on May 19, facing American Allan Green in Denmark. Kessler was originally supposed to face WBO super middleweight titlist Robert Stieglitz in November, and then in April, but that fight was canceled after never really seeming like it was happening in the first place.
Kessler said this via press release:
"This is going to be a huge challenge for me. Moving up to light heavyweight is risky, as is taking on a power-hitter like Green at a higher weight class. But I am ready. I want to make the big fights. Green is tough and strong and has a lot of power. But I will outbox and overpower him."
Obviously he can't really say, "This should be easy," but if we're all being honest, this should be easy. Green has proven conclusively that he's no threat to actual top-level fighters.
It was Green (31-3, 21 KO) who took Kessler's place when the Danish star dropped out of the Super Six. Green went 0-2 in the tournament, getting absolutely demolished by Andre Ward over 12 uncompetitive rounds, before he was knocked out by Glen Johnson. The third-best opponent of Green's career was Edison Miranda, who beat him decisively back in 2007, so that makes Green 0-3 when his opposition goes above the likes of Carlos De Leon Jr, Sebastian Demers, and Tarvis Simms (and Simms gave him a good run despite being woefully undersized and fighting on short notice).
As much as Kessler (44-2, 33 KO) and Sauerland Event talk about wanting to take the big fights and establish some kind of legacy, the reality is that there's no reason for them to not pull in the big bucks with the easiest possible fights in Denmark. Kessler is a superstar there who sells out arenas and does massive TV ratings. If he so chooses, he can cruise the rest of his career, however much there is left with all his nagging injuries, and never face a truly dangerous opponent again.
Showtime was contractually obligated to air tape-delay version of Kessler's fight with Robert Stieglitz, but they've got no May 19 show. Perhaps they'll throw it onto their May 26 old man parade, when Antonio Tarver faces Lateef Kayode and Winky Wright returns to take on Peter Quillin. Maybe this could be a "special" ShoBox. It's special, alright.