WBC Super Middleweight Champion Emeritus Mikkel Kessler (43-2, 32 KOs) will make his eagerly-awaited comeback on June 4 when he takes on WBO #5 Mehdi “Nightmare” Bouadla (22-3, 10 KOs) in front of his home fans at Parken Stadium. It will be the Viking Warrior?s first fight since his epic points victory over WBC Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch in the Super Six World Boxing Classic in April 2010. In August, an eye injury forced him to pull out of the multi-million dollar tournament. Now he is fit to fight again. “I am excited to be back,” Kessler said. “I knew I had to take a rest to let my eye heal and I am happy that everything went according to plan. I am 100 percent fit and I can?t wait to get inside the ring again — I have really been missing it. The comeback at Parken with my home fans supporting me will be great.”
Kessler said he was full of respect for his opponent. “Bouadla is a tough guy and he will certainly give me a hard fight on June 4. I have never lost a fight in Denmark and this will be no different. Nobody can beat be when my Viking fans are supporting me.”
Bouadla certainly thinks differently. “I have a lot of respect for Mikkel Kessler but to be honest he comes off a long break and he cannot keep up with me. I will be very happy to be the first one to beat Kessler at home and end his comeback before it even started. This is my chance for glory. I am the WBO?s number five already and after I am done with Kessler I will be rated even higher. More importantly, I will be remembered as the fighter who punched Kessler into retirement.”
Said promoter Kalle Sauerland: “We are thrilled that Mikkel is ready for his comeback. Boxing fans all around the globe have missed one of the world?s best pound-for-pound fighters. What he did to Carl Froch was amazing and I am sure he will follow it up with a spectacular win over Bouadla. However, he is an extremely tough opponent who comes to Copenhagen with the will to win and the ability to do just that.June 4 will be a great day for Danish sports fans as they will be able to see their hero live in Parken and on TV2. This is a present for the fans and it may as well be Mikkel?s last fight on Danish soil.”
Said Frederik Lauesen, Head of Sport at TV2: “We are thrilled to have Mikkel Kessler back on TV 2. It is important for Danish boxing that a superstar like Mikkel Kessler is exposed to as many of his fans as possible. Last time we had a Kessler fight on TV2, more than 1,5 million viewers were watching. This coming fight has everything in human drama and high stakes, so I expect even more viewers for this great event. It is a big boost to Danish boxing and to our Fight Night series where we are working hard to find the next Mikkel Kessler.”
Lotte Reimar, CEO of Parken Venues, said: “We are excited to bring back the Viking Warrior to Parken. He has made some of his biggest fights here and on June 4 we look forward to adding another chapter to Mikkel?s glorious performances at his adopted home stadium. It will be an event that everybody can join as tickets start at just DKK 250.”
Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, May 10 and can be purchased at www.billetlugen.dk <http://www.billetlugen.dk>.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
