Kessler to face Green for WBC Light Heavyweight World Championship (Silver) at PARKEN on May 19

Three-time super-middleweight world champion Mikkel Kessler (44-2, 33 KOs) will be moving up in weight on May 19 when he clashes with fellow Super Six World Boxing Classic contestant & power puncher Allan Green (31-3, 21 KOs) on May 19. The battle at Copenhagen´s PARKEN Stadium will be contested at light heavyweight, with the WBC World Championship (Silver) at stake. The winner will be in line to face WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Bernard Hopkins, who takes on Chad Dawson in Atlantic City on April 28. “We want Mikkel to cement his place in boxing history along the all-time greats by wining world titles in two weight classes,” promoter Kalle Sauerland said at a press conference in Copenhagen today. “It is not going to be easy to face bigger and stronger opposition at a higher weight but the Viking Warrior has never turned down a challenge. We are thrilled to provide him with a new, a gigantic one. Before even thinking about Hopkins or Dawson, he needs to take out Allan Green, which is a high-risk fight.”

Kessler and Green were supposed to meet in the third round of the Super Six tournament two years ago. Back then, Kessler’s eye injury prevented the bout from happening. “There is some unfinished business both men want to take care of,” Sauerland added. “I am confident Mikkel will win. Green is a natural light heavyweight with huge punching power. His KO ratio is impressive. But with his legions of fans behind him, Mikkel will make his country proud and defeat Green.”

The Viking Warrior knows that the 32-year-old from Tulsa, Oklahoma is a very dangerous opponent, especially for his first-ever fight at light heavyweight. “This is going to be a huge challenge for me,” he said. “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.”

The Viking Warrior was originally scheduled to face WBO Super-Middleweight Champion Robert Stieglitz. However, a hand injury prevented the bout from happening. “My finger is fine now, it just needed more time to be fully recovered,” he said. “I am ready to rumble again.”

Green, an accomplished US amateur (2002 National Golden Gloves Championships Gold Medallist at 178 pounds), is famed and feared for his punching power. In 2002 he broke Mike Tyson´s record for the fastest KO in an amateur fight (8 seconds). As a professional, 21 of his 31 victories came by the way of KO, with almost half of them inside the first three rounds. He won the 2005 Ring Magazine KO of the Year when he destroyed Jaidon Codrington in just 18 seconds.

In early 2010, he replaced Jermain Taylor in the Super Six tournament. From the beginning, he had big trouble to make weight, having to lose 27 pounds before the points loss to WBA Super-Middleweight Champion Andre Ward. After the tournament, he has returned to his natural weight class in style, winning two straight, including a clear points victory over former world title challenger Sebastian Demers. Now he looks forward to conquering Denmark. “It´s great to be fighting in Copenhagen,” he stated. “I think Kessler is a very good fighter. Very tough and very talented. He has been world champion for a long time. But I am faster, I am stronger and I feel I have a lot more skills. He might have fought better opposition, I give him that, but I am the much better athlete.”

Green believes that meeting at light heavyweight will be an advantage. “It evens the playing field,” he stated. “At super-middleweight I had to lose a lot of weight. I lost 27 pounds in three weeks for the Ward fight. So fighting Kessler at super-middleweight would have been a disadvantage for me. I will make a lot of noise on May 19.”

Tickets for the big show at PARKEN are available at billetlugen.dk.