Kessler eye injury moves “Super Six” toward immediate semifinals

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Former world super-middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler of Denmark has pulled out of his planned ‘Super Six’ tournament fight Sept. 25 against Allan Green, and sources close to the tournament tell The Times a ‘likely scenario’ is that the super-middleweight title unification tournament will move immediately past the final stage of qualifying to the semifinals.

Green, who was dominated earlier this year in a unanimous-decision loss to unbeaten world champion Andre Ward in Oakland, has no points in the tourney after replacing previous dropout Jermain Taylor and has expressed interest in moving up in weight.

A Green forfeit would allow Showtime to proceed with immediate semifinal bouts if promoters agree, with Ward fighting his former 2004 U.S. Olympic teammate Andre Dirrell Sept. 25 at a site still undetermined, and Carl Froch fighting Arthur Abraham Oct. 2 in Monaco.

Showtime Sports Executive Vice President Ken Hershman expressed disappointment about Kessler’s injury in a prepared statement released early Wednesday, but assured the tournament will continue.

Kessler lost to Ward in the first round of the tournament but rallied to defeat Froch in April. He said pulling out due to doctor’s advice that he was suffering from weakness of the superior oblique muscle of his left eye ‘is the most disappointing moment of my boxing career.’

‘The eye problem has bothered me since the beginning of the Super Six ... it has become unbearable,’ Kessler said in a prepared statement. ‘I have consulted leading experts ... and they have advised me to take a break [nine months] from boxing so that the problem can heal.’

Hershman is expected to huddle with Super Six promoters this week and craft an official plan on how the tournament will proceed.

-- Lance Pugmire

Twitter.com/latimespugmire