Ward and Kessler double bill on Showtime Sept. 12!

Undefeated super middleweight Andre Ward will share the stage with his first Super Six World Boxing Classic opponent Mikkel ‘Viking Warrior’ Kessler on a special Saturday primetime edition of ShoBox: The New Generation, on Showtime.

Andre Ward (19-0, 12 KOs) will tangle with Shelby Pudwill (22-3-1, 9 KOs) of McGlauglin, S.D., in a 10-round super middleweight scrap live from Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 12. The Ward fight will air immediately following Kessler’s World Boxing Association (WBA) super middleweight mandatory title defense against No. 1 ranked Gusmyl Perdomo (16-2, 10 KOs) of Turmero, Venezuela, which will air on same day tape delay from MCH Messecenter Herning – Herning, Denmark and be shown live at Pechanga. Sharing the stage with Ward in Temecula will be former two-time Ring Magazine “Fighter of the Year” and multi-division world champion James ‘Lights Out’ Toney, who will be featured in a scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout.

“There was no way we were going to allow Mikkel Kessler to have a showcase fight preceding his Super Six showdown with Andre, and not have the viewers on SHOWTIME and the fans at Pechanga witness our 2004 US Olympic gold medalist in action the same night,” Ward’s promoterDan Goossen said. “Kessler may be the champion, but Andre Ward is coming to take that title and making history.”

Goossen is referencing the Group Stage 1 matchup of Ward vs. Kessler in the celebrated Super Six World Boxing Classic, Nov. 21, 2009, live on SHOWTIME. Ward-Kessler promises to be one of the most exciting fights of the year, pitting Team USA’s only Olympic Games gold medalist from Athens 2004 against Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs), of Copenhagen, Denmark, an early favorite in the tournament.

In his last fight on Dec. 6, 2008, Pudwill, 34, beat Anthony Osbourne in Mandan, N.D., with an eighth-round knockout. Inactive in all of 2007, Pudwill suffered a loss in his fight before Osbourne to John Duddy at Madison Square Garden in 2006.

Pudwill took eight straight wins into the Duddy fight and didn’t lose for almost five years in a time-span that dated from June 2001 to March 2006.

Sharing the stage with Ward in Temecula will be former two-time Ring Magazine “Fighter of the Year” and multi-division world champion James “Lights Out” Toney, who will be featured in a scheduled 10-round heavyweight bout. The 40-year young native of Ann Arbor, MI now living in Sherman Oaks, CA, who doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘quit’, either in the ring or out of it, remains steadfast in his belief that he can become heavyweight champion of the world.

Toney (71-6-3, 43 KO), who won a hard-fought decision against rugged veteran Fres Oquendo in his last ring appearance back in December, is no stranger to Pechanga. He has turned in three impressive performances there, including a knockout victory over Jason Robinson (2002) in an IBF Cruiserweight Eliminator; a 12-round unanimous-decision verdict over Rydell Booker (2004) for the Vacant IBA Heavyweight Title and a WBC Heavyweight Elimination bout; and had former WBC Heavyweight Champion Hasim Rahman (2007) out-boxed and in big trouble when “Rock” informed the ringside physician that he could no longer see out of one eye and a TKO win for Toney was eventually overturned and ruled a “No Decision.”

“I love fighting and I especially love it at Pechanga,” Toney offered. “None of the Russian chumps who are posing as champions want to fight me. I am the best heavyweight boxer in the world and I will do whatever it takes to get one of those titles. But first I am going to kick some a** on September 12.”

Goossen, who also promotes Toney, said: “James believes he will not let another opportunity slip through his fingers again — even at the age of 40 — and has recommitted himself to getting into great shape. If in fact he can go into his bag of tricks and pull out a few good performances, there is no doubt that he will place himself back into the Heavyweight World Championship picture in 2010. We shall see.”

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Super Six dates announced! Mark Oct. 17 and Nov. 21 on your calendar

SHOWTIME Sports® Super Six World Boxing Classic, the groundbreaking six-man super middleweight tournament announced last week, will debut with two Group Stage 1 matchups on Saturday, Oct. 17, with the third Group Stage 1 bout taking place on Saturday, Nov. 21. All three world-class matches will air on SHOWTIME®. The initial dates in the unprecedented, celebrated tournament were formally announced Tuesday by Ken Hershman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. Venues will be announced soon. The Super Six World Boxing Classic will be contested on both American and European continents.

In a battle of unbeatens on Oct. 17, Carl “The Cobra” Froch (25-0, 20 KOs) of Nottingham, England, will defend his World Boxing Council (WBC) title against 2004 Olympic Games medalist Andre “The Matrix’’ Dirrell (18-0, 13 KOs) of Flint, Mich.

On the same night, undefeated former middleweight champion “King” Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs) of Berlin, Germany, will face former undisputed middleweight titleholder Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KOs) of Little Rock, Ark.

The third fight in Group Stage 1 competition will take place on Nov. 21 when Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs) of Copenhagen, Denmark, risks his World Boxing Association (WBA) belt* against unbeaten 2004 Olympic Games gold medalist Andre “S.O.G.” Ward (19-0, 12 KOs) of Oakland, Calif.

Kessler will face WBA mandatory challenger Gusmyl Perdomo (16-2, 10 KOs) on Saturday, Sept. 12 for the title.

The tournament will continue in 2010 with Group Stages 2 and 3 with Semi-Finals and Finals in spring 2011.

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Keller puts Title on the line before Super Six Tourney

Both Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs) and Team Sauerland announced with the winning bid of $2,114,000 (USD) his first fight under his new promotional team will be a mandatory defense of his WBA super middleweight title against Gusmyl Perdomo (16-2, 10 KOs).

Chris Meyer, General Manager of Team Sauerland, stated, “We really wanted to promote Mikkel´s first fight as a member of our team,” he said. “We will announce the date and the venue soon.”

“I am happy to be back in the ring,” Kessler said. “It will mark the beginning of a long and successful cooperation with Team Sauerland.”

A date being looked at is Sept. 12. Just a few weeks before the start of the 168 lb. tournament.

While Perdomo, who hails from Venezuela, is relatively unknown it still can be viewed as a huge gamble for Kessler to put his title on the line right before the much anticipated super middleweight classic.

Kessler, however, just sees it as part of the job. “As the mandatory challenger he deserves to fight for the title,” added Kessler. “I will definitely not underestimate him.”

“Of course I want to take my WBA belt into the tournament,” Kessler said. “The fight against Perdomo is the last obstacle that I need to overcome. I will be prepared and I will be ready for him.”

Kessler taking this fight can also be viewed as a good thing as he has not been in the ring since October of last year when he stopped Danio Haussler in the third round in the initial defense of his WBA strap.

If successful against Perdomo, Kessler is scheduled to defend his title against 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre "S.O.G." Ward in the first stage of the potentially historic tournament.

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SHOWTIME ANNOUNCES "SUPER SIX" SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNEY

Press Release: Showtime Sports and some of the best super middleweight boxers in the world converged in New York City on Monday to announce an unprecedented new six-man boxing tournament to be presented by Showtime in the United States and throughout the world on various television networks. The inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic is a round-robin, six-fighter tournament featuring the class of the Super Middleweight division from home and abroad.

The world renowned fighters have a staggering combined record of 161-4-1 with 117 knockouts. There are four undefeated fighters, two current world champions, two young, unbeaten, world-ranked contenders and one former undisputed world titleholder.

The field is comprised of IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs), of Germany, who will move up to challenge at 168; U.S. Olympic medalist and top-ranked contender Andre “The Matrix” Dirrell (18-0, 13 KOs) of Flint, Mich., WBC super middleweight champion Carl “The Cobra’’ Froch (25-0, 20 KOs) of England, WBA 168-pound champion Mikkel “Viking Warrior’’ Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs) of Denmark, former undisputed 160-pound world champion Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KOs) of Little Rock, Ark., and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Andre “S.O.G.’’ Ward (19-0, 12 KOs) of Oakland, Calif. (Ward was not present at theannouncement due to the flu).

“The stars have truly aligned,” said Ken Hershman, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Showtime Sports, who was instrumental in pulling the fighters, managers and promoters together. “It began as an intriguing concept, and through a tremendous amount of hard work on everyone’s part, we are going to pull off one of the most exciting events in boxing history.

“The 168-pound division is the most talent rich in boxing right now. And the Super Six tournament structure will deliver one compelling matchup after another. And to deliver all of this directly to our subscribers is a fight fans dream come true. I can’t wait to get started.”

In another unprecedented occurrence, five of the world’s top boxing promoters have collaborated to facilitate this epic tournament. Lou DiBella of DiBella Entertainment, Dan Goossen of Goossen Tutor Promotions, Mick Hennessy of Hennessy Sports, Wilfried and Kalle Sauerland of Sauerland Event, and Gary Shaw of Gary Shaw Productions, LLC will promote the tournament which begins in October 2009 and runs through spring 2011.

The dangerous and talented six fighters have signed on to fight any, and potentially all, of the five other contestants in the tournament. All bouts will be scheduled for 12 rounds. Froch’s WBC title and Kessler’s WBA championship will be on the line at the start of tournament competition.

In the first three Group Stages of the tournament, each fighter faces three different opponents over the next 12 months in a points-based competition.

Scoring will be as follows:

Win – 2 points (with a 1-point KO/TKO bonus)

Draw – 1 point

Loss – 0 points

Based on the point standings after the third Group Stage, the top four point scorers will advance to the Semi-Finals with the lowest two being eliminated. (In the event of a tie on points, a tie-break mechanism is in place)

The Semi-Finals will match the point leader against the fourth place fighter and the second versus the third. (In the event of a draw in the Semi-Final bouts, a tie-break mechanism is in place)

The winners of the respective Semi-Final bouts will advance to the Final, which will be contested in early 2011 for the inaugural Super Six World Boxing Classic trophy.

Fights will be contested on both American and European continents. Dates and venues will be announced in the coming weeks. Group Stage 1 matchups are as follows:

GROUP STAGE 1

CARL FROCH vs. ANDRE DIRRELL

JERMAIN TAYLOR vs. ARTHUR ABRAHAM

MIKKEL KESSLER vs. ANDRE WARD

Group Stage 2 and 3 matchups will be announced.

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WBA Super-Middleweight Champion Mikkel Kessler to Fight for team Sauerland

-Team Sauerland are delighted to announce a spectacular new addition: Danish superstar Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs) has signed a promotional contract with the German boxing team. “We are thrilled to welcome one of the world´s most popular and most respected boxers to the Sauerland family,” General Manager Chris Meyer said at a press conference in Copenhagen. “We have big plans for Mikkel.” When Kessler´s contract with his long-time promoters Bettina and Mogens Palle came to an end, he was free to look for a new promoter. Next up for the Viking Warrior will be the mandatory defence of his WBA World Championship title against Gusmyl Perdomo. “It was very disappointing to be inactive for such a long time,” Kessler said. “I am incredibly pleased that I can start boxing again both in Denmark and on the world stage. All the major promoters were interested, but I have chosen to sign a contract with Team Sauerland because they have had the best offer on every point. This includes everything from the capability of arranging the big and interesting matches to the financial agreements.” Kessler has been inactive since his third-round KO victory over Germany´s Danilo Haussler which Sauerland promoted last October. “I cannot wait to be back in the ring,” Kessler added. He was the long-time WBA/WBC champion before falling to Welsh superstar Joe Calzaghe in an epic showdown at Cardiff´s Millennium Stadium in November 2007. He regained his WBA title with a KO victory over Dimitri Sartison seven months later. Kalle Sauerland has big plans for the 30-year-old Dane. “He is not just a hero in his home country but boxing fans all over the world love him and his spectacular style,” Sauerland said. “We will get him big fights in the United States, in Denmark and in Germany. It is an honour and a privilege to promote one of the world´s best pound-for-pound fighters and we will help him to gain maximum exposure worldwide.”

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