By Scott Gilfoid: Instead of James DeGale getting a fight against IBF belt holder Carl Froch, DeGale could wind up facing the aging 35-year-old Mikkel Kessler in April, according to the Mirror.
DeGale and Kessler would presumably be fighting for the IBF belt once the International Boxing Federation strips the strap from Froch for failing to defend it in a timely fashion. Froch doesn’t appear to be all that interested in taking a risky fight against DeGale, whose fighting style is like a slowed down version of Andre Dirrell.
A DeGale fight has the potential of making Froch look really bad, and it doesn’t look like Froch wants to be made to look that way given that he’s talking about retiring in the near future.
They want to try and make the DeGale-Kessler fight for April 25th at the O2 Arena in London, UK. The fight would be a decent one if it’s just for the heck of it, but if the IBF title is going to be on the line then that just seems way too strange. Andre Dirrell should be the guy that faces DeGale for the IBF title, not Kessler.
If the DeGale-Kessler fight is for the IBF belt, then the IBF will need to sanction the fight. I don’t know how they could because Dirrell is ranked #2 by the IBF after his impressive win over Derek Edwards.
Kessler isn’t even ranked in the top 15 by the IBF, which makes a fight between the two of them seem almost silly if they’re going to be fighting for the IBF title. I mean, Kessler is ranked #12 by the WBA, but we’re talking about a different organization altogether. If he’s going to be fighting for the vacant IBF strap then he should at least be ranked in the top 15.
Gilberto Ramirez, the No.3 IBF contender, and Dirrell would have to be passed over in order for DeGale to face the 35-year-old Kessler.
What is disappointing is that Kessler hasn’t even fought since May of 2013 when he was beaten by Froch by a 12 round decision. Kessler has just been sitting all this time for some reason.
I don’t know why he hasn’t shown any interest in getting back in the ring, but it seems insane for him to be getting a shot at the IBF title at this point. Kessler should at least have to fight a couple of top contenders before he gets a title shot for the IBF strap.
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