By Eric Thomas: A fight between former WBA/WBC super middleweight champion and the current World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (40-2, 23 Ko’s) is reportedly close to completed in negotiations. The fight still doesn’t have a date or a venue, but it will likely take place in Germany where Stiegltiz fights out of and where Kessler is promoted. Kessler is the mandatory contender for Stieglitz’s belt and figures to win this fight if Kessler has anything left in the tank.

Kessler looked good in beating Mehdi Bouadla by a 6th round TKO in his comeback fight last month after 14 months out of action. However, Stieglitz will be tough and Kessler could have problems with his power.

Kessler had the option of taking on IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute for his title, but opted not to take that fight. No doubt Kessler and his promoters saw Bute as too hard of a fight at this stage of Kessler’s comeback. However, that’s the fight that Kessler is looking at in the future, as well as bouts against the likes of Carl Froch, Andre Ward and Kelly Pavlik.

Kessler will do well against Stieglitz if he can put his punches together and pressure him the way that Librado Andrade did in stopping Stieglitz in 8th round in 2008. Stieglitz has rebounded from that defeat to win his last nine bouts against a mostly mixed bag of opposition. He did beat a few decent fighters like Karoly Balzsay, Enrique Ornelas and Khoren Gevor, but no one that is really all that good. Kessler will be a tough match-up for Stieglitz and it’s going to be difficult for him to win this fight without hand speed or big power.