By Scott Gilfoid: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute and former super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler could end meeting next if Bute is able to get past Carl Froch by a knockout a one-sided fight. Bute and Kessler’s promoters met last Saturday night in Denmark to discuss a fight between Kessler and Bute, and both were agreeable to the fight, according to ekstrabladet.dk.

Bute’s promoter Jean Bedard of Interbox was given an invitation by Kessler’s promoter Kalle Sauerland to discuss a fight between the two stars at Kessler’s fight against Allan Green last Saturday night.

For a fight between Bute and Kessler to go ahead next Showtime will have to agree on it. Bute has one fight left on his contract with Showtime, and presumably Showtime was saving that one fight for a bout between Bute and WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward.

To be honest, it’s difficult seeing Showtime agreeing to a fight between Kessler and Bute rather than Bute-Ward, because Kessler was badly exposed in the Shotime televised Super Six tournament in 2009, and he’s only had one tough fight since then against Carl Froch. Kessler has fought exactly twice since the Froch bout, taking on lesser fringe contenders. He’s pretty much zero to redeem himself, and it would likely be difficult seeing Showtime agree to see Kessler hop in front of the line to face Bute. Besides the line hoping aspect, Kessler is pretty much an unknown among casual boxing fans in the United States. Sure, he had two of his fights televised in the Super Six tournament, but he lost one of those fights against Ward and then bailed before his fight against Allan Green in the tourney. He did fight fight Green, but the fight wasn’t televised by Showtime or HBO in the United States. As such, Kessler is not a real draw in the U.S and not likely worth much Showtime for them to waste the last fight on Bute’s contract televising a fight against him.

Kessler needed to take big risks for his last two fights, and he simply hasn’t. He’s taken on fringe guys, and that’s kept him from making a name in the U.S. I think Kessler would be better off looking to get a fight against Chad Dawson or one of the top super middleweights. He should try and fight the Dirrell brothers, because Showtime might be interested in televising a fight between him and one of the Dirrells, but I wouldn’t hold my breath if I was Kessler if thinks Showtime will waste their one fight left with Bute by showing the two of them go at it. That will interest only a tiny, tiny segment of the boxing community. It’s bad enough that Bute is pretty much an unknown in the U.S, but then you add in an even more unknown fighter in Kessler, and you get low ratings. It would be like televising ratings repellent.