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Magee lines up Kessler bout

Image: Brian Magee: Lisburn boxer set to face big hitting Mikkel Kessler

Brian Magee will face Mikkel Kessler for the vacant WBA super-middleweight title later this year in Denmark.

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Belfast southpaw set to fight 'Viking Warrior' in Denmark

Brian Magee will face Mikkel Kessler for the vacant WBA super-middleweight title later this year. Reigning European and WBA interim champion Magee, who has a 34-4-1 record, will head to Denmark in December to tackle Kessler at a venue yet to be announced. The 37-year-old Belfast southpaw, who as amateur competed for Ireland in the middleweight division at the 1996 Summer Olympics had been in line to face Karoly Balzsay for the full title but the Hungarian vacated due to injuries. Former two-time WBA champion Kessler boasts an impressive record of 45 victories, 34 by knockout, losing just twice to Joe Calzaghe and Andre Ward. Kessler bounced back from his loss to the highly-rated unbeaten Ward by handing Nottingham's finest Carl Froch his first professional defeat to win the WBC crown a second time in 2010. The Dane was forced to pull out of the Super Six tournament due to an eye injury but returned to the ring with a sixth round stoppage of Mehdi Bouadla to win the WBO European super-middleweight title in June 2011. Kessler, 33, moved up in weight and stopped Allan Green in four rounds to claim the vacant WBC silver light-heavyweight title back in May.