Hall of Fame promoter Mogens Palle, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 2008, is battling cancer and has announced his final boxing event as a promoter on April 21 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Sarah Mahfoud vs. Nina Meinke for the IBF featherweight title and Enock Poulsen vs. Franck Petitjean for the official European Championship will be some of the fights to highlight the final fight card produced by the legendary promoter and matchmaker.

For more than half a century Mogens Palle has kept boxing alive in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The former amateur boxer started his career as a boxing promoter at the age of 23 with an event in Copenhagen back in 1957 together with his dad Thorkild, a master carpenter, and former European lightweight champion Jorgen Johansen.

Nowadays the 88-year-old heralded boxing figure is heading the Danish Fight Night promotion together with his daughter Bettina Palle, but the event on April 21 will be the last one with himself in front.

He has already defeated malignant melanoma, a kind of skin cancer once in 2020. Then just recently the cancer emerged in his lungs. Even if he will be able to beat it again, the ambitious and persistent boxing promoter feels it’s time to pass on the torch to concentrate on his health situation.

“After almost 65 years as a promoter, I’m calling it quits. I am very proud of what I have accomplished. I really hope this event will be a great one too. It started with a success in 1957, and I would very much like it to end there as well. At least from a sporting point of view,« says Mogens Palle, who remains calm regarding the future.

“I am not afraid to die. I have had a great life, and I have worked with the sport I love. I look at this way. Dying is like falling asleep, you just don’t wake up again.”

Based in a very small market and a country with less than 6 million people he has produced an impressive number of European champions (26) plus 8 world champions in the four major organizations (WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO) including the likes of Mikkel Kessler, Ayub Kalule and Johnny Bredahl.

The already experienced Christian (Gentleman Chris) Christensen, Mogens Pand Bo Högberg of Sweden became his first European champions in 1964 and 1966. He built up Borge Krogh and Tom Bogs from scratch and both guys became very popular fixtures and started the golden age of Danish boxing by winning the European laurels in the lightweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. During the mid-1960s Palle was the European manager of Sonny Liston and co-promoted four of his bouts in Sweden. Liston was supposed to fight out of Denmark, but the Danish authorities refused to give him a working permit due to his criminal past therefore forcing the events to be moved to the neighboring country.

His first world champion was Ugandan-born Ayub Kalule, who easily defeated reigning champion Masashi Kudo in 1979. For Kalule and Palle the difficult part of winning the championship was not Kalules fight against Japan’s Kudo. Representing a small country the roughest fight was with the WBA, which blocked Kalule from a shot at the championship for 23 months after he became the leading contender. Kalule held on to the light middleweight title until losing it in a 1981 classic battle against Sugar Ray Leonard in Houston, Texas.

Over the years Palle has promoted events with boxing stars like Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Sonny Liston, Carlos Monzon, Emile Griffith, Victor Galindez, Sandro Mazzinghi, Bruno Arcari, Eddie Perkins, John Conteh, Ken Buchanan, Joe Calzaghe, and he has developed champions and stars in Scandinavia like Tom Bogs, Borge Krogh, Bo Hogberg, Chris Christensen, Hans Henrik Palm, Jorgen Hansen, Gert Bo Jacobsen, Svein-Erik Paulsen, Mustafa Wassajja, John Odhiambo, Anders Eklund, Steffen Tangstad, Brian Nielsen, Ole Klemetsen, Mads Larsen, Soren Sondergaard, Thomas Damgaard, Mikkel Kessler and many more.

The 1972 world title match between Carlos Monzon and Tom Bogs at the national soccer stadium in Copenhagen was one of the biggest sporting events in Denmark up to that date. In 2001 Palle brought Mike Tyson to the same outdoor arena, where he stopped Brian Nielsen in the biggest boxing event in Denmark with a stacked 14-bout fight card. He was also co-promoting the Joe Calzaghe vs. Mikkel Kessler super middleweight unification bout in Cardiff, Wales that drew 50,000 fans and had a worldwide audience in 70 countries.

During the 1990’s Denmark was a huge force in European boxing and two times during that decade, Danish fighters from the Palle stable simultaneously held the European title belts in three different weight classes. In 1992 Johnny and Jimmi Bredahl became the first pair of brothers to win world championships on the very same evening, on a Mogens Palle card, by capturing the WBO junior bantamweight and junior lightweight titles at Parken national soccer stadium. Johnny Bredahl went on to capture the WBA bantamweight championship among other titles later in his career, while Jimmi Bredahl eventually lost his belt against Oscar De La Hoya in 1994.

Palles own favorite boxing moment as a promoter was the Dave Boy Green vs. Jorgen Hansen bout in 1979. It was the days of Mogens Palle vs. Mickey Duff, when there were a lot of classic Danish vs. British clashes. Dave Green, who was lined up for a world title fight, had to defend his European welterweight title and was the heavy favorite against the experienced 36-year-old Dane on the 28th of June 1979 in Randers, Denmark. Hansen was down in the 2nd round. But looking for a quick finish Green left himself open being stopped in the 3rd round by a vicious right.

British TV commentator Reg Gutteridge, covering the fight ringside for ITV, enthusiastically shouted into the microphone, as Green was stopped: »It’s all over, Dave Green has lost the European Championship to thirty-six year old Jorgen Hansen in one of the greatest turn-ups that I’ve known in boxing in 40 years. Unbelievable!«

After a few years of inactivity Mogens Palle made a surprising comeback in December 2015 together with popular Danish heavyweight Brian Nielsen and his daughter Bettina Palle as the co-promoter. Sarah Mahfoud was built up to capture IBF’s featherweight title in 2020 thus becoming the first Danish boxer to win that version of the world championship. Mogens Palle thereby succeeded in creating world champions in all four major organizations.

On April 21 in a battle for the vacant European (European Boxing Union) super lightweight title Enock Mwandila Poulsen (11-0) takes on the experienced Franck Petitjean (23-5-3) of France. Poulsen, a fast-handed and technical savvy fighter, has repeatedly been pegged in the Danish media as the best talent since Mikkel Kessler due to his impressive skills and speed. If he wins the title he will be the 27th European champion produced by Mogens Palle.

The same night IBF featherweight world champion Sarah Mahfoud (10-0) takes on mandatory challenger and European champion Nina Meinke (12-2) from Berlin, Germany. It will be the first defense of Mahfouds title since defeating Argentinean Brenda Karen Carabajal in 2020 after ten fast-paced rounds, where the Danish lady dominated the action with a steady attack from round 1.

Sarah Mahfoud is a household name in both Denmark and in her native Faroe Islands, a self-governing and geographically remote island chain located in the North Atlantic, where she was born. She has fast hands and quick feet and possesses an enormous amount of will power. Her opponent Nina Meinke is the mandatory challenger and accordingly ranked number 1 by IBF. Meinke hasn’t lost a fight in 4 years. Meinke has 12 victories in 14 bouts.

The third title bout of the evening is an interesting dual between two super talents, both southpaws. 22-year-old undefeated Danish boxing sensation Oliver Meng (8-0) takes on 21-year-old American Eslih Owusu (7-0) from Worcester, Massachusetts. The two rising stars will compete for WBC’s Youth World title for athletes under the age of 23 years and 11 months.

In a battle of undefeated heavyweights Kem Ljungquist (10-0), who just returned to Denmark, after training and sparring with boxing star Anthony Joshua, is back in action in his first bout for Danish Fight Night. He takes on undefeated 28-year-old Ukrainian boxer Vyacheslav Zhyvotagain (5-0).

Also on the undercard is undefeated Heva Sharif (4-0) in a super lightweight contest.

A special “Dual Match” between Denmark and Belgium will start off the show. 4 of the best amateur boxers from the Danish National Team will compete against the visiting team from Belgium in Olympic-style boxing.

The event starts at 6.00 PM CET (18.00 local time) and can be watched internationally live on PPV at www.danishfightnight.tv

Tickets for the arena are available for purchase at https://www.ticketmaster.dk/event/danish-fight-night-billetter/512351