His nickname is "The Hard Hitter". On November 16, 2002 Markussen was the number 1 challenger for the IBF Super Middleweight World title. He lost to Sven Ottke. On October 24, 2003 he won the WBO title against American James Crawford. Then on July 24, 2004 he won the EBU (European) Super Middleweight title. He beat Danilo Häussler by a 12 round unanimous decision.