BoxRec

Mikkel Kessler has vowed to bounce back stronger than ever after his 11th round technical decision defeat against Andre Ward. The Viking Warrior was trailing on all three scorecards when the fight was stopped due to a cut caused by an unintentional headbutt. “I have lost the world title once and won it straight back so I know how to do it,” Kessler said. “With the support of my home fans in Denmark I will beat Carl Froch and become world champion again. That is why this tournament is great – I have the chance to make amends immediately.”

Kessler admitted it was tough to fight Ward. “He was very fast and very good. He ruined my style,” he said. “It was not my day. Now I will go home, watch the tape and then bounce back stronger than ever.”

Said Wilfried Sauerland: “Congratulations to Andre Ward, he fought a great fight and deserved to win. I was impressed by his speed and his technical abilities. However, the referee should have stopped the holding and headbutting, but we do not want to take anything away from his performance and his victory. Mikkel will come back and do very well in this tournament, no doubt about that..”

Added Kalle Sauerland: “Ward proved today that he belongs into this tournament and that he is a great fighter with a golden future. The great thing about the Super Six World Boxing Classic is that Mikkel can take revenge soon as their paths might cross again. Mikkel and his team will analyse the fight closely and draw the right conclusions. I have no doubts that the Viking Warrior will come back stronger than ever and we will see an exciting fight against Carl Froch. That fight will be massive.”

No he won't. That's what they always think.

the cobra by savage ko

There can't have been many tipping Froch before the Ward fight - amazing the difference a single performance can make...

Unless Kesslers performance against Ward was due to his own decline, and not Wards style. I still see him defeating Froch. Froch brings nothing to the table style wise to trouble Kessler. Hand speed and angles trouble Kessler, and Froch possesses neither.

How can Kessler be in decline. 2 years ago he was labelled "not quite at his peak" by most observers. Many of whom thought Kessler would beat Joe in a rematch, use that experience to his advantages.

His performances since Joe, although against pretty bad opposition (considering he is a champion), have been pretty faultless and the Calzaghe fight wasn't a massive war.

Lets give Ward some credit, he might not have won pretty but he was damn effective.

MrBoxingUK2 wrote:the cobra by savage ko

yeah right good luck with that one

Writing fighters off after one or two loses is what is ruining the sport!!!
To be honest he looked like he was'nt up for it and their is nothing like losing to give you a kick up the arse!

toomanyshots wrote:Writing fighters off after one or two loses is what is ruining the sport!!!
To be honest he looked like he was'nt up for it and their is nothing like losing to give you a kick up the arse!

Aye, Jake Lamotta would have been regarded as a bum if he were fighting today, by the standards set by the fans.

toomanyshots wrote:Writing fighters off after one or two loses is what is ruining the sport!!!
To be honest he looked like he was'nt up for it and their is nothing like losing to give you a kick up the arse!

i think its less the loss than the gap between expectation and delivery... Kessler looked like he wasn't up for a wank, let alone a fight, and to contrast that with what we know he can do, leads to that 'writing off'. You pay your money you expect an effort to be made.

after that disappointing loss, and bad experience getting butted (kessler WAS stopped, because ward worstened the butts damage with punches, the fight WAS technical decision stopped on an injury), the last thing kessler needs is a big, hard, gritty bastrad like froch in his face.

that said, froch has to deliver because he has made a lot of big talk. could be a great fight as both need to impress and neither will likely be complacent.

all this talk of froch being finished, i felt he was spoiled into a stalemate by the terrible spoiler, and did better vs dirrell than kessler did vs ward (kessler being dominated).

I wouldnt have called Ward a spoiler though.I thought he looked brilliant,and if Froch struggled so badly with Dirrell,imagine what he will be like with a guy just as fast,but aggressive with it and seems to have a lot of "old pro" qualities already.Oh,and in America as well...

I wonder how well they prepared for Ward. They said in the commentary that he hadn't sparred any southpaws and Ward seemed to spend half the fight as a southpaw. As good as Ward looked on the night, he is certainly no going to take anyone by surprise again and doesn't look the toughest nut to crack.

gobbles wrote:I wonder how well they prepared for Ward. They said in the commentary that he hadn't sparred any southpaws and Ward seemed to spend half the fight as a southpaw. As good as Ward looked on the night, he is certainly no going to take anyone by surprise again and doesn't look the toughest nut to crack.

yeah BN mentioned he switched well so I thought that was a strange omission

danieljenkins wrote:

MrBoxingUK2 wrote:the cobra by savage ko

yeah right good luck with that one

Not unless he boxes and waits for the opportunity. Flailing away with one-dimensional footwork and wide bombs may win it for him at home but I think Kessler picks the gaps if Froch fights him like he fought Dirrell.

I think I would give Froch a better chance now. Had Kessler beaten Ward it would have been a very different matter.

mickey1975 wrote:I wouldnt have called Ward a spoiler though.I thought he looked brilliant,and if Froch struggled so badly with Dirrell,imagine what he will be like with a guy just as fast,but aggressive with it and seems to have a lot of "old pro" qualities already.Oh,and in America as well...

i think dirrell's negativity was a big problem. when your opponent won't fight, it's hard to get anything going. marwuez wasn't very impressive v gainer either, in a big featherweight unification a few years back, mainly because gainer wouldn't fight.

Will Kessler losing make it eaiser to sell to UK tv?

Andre Ward was exceptional the other night, it was a pity he resorted to the headbutts, but IMO it didn't effect the overall result. Ward's got a style that will cause our Carl problems if they meet

leforge wrote:Will Kessler losing make it eaiser to sell to UK tv?

Why Easier? I thought a unification clash would've been easier to sell

It make it harder I was meant to say, they cannot put this on primetime!

leforge wrote:It make it harder I was meant to say, they cannot put this on primetime!

Why can't this go on good old primetime?

That's where I'd expect it to end up especially now Mikkel has lost

It wont get the coverage it deserves on primetime!

leforge wrote:It wont get the coverage it deserves on primetime!

Fair enough, but as long as it's on in my front room I don't care.

Come on Frochy!!

I hope they actually get it onto virgin!