Reverse the Hearse: Kessler Rebounds to Edge Froch
Mikkel Kessler rose from the ashes of the Andre Ward debacle last night, snatching Carl Froch’s WBC title from him in Herning after a hard fought and gruelling struggle. In what was the best fight of the Super Six tournament thus far, the Dane managed to dredge up a performance from his past, to edge an entertaining battle featuring a wild and compelling closing session.
In front of a partisan home crowd, it was the away man who settled best, showing an improved defence as he attacked in bursts. Kessler, the more correct puncher, threw more leather, yet in many of the rounds Froch’s heavier hitting cancelled out his opponent’s greater volume. “The Viking Warrior” wore a pensive look as he advanced, yet appeared determined to impose his will on Froch and I had him nicking the second round after throwing some lovely looking shots to head and body.
Pre-fight, experts had stuggled to split the closely matched duo and this extended over to the fighting, with many of the rounds extremely difficult to score. I was unable to separate them in the third (and later, in round ten) though preferred the Brit in rounds four and five after he landed hard, chopping shots into the side of Kessler’s head.
The Dane responded in rounds six through eight, using good lateral movement and footwork to get in and out of range whilst landing good rights over Froch’s left and swift left handers. He also employed the veteran’s trick of rallying at round’s end, an effective method of swaying a judge’s fancy.
Froch had a good ninth, spurred towards the end of the round after the challenger’s left eye was split laterally above the eyebrow. Rampaging forward, Carl upped his activity level noticeably, zoning in on Kessler’s weak spot as he hurled sweeping hooks upstairs. It was to the Danish corner’s credit that they stemmed the gash sufficiently so as not to affect Mikkel unduly and, he finished stongly, dragging himself over the finishing line with a spirited eleventh and a fantastic final three minutes.
In a round which will no doubt feature in any best of the year discussions, the pair fenced fiercely over the first minute, battling to control centre ring with bursts of walloping punches. With a jig in his step, Kessler then emptied his clip over the next minute and a half, leaping in and out of range whilst landing vicious lefts and right handers on his disorganised foe. Froch (now cut himself over his left eye) refused to be yield and returned fire, hooking inside strongly as Kessler’s reserves ebbed away. In a fitting end to the contest they wailed away for the final ten seconds and on the bell, Kessler grinned maniacally, revelling in the fight’s fury.
Judges Guido Cavalleri, Daniel Van de Wiele and Roger Tilleman returned scores of 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111 in favour of Kessler, the latter two of which seemed too wide (I had it closer at 116-114). It continued the theme of the home fighter dominating this flagship tournament, a fact not lost on Froch, who has threatened to withdraw from the competition after a suggestion his third round contest with Arthur Abraham be switched to Berlin.
Kessler, meanwhile, is now a three time super middleweight titlist and has breathed life into his tournament chances after this gutsy and determined victory. He faces Allan Green next up, whose own chances will be better gauged after his clash with tournament favourite Andre Ward in June.
Elsewhere, former cruiserweight champ Tomasz Adamek outpointed Chris Arreola in California to gatecrash the upper echelons of the heavyweight division.
*Stay tuned this week for a bumper build up to the colossal Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley showdown next weekend.
Leave a Reply
Blog at WordPress.com. Theme: Duotone by Automattic.
