Mikkel Kessler
Mikkel Kessler | |
---|---|
![]() Kessler in 2010 | |
Statistics | |
Nickname(s) | Viking Warrior |
Weight(s) |
|
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
Reach | 188 cm (74 in) |
Nationality | Danish |
Born | Copenhagen, Denmark | 1 March 1979
Stance | Orthodox |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 49 |
Wins | 46 |
Wins by KO | 35 |
Losses | 3 |
Mikkel Kessler (born 1 March 1979) is a Danish former professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2013. He is a multiple-time super-middleweight world champion, having held the WBA title three times between 2004 and 2013, and the WBC title twice between 2006 and 2010. He also won the IBA World Title in 2002.
Early life[]
Kessler was born to a Danish father and an English mother, Ann, who hails from Salisbury, Wiltshire.[1] He began his vocation early, training in boxing gyms at age 13.
Amateur career[]
Kessler competed five years as an amateur (2/93-1/98). He finished his amateur career with a record of 44 wins and three losses. He won the 1995 European Cadet (15-16 age group) Championship,[2] 1996 and 1997 Danish Junior Championships,[3] the 1996 Nordic Amateur Championship,[4] and in his last amateur bout won the 1998 Zealand International Tournament after stopping all 3 of his opponents.
Professional career[]
Early career[]
Kessler originally campaigned as a light middleweight and then middleweight for the first 22 fights of his career. He won 16 of his first 22 fights by knockout (KO).
Super middleweight[]
After 3 years and 22 fights, Kessler settled in the super middleweight division. Kessler continued his hard hitting streak, dispatching 6 of his first 7 opponents by KO, thereby improving his record to 29–0 with 22 KO.
On 29 November 2002, Kessler fought for his first championship and defeated former WBC Super Middleweight Champion Dingaan Thobela over twelve rounds to become the International Boxing Association Champion. He gave up this belt to fight for the more recognized WBC International title on 11 April 2003, versus . Kessler won by a knockout in the third round.
He defended his title on three occasions before finally hitting it big on 12 November 2004. His stablemate, Mads Larsen, another Danish World Class fighter, was set to challenge Manny Siaca for the WBA Championship in Copenhagen. Larsen was injured in training and Kessler took the fight on short notice, winning the title.
Kessler defended his title against Anthony Mundine in Sydney in June 2005 and Eric Lucas in January 2006.
On 14 October 2006, Kessler was elevated to WBA Super Champion status after winning the WBC title in a unification battle against WBC World Champion Markus Beyer at the Parken Stadium. He won by knockout at 2:58 in round 3.
Kessler defended his WBA (Super) and WBC titles on 24 March 2007, at the Parken Stadium against WBC mandatory challenger Librado Andrade. The fight was scored as a shutout (120–108) by all three judges.
Kessler vs. Calzaghe[]
Kessler then met fellow undefeated champion, Welshman Joe Calzaghe, in a bout that would unify his WBA and WBC super middleweight championships with Calzaghe's WBO and The Ring titles. The bout took place at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on 3 November 2007, in front of over 50,000 fans (then the largest indoor boxing event in European history), and Kessler lost the unification bout via unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the fight: 117–111, 116–112, 116–112.[5]
Second world title reign[]
After Calzaghe vacated the WBA title to move up to light heavyweight, Kessler was put in a match with Dimitri Sartison on 21 June 2008, for the vacant belt. Kessler knocked out Sartison in the final round to regain his title.
Kessler successfully defended his title against Danilo Häussler by third-round knockout on 25 October and against Gusmyl Perdomo (16–2, 10 KOs) by fourth-round knockout on 12 September 2009, one minute into the round.
In November 2009 the WBA once again promoted him to Super Champion, this time prior to unifying any Super Middleweight titles.[6]
Super Six[]
Kessler vs. Ward[]
His first fight was against Andre Ward on 21 November 2009 for Kessler's WBA Super Middleweight Championship in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. On 21 November 2009 Kessler lost his championship to Andre Ward. The fight was stopped in the eleventh round due to cuts on Kessler's face caused by what were deemed as unintentional headbutts by Ward, five in total. Kessler expressed in the post fight interview that he couldn't get out of first gear due to the headbutts and excessive clinching from Ward, and that he was eventually blinded by one of Ward's headbutts which on the post fight replay showed Ward ram his forehead directly into Kessler's eye. The fight went to the scorecards and Ward was far ahead by scores of 98–92, 98–92 and 97–93 at the time of the stoppage.
Kessler vs. Froch[]
On 24 April 2010 Kessler returned to fight against Britain's undefeated WBC Champion Carl Froch, a match that was called "a classic" and "one of the best matches in Danish boxing ever."[7] The contest went the distance and Kessler was handed a unanimous decision with scores of 115–113, 116–112 and 117–111. With the win, Kessler became a two time WBC Champion, handing Carl Froch his first defeat in the process. Froch later stated that he'd suffered a minor ear injury during training and he felt he would've won the fight if it had been held in his home-country of England, but congratulated Kessler on his victory.[8]
Andre Ward later praised Kessler tremendously in an interview, calling Kessler "skill wise... the toughest I’ve fought so far." Ward went on to express admiration over Kessler's career and dispelling any criticism after his own victory over Kessler. "People want to put down Mikkel Kessler because of our fight but he’s proven himself. He’s proven that if he loses a title he can come back and become champion again, he did that after our fight so now he’s a three time world champion. Anybody that can win a world title three times and only have two losses in the process says a lot. He’s a great fighter and I give him a lot of credit and I have a lot of respect for him."[9]
On 25 August Kessler announced he was withdrawing from the Super Six tournament due to the worsening of the eye injury he suffered in his fight against Ward. According to Ekstra Bladet newspaper, Kessler stated he was seeing double. Doctors told him he must take a nine-month break from boxing.[10]
Comeback[]
Kessler vs. Bouadla[]
Mikkel Kessler suddenly announced his comeback, and fought against Mehdi Bouadla and scored victory by TKO. Mikkel claimed that if he had lost this fight he would retire. He was scheduled to fight against Robert Stieglitz in Copenhagen, Denmark at Parken Stadium, but the fight was cancelled due to a hand injury Kessler sustained in training.
Light heavyweight[]
Kessler vs. Green[]
In 2012, Kessler moved up in weight class to light heavyweight. In May 2012, he fought Allan Green for the vacant WBC Silver Light Heavyweight title. Kessler won via knockout in the fourth round, after getting dropped by a hard right hand in the first round.
Return to super middleweight[]
Kessler vs. Magee[]
Late in 2012, Kessler went up against Brian Magee of Northern Ireland for the WBA Super middleweight title. Two times in the 2nd round Brian Magee went to the floor after hard bodyshots from Kessler, and 24 seconds in the third round it was all over, when Kessler landed another hard bodyshot to Brian Magee.
Kessler vs. Froch II[]
On 15 January 2013, it was announced that a rematch between Mikkel Kessler and Carl Froch was going to take place on 25 May 2013 at The O2 Arena in London. There will be two belts on the line, Kessler's WBA- and Froch's IBF title. Kessler won the last showdown between the two boxers, in Herning, Denmark. That time Froch was an undefeated WBC title holder, and they were both fighting in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. The faced each other at stage 2, after Kessler lost his first fight against Andre Ward, and Froch won a close fought contest against Andre Dirrell.
Froch defeated Kessler by unanimous decision on 25 May 2013, by 118-110 116-112 115-113 as he controlled Kessler with his jab for large parts of the fight. Kessler caught Froch with a big right hand in the 11th round to wobble him, but it was too late in the fight.[11]
Retirement and potential comeback[]
On 1 February 2015, Kessler announced that he was in a "state of retirement" via social media.[12] Kessler came out of retirement on 31 March 2017.[13] On 21 June, it was said that Kessler could be added to the .[14] Kessler passed on the Super Series and was looking to face Roamer Angulo on November.[15][16] On 16 October, Kessler revealed he had been hit by Lyme disease and his return would be delayed until 2018.[17] In February 2018, speaking to BT, Kessler said, "I just can't find the motivation to go through with it all," confirming he would stay retired.[18]
Professional boxing record[]
49 fights | 46 wins | 3 losses |
By knockout | 35 | 0 |
By decision | 11 | 3 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
49 | Loss | 46–3 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 25 May 2013 | ![]() |
Lost WBA (Regular) super-middleweight title; For IBF super-middleweight title |
48 | Win | 46–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (12), 0:24 | 8 Dec 2012 | ![]() |
Won WBA (Regular) super-middleweight title |
47 | Win | 45–2 | ![]() |
KO | 4 (12), 0:17 | 19 May 2012 | ![]() |
Won vacant WBC Silver light-heavyweight title |
46 | Win | 44–2 | ![]() |
TKO | 6 (12), 2:25 | 4 Jun 2011 | ![]() |
Won vacant WBO European super-middleweight title |
45 | Win | 43–2 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 24 Apr 2010 | ![]() |
Won WBC super-middleweight title |
44 | Loss | 42–2 | ![]() |
TD | 11 (12), 1:42 | 21 Nov 2009 | ![]() |
Lost WBA (Super) super-middleweight title; Super Six World Boxing Classic: group stage 1; Unanimous TD after Kessler cut from accidental head clashes |
43 | Win | 42–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (12), 0:51 | 12 Sep 2009 | ![]() |
Retained WBA super-middleweight title |
42 | Win | 41–1 | ![]() |
KO | 3 (12), 1:08 | 25 Oct 2008 | ![]() |
Retained WBA super-middleweight title |
41 | Win | 40–1 | ![]() |
KO | 12 (12), 2:00 | 21 Jun 2008 | ![]() |
Won vacant WBA (Regular) super-middleweight title |
40 | Loss | 39–1 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 3 Nov 2007 | ![]() |
Lost WBA (Unified) and WBC super-middleweight titles; For WBO and The Ring super-middleweight titles |
39 | Win | 39–0 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 24 Mar 2007 | ![]() |
Retained WBA (Unified) and WBC super-middleweight titles |
38 | Win | 38–0 | ![]() |
KO | 3 (12), 2:58 | 14 Oct 2006 | ![]() |
Retained WBA (Unified) super-middleweight title; Won WBC super-middleweight title |
37 | Win | 37–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 10 (12), 1:51 | 14 Jan 2006 | ![]() |
Retained WBA super-middleweight title |
36 | Win | 36–0 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 8 Jun 2005 | ![]() |
Retained WBA super-middleweight title |
35 | Win | 35–0 | ![]() |
RTD | 7 (12), 3:00 | 12 Nov 2004 | ![]() |
Won WBA super-middleweight title |
34 | Win | 34–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 11 (12), 1:32 | 11 Jun 2004 | ![]() |
Retained WBC International super-middleweight title |
33 | Win | 33–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (12), 1:20 | 13 Mar 2004 | ![]() |
Retained WBC International super-middleweight title |
32 | Win | 32–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 9 (12), 2:46 | 24 Oct 2003 | ![]() |
Retained WBC International super-middleweight title |
31 | Win | 31–0 | ![]() |
KO | 3 (12), 1:09 | 11 Apr 2003 | ![]() |
Won vacant WBC International super-middleweight title |
30 | Win | 30–0 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 29 Nov 2002 | ![]() |
Won vacant IBA super-middleweight title |
29 | Win | 29–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (8), 1:58 | 8 Nov 2002 | ![]() |
|
28 | Win | 28–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 8 (8), 2:33 | 4 Oct 2002 | ![]() |
|
27 | Win | 27–0 | ![]() |
RTD | 6 (8), 3:00 | 24 May 2002 | ![]() |
|
26 | Win | 26–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 6 (8), 0:52 | 15 Mar 2002 | ![]() |
|
25 | Win | 25–0 | ![]() |
RTD | 4 (8), 3:00 | 8 Feb 2002 | ![]() |
|
24 | Win | 24–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (8), 1:30 | 16 Nov 2001 | ![]() |
|
23 | Win | 23–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 13 Oct 2001 | ![]() |
|
22 | Win | 22–0 | ![]() |
KO | 4 (6), 1:09 | 27 Apr 2001 | ![]() |
|
21 | Win | 21–0 | ![]() |
KO | 3 (6), 0:30 | 9 Mar 2001 | ![]() |
|
20 | Win | 20–0 | ![]() |
KO | 2 (6), 0:45 | 9 Feb 2001 | ![]() |
|
19 | Win | 19–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 6 (6), 1:36 | 1 Sep 2000 | ![]() |
|
18 | Win | 18–0 | ![]() |
KO | 2 (6), 2:41 | 28 Apr 2000 | ![]() |
|
17 | Win | 17–0 | ![]() |
KO | 3 (6), 1:35 | 31 Mar 2000 | ![]() |
|
16 | Win | 16–0 | ![]() |
KO | 2 (6), 2:59 | 4 Mar 2000 | ![]() |
|
15 | Win | 15–0 | ![]() |
KO | 3 (6), 2:30 | 18 Feb 2000 | ![]() |
|
14 | Win | 14–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 14 Jan 2000 | ![]() |
|
13 | Win | 13–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 4 May 1999 | ![]() |
|
12 | Win | 12–0 | ![]() |
KO | 2 (6), 2:10 | 16 Apr 1999 | ![]() |
|
11 | Win | 11–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 19 Mar 1999 | ![]() |
|
10 | Win | 10–0 | ![]() |
KO | 6 (6), 2:13 | 12 Feb 1999 | ![]() |
|
9 | Win | 9–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 27 Nov 1998 | ![]() |
|
8 | Win | 8–0 | ![]() |
UD | 6 | 6 Nov 1998 | ![]() |
|
7 | Win | 7–0 | ![]() |
KO | 2 (6), 2:34 | 16 Oct 1998 | ![]() |
|
6 | Win | 6–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (4), 2:54 | 18 Sep 1998 | ![]() |
|
5 | Win | 5–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (4), 2:35 | 4 Sep 1998 | ![]() |
|
4 | Win | 4–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (4), 2:16 | 5 Jun 1998 | ![]() |
|
3 | Win | 3–0 | ![]() |
UD | 4 | 1 May 1998 | ![]() |
|
2 | Win | 2–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (4), 2:40 | 3 Apr 1998 | ![]() |
|
1 | Win | 1–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (4), 1:09 | 20 Mar 1998 | ![]() |
References[]
- ^ Gareth A Davies (1 November 2007). "Mikkel Kessler displays his warrior spirit". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ^ "European Cadet Championships 1995". Amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ^ team palle amateur record bottom page
- ^ scroll through Nordic Champions at bottom page Archived 14 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Calzaghe v Kessler as it happened
- ^ "Sartison-Bozic for WBA Super Middleweight title". WBA. 3 November 2009. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ Thor Carlskov (25 April 2010). "Mikkel Kessler vandt en klassiker". Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ^ Vester, Mark (24 April 2010) Froch: If I Was Back Home, I Would Have Beaten Kessler – Boxing News. Boxingscene.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-01.
- ^ Ricardo Conde (30 June 2010). "Q&A: Andre Ward". Fightnews.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ^ "Kessler out of Super Six". Fightnews.com. 25 August 2010. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ^ https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/may/26/carl-froch-mikkel-kessler-world-title-fight
- ^ "Kessler announces retirement on Social Meia". BleacherReport. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ^ "Mikkel Kessler: Former world champion to return four years after last fight". BBC Sport. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- ^ "Mikkel Kessler To Be Part of The World Boxing Super Series - Boxing News". boxingscene.com. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- ^ http://www.boxingscene.com/mikkel-kessler-pass-on-wbss-wild-card-eyes-fall-ring-return--117800
- ^ http://www.boxingscene.com/mikkel-kessler-vs-roamer-angulo-nears-november-11--120160
- ^ http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/21039513/mikkel-kessler-comeback-delayed-tick-bite
- ^ "Mikkel Kessler Rules Out Comeback Plans, Will Remain Retired". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
External links[]
- Official website
- Boxing record for Mikkel Kessler from BoxRec
- Mikkel Kessler Fight-by-Fight Career Record
showSporting positions |
---|
- World super-middleweight boxing champions
- World Boxing Association champions
- World Boxing Council champions
- Sportspeople from Copenhagen
- 1979 births
- Living people
- Danish male boxers
- Light-heavyweight boxers
- Danish people of English descent