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Mikkel Kessler believes that appointing Jimmy Montoya as his head trainer will help him to take Carl Froch's WBC super-middleweight title on April 17 and win the Super Six tournament, that he started as favourite for.
After losing his WBA title in his Super Six opener to Andre Ward in November, Kessler, whose only other defeat was to Joe Calzaghe, elected to end his 11-year relationship with trainer Richard Olsen and promote intermittent assistant Montoya to head trainer.
Montoya, 73, has a lifetime of experience in the sport and has worked closely with the likes of Héctor Camacho and Alexis Arguello. And the well-respected Mexican, who has also worked as a manager, cutman and matchmaker, is already in Demark working an intense training camp with the former tournament favourite.
The 30-year-old Copenhagen native believes a more tactical approach can steer him to the top of the division.
“Calzaghe and Ward have now defeated me in close fights – where they succeeded in taking away my strengths,” said the former WBA champion. “The corner and I never really found a solution to that challenge and therefore I lost the fights.
I need to cope with that kind of situation and therefore I have decided to install another coach for the Froch fight than Richard Olsen. Richard has been my close friend for ages and he has been my coach in each and every single fight of my career so far.
“Richard made me the fighter I am today – without him I would never have made it to this level. The reason why I have decided to bring in new competences into the team is to try to look at the tactics from a new perspective.
"Jimmy has been a part of my team before, as an assistant of Richard, but never as the head coach. Jimmy has a life-long experience in the world of boxing, and I am sure that he will be able to teach me new tactical dimensions and take me to the finals of the Super Six tournament.”
The Viking Warrior is keen to banish the memories of his career-worst performance against Andre Ward and produce a vintage performance for his adoring fans. Kessler added: “Another important element to that fight (in April) is the opportunity to show the boxing world that what happened in Oakland was a one-time incident.
"Against Froch you will see a mad and hungry Mikkel Kessler ready to prove all those people wrong who have criticized me for my lack of sportive ambition in the Super Six tournament. I will come back stronger than ever – to show my home crowd what I am made of.”
Kessler’s appointment has received the backing of Chris Meyer, General Manager of Team Sauerland, who said: “After the fight in Oakland, it was clear that changes had to be made. We feel extremely optimistic about Jimmy and Mikkel. They are a great team. We have no doubts that Jimmy will help Mikkel back to success and glory, starting with a convincing victory against Froch and leading up all the way to the final of the Super Six tournament.”
After losing his WBA title in his Super Six opener to Andre Ward in November, Kessler, whose only other defeat was to Joe Calzaghe, elected to end his 11-year relationship with trainer Richard Olsen and promote intermittent assistant Montoya to head trainer.
Montoya, 73, has a lifetime of experience in the sport and has worked closely with the likes of Héctor Camacho and Alexis Arguello. And the well-respected Mexican, who has also worked as a manager, cutman and matchmaker, is already in Demark working an intense training camp with the former tournament favourite.
The 30-year-old Copenhagen native believes a more tactical approach can steer him to the top of the division.
“Calzaghe and Ward have now defeated me in close fights – where they succeeded in taking away my strengths,” said the former WBA champion. “The corner and I never really found a solution to that challenge and therefore I lost the fights.
I need to cope with that kind of situation and therefore I have decided to install another coach for the Froch fight than Richard Olsen. Richard has been my close friend for ages and he has been my coach in each and every single fight of my career so far.
“Richard made me the fighter I am today – without him I would never have made it to this level. The reason why I have decided to bring in new competences into the team is to try to look at the tactics from a new perspective.
"Jimmy has been a part of my team before, as an assistant of Richard, but never as the head coach. Jimmy has a life-long experience in the world of boxing, and I am sure that he will be able to teach me new tactical dimensions and take me to the finals of the Super Six tournament.”
The Viking Warrior is keen to banish the memories of his career-worst performance against Andre Ward and produce a vintage performance for his adoring fans. Kessler added: “Another important element to that fight (in April) is the opportunity to show the boxing world that what happened in Oakland was a one-time incident.
"Against Froch you will see a mad and hungry Mikkel Kessler ready to prove all those people wrong who have criticized me for my lack of sportive ambition in the Super Six tournament. I will come back stronger than ever – to show my home crowd what I am made of.”
Kessler’s appointment has received the backing of Chris Meyer, General Manager of Team Sauerland, who said: “After the fight in Oakland, it was clear that changes had to be made. We feel extremely optimistic about Jimmy and Mikkel. They are a great team. We have no doubts that Jimmy will help Mikkel back to success and glory, starting with a convincing victory against Froch and leading up all the way to the final of the Super Six tournament.”
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