By Per Ake Persson, at ringside
At the MCH Messecenter in Herning, Denmark, Mikkel Kessler (43-2, 32KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Carl Froch (26-1, 20KOs) in a fight-of-the-year war to capture the WBC super middleweight title. The scores were 117-111, 115-113, 116-112. Kessler picks up two points in Showtime's Super Six Boxing Classic.
Froch did very well in the first round, landing some good jabs while Kessler seemed to be off with his punches and starting slow. They came out jabbing in the second. Kessler started to get busier. Froch stayed on the back foot looking to counter. Kessler began to make Froch miss and made him pay. Froch started shooting a fast jab and tried to charge Kessler. The battle of jabs continued. Kessler and Froch traded some punches near the end. In the third, Kessler was stalking Froch and trying to land something big. Froch was doing some good defensive work. Froch with a good right hand. Kessler countered to the body. They start trading jabs. Froch with a good right hand and another. Froch starts jabbing hard and throwing combos behind them. Froch landed some good punches in the final twenty seconds.
The fourth began with Kessler coming forward and looking for a big shot. Kessler with a good jab. Froch landed a huge right hand. Kessler took it and kept coming. They started to trade some big punches. Both using their jabs to work inside. Kessler with a big combo of punches at the end. At the start of the fifth, they started trading big punches. They were getting very active with big punches. Kessler went down from a slip. The action really heated up as Froch charged him with hard shots. Froch battled back with his own power shots. Froch with a very big right hand to push Kessler back. Froch jumped on him with some good shots. The sixth round saw the two go back to trading some heavy shots in the first minute. Kessler was landing better. Froch fired back in the second minute. Kessler with a hard left. Froch came back with two combos. Kessler unloads as he traps Froch against the ropes. Froch lands a hard left and right. Kessler tagging him with big combo and Froch came back with a few shots of his own.
The seventh began with more big punches from both guys. Every time Kessler fired off, Froch would answer back. The action was close but Kessler was coming forward and Froch loved every minute of it. Kessler lets loose with a few punches in the final ten seconds. In the eight, Kessler with a good right hand. Kessler was pushing forward, trying to land something big. Froch walked right into a big shot and it rocked him. Kessler jumped on him to finish. Froch stayed calm and fought him off until the bell. The ninth saw the two jabbing from the distance. Froch was cut on his nose. Kessler putting a lot of pressure on Froch and landed a big shot to the body. Froch landing a good combo of punches and another combo to push Kessler back. Kessler going back to Froch's body and hit the head. Froch with a combo. Kessler came back with an uppercut and a left hand. Kessler looking a bit tired as he went back to his corner.
Between the ninth and tenth, it was shown that Kessler had a cut open up above the left eye. Kessler seemed tired in the tenth but he continued to trade with Froch. The left eye of Kessler was starting to look very bad. Froch with a good right. They traded some big shots as Kessler jumped on him in the final thirty seconds. The eleventh round saw Froch go back to the jab. Kessler started to put the pressure on. Kessler landed two combos and a right hand. Kessler to the body and then landed a left. Kessler with a big right and Froch with a bomb of his own. The two of them started throwing some crushing punches with both hands. The chins of both held up. They were landing some heavy shots. They were both tired in the final ten seconds as the bell rang.
The twelfth and final round saw the jabbing contest start off. Kessler with a good combo. They started trading punches at close range. They started going to war once again with punches flying from all angles. Froch landed a huge right and the two of them started letting it all hang out. A cut opened up near the left eye of Froch as they continued to trade and trade. Kessler was unloading with everything and Froch was answering with his own punches until the bell. The entire arena was going nuts when the final bell was called.
Heavyweights: Edmund Gerber outscored Samir Kurtagic over eight drab rounds. Gerber was credited with a knockdown in fifth. It was scored 79-72 and 80-72.
Middleweights: Danish prospect Patrick Nielsen knocked out Hungarian Norbert Szekeres at 0.54 of the fourth and final round with a southpaw left hook to the body.
Junior middleweights: Koko Murat beat Nick Klappert with a close, majority decision over eight hard-fought rounds in an internal Sauerland eliminator. It was scored 77-76, 77-75 and 76-76. There was a lot at stake and it showed.
Middleweights: Thomas Troelenberg won a split decision after six against Italian Elio Cotena. It was scored 58-56 and 59-56 for the German and 58-56 for Cotena.
Cruiserweights: Lukas Schulz knocked out Hungarian Viktor Szalai at 1.59 of the third of a scheduled six-rounder.
Schulz and Troelenberg came in on late notice to replace Erik Skoglund and Marcos Nader who were both stopped from fighting due to the Danish rule (from the Ministre of Justice) that says you need to be 21 to fight professionally in Denmark.
