By Mark Vester
At the Brondby Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark, Mikkel Kessler (40-1, 30KOs), in his first bout since losing a decision to Joe Calzaghe last November, stopped previously unbeaten Dimitri Sartison (22-1, 14KOs) in the twelfth and final round to capture the vacant WBA super middleweight title.
Sartinson was game, but could never off with enough punches to change the pace of the fight. Kessler slowly broke him down, sending him down to a knee in the eleventh and finished him off in the final round. Sartison was so exhausted that he crumbled after the fight and was carried out on a stretcher.
Per the order of the WBA, Kessler must now face Danilo Haussler (29-3, 7KOs) inside of 120 days with a 60-40 split of the purse in favor of Kessler. Team Palle, Kessler's promoters, plan to appeal the WBA's decision and Sauerland Event, who promote Haussler, will fight for their man to get his shot.
On the undercard
Lightweight Martin Kristjansen (20-2-3, 6KOs) continued to recover from the knockout loss to Amir Khan by stopping Wellington de Jesus (15-3, 9KOs) in the fourth-round.
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