Kessler looks the man to back this weekend.
CLASSY KESSLER TO KO WARD
By Derek Bilton
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That's the current state of play after two fights of the ingenious Super Six super-middleweight boxing event. This weekend Andre Ward boxes Mikkel Kessler with the former looking to get America on the board in terms of points scored.
The 25-year-old Ward is arguably America's finest fistic prospect, unbeaten and boxing on home soil in Oakland, California this Saturday night. That's the good news. The bad news is he is fighting against tournament favourite Mikkel Kessler, an exceptionally tough, seasoned Dane who has already proved himself at the very highest level.
WBA world champion Kessler has lost just once in 43 pro fights and that was in Cardiff against a peak Joe Calzaghe. There were mitigating circumstances for that defeat too after revelations that Kessler went into the fight with a damaged right hand that limited him to just two weeks of sparring prior to their 2007 shindig.
He has a decent record on the road too. For as well as acquitting himself well against Calzaghe, Kessler has also dominated Anthony Mundine in his native Australia and more recently stopped Danilo Haussler in three rounds in Germany.
Kessler is a bad man. A serious talent with that classic upright European style, he punches with authority with both hands. 32 of his 40 wins have come inside the distance and he has been boxing in world title fights since 2004. At 30-years-old it's not as if he's past his prime either and he is bullish about his prospects of winning in America.
One man who will be more interested than most in the outcome of Saturday's fight is Carl Froch, who decisioned Andre Dirrell in his first Super Six fight and who is set to face Kessler next.
If the Dane wins then he and Froch will be duking it out in a super-middleweight unification showdown in 2010 with WBA and WBC belts on the line. For the record, Froch fancies Kessler to get it done this weekend.
Mikkel has an aura and it seems he genuinely relishes fighting on the big stage.
Speaking in the final media call ahead of this one the 'Viking Warrior' said: "I am ready to fight. I didn't come all the way from Denmark to lose and I am fully prepared and 150% ready. I'm in better shape now than I have ever been... I may be 30 but I have a lot of fight left. Saturday night can't come soon enough."
Kessler has served his time in the sport but Ward has everything to prove. His amateur pedigree is as good as it gets though after winning gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He's yet to really put a foot wrong as a pro either having racked up 20 win (13 inside the distance). Indeed Ward claims he has not lost a fight since he was 12-years-old and the truth is we just don't know how good he is.
His best win came earlier this year when he decisioned the heavy-handed Edison Miranda over 12 rounds at the same Oracle Arena venue where Saturday's action will take place.
However he has yet to box anyone anywhere near Kessler's level as a pro so it's sink or swim time for him this weekend. The self-styled S.O.G (Son of God) is a quick, flashy operator with excellent hand speed. He's not a murderous puncher but moves well in the ring and he'll look to start fast and keep Kessler on the back foot.
But I'm not sure he is battle-hardened in the way the Dane is and my fear is that this fight could be coming a little too soon for him. Ward has been on the deck before (Darnell Boon dropped him back in 2005 but Ward got up to punch out a decision over six) and question marks remain as to whether he has the chin to survive when Kessler starts letting the bombs go?
There has been controversy over the judging ahead of this one with Team Kessler threatening to pull the plug on the fight unless Ward's promoters changed the original officials (it was rumoured that initially two of the judges and the referee would be from California). Happily this all seems to have been resolved but Kessler's camp are concerned, perhaps rightly, that their man might not get a fair shake on US soil.
In this opening weekend of Super Six action there were plenty who felt that Ward's fellow countryman Dirrell should have been awarded the decision in his fight with Froch in Nottingham. He wasn't, and history has shown numerous examples of a home fighter getting his hand raised on points against a foreigner when the action has been evenly contested.
I can definitely see a scenario where Ward wins this on points (4/1 generally) by using hit and hold tactics and those devilishly quick hands to frustrate Kessler and catch the officials' eye. Having been on such an impressive winning run he will be as confident as a fighter can be going into a world title clash.
Outwardly he has been saying all the right things in the run up to this one but in his quieter moments he will be questioning himself as to whether he has what it takes to pull this off. A loss here would be disastrous for the tournament in terms of US interest with two fighters already having been beaten.
While a Ward decision win isn't out of the question, more likely I see Kessler trying to impose his strength and authority on Ward and take the fight out of the judges' hands. Kessler is ultra solid, well rounded and exudes confidence. When he says he isn't intimidated about fighting in Ward's backyard we should believe him. And he is definitely the puncher in the fight.
He will look to test Ward's chin at every opportunity and the Dane carries his power both early and late in a fight. It should be very watchable while it lasts but ultimately I fancy Kessler to bomb Ward out at some point after round five.
Preview posted at 1120GMT on 20/11/2009
