In Group Stage Two of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, Carl Froch suffered the first loss of his career against Mikkel Kessler in Herning, Denmark. The Europeans engaged in a memorable war that could go down as 2010’s Fight of the Year and possibly the best fight of the tournament, with Kessler ultimately winning a unanimous decision.
Coming off the second – and most one-sided – loss of his career against Andre Ward, Kessler desperately needed the win to pick up the points to survive in the Super Six. And he certainly fought like it against the hard-nosed Englishman.
Froch had a lot to deal with coming into Denmark, initially refusing to fight in Herning because his fans couldn’t be expected to travel to the industrial city. When he did agree to fight, he was unable to fly in on time due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland freezing airline travel. The WBC Champion eventually arrived on a private jet commissioned by Kessler’s promoter Sauerland earlier in the week.
The opening round saw both men fighting tactically and trying to establish the jab. Kessler’s landed more often, and Froch’s corner disclosed to him that they could expect the round to go to Kessler, being in the Danish fighter’s home country – a fair assessment, given that home fighters were 4-0 in the Super Six thus far.
Working behind the jab, Kessler landed two solid body shots to open round two. Froch hit mostly glove on his power shot attempts but did catch Kessler coming in with some stiff jabs to the face. At the end of the round, Kessler fired a three-punch combination at Froch but caught a counter right hand to the head that made him wobble momentarily off balance, likely dropping a close round to the champion.
Kessler stalked Froch in the third round and tagged him hard to the body. Two clean jabs landed for Kessler and put Froch on the ropes, where the Englishman responded with a right to the head. Froch found the range with his jab late in the round, but Kessler’s more consistent boxing likely pushed the round in his favor.
Froch stepped in with a right to the head of Kessler midway through round four. Another, harder one moved Kessler back – the best punch of the fight to that point. Kessler answered shortly after with a right-left combination to the head, only to suffer an uppercut from the champion. Froch extended his glove toward the crowd before using it to smack in a body shot. Kessler came back with a right but ate a jab in return, and the first clear round of the fight for either man went to Froch.
They traded left hooks early in the fifth. Froch followed up with a right and a wild left hook that caught Kessler flush. Another, equally wild left hook followed and snapped Kessler’s head to the side. Kessler answered with a straight right to the body but had his head snapped back by a jab. Later, Froch stepped in with a right but was standing on Kessler’s foot as he did so, and the challenger tumbled to the canvas, rolling completely over himself.
Referee Michael Griffin correctly ruled it a slip, but, once Kessler was back on his feet, Froch rushed in with a left hook. Kessler tried one of his own and took another from Froch. Froch then stepped in and bombed Kessler with a crushing right hand to the head that made the Dane stagger. He sent home another but walked into one from Kessler before the end of the round – a big one for Froch.
Round six began with a big right hand from Kessler. Froch shook his head and held up his glove to shrug it off, but Kessler grinned and wiggled his glove as well. He opened up with body shots to Froch, who had to hold for a breather. Froch then dropped his gloves and ate a round of jabs. Jumping in, Kessler added a left hook across the nose. Froch pounded in a right-left in return before Kessler landed his own left hook. Froch let his hands go and scored with a right-left to the head of the challenger. Then it was Kessler’s turn to fire, driving a straight right into the side of Froch’s head and landing a body shot. Kessler put in enough work to claim the round, but Froch landed the more eye-catching blows down the stretch.
Kessler pushed Froch into the ropes in round seven, pounding in a right hand. He worked his jab well from a distance but got his head snapped back by a straight right. Froch later tried to hit on a break and dragged his elbow across Kessler’s face. The fans booed as blood quickly began to flow from over the home fighter’s left eye. Kessler ignored it and attacked with a one-two and a left hook to the head, as Froch appeared to tire. Kessler added one last looping right to the back of the head as Froch was ducking away, ending an excellent round for the challenger.
Froch stuffed in a short right early in round eight but took a stiff jab to the face. He tried a straight right and instead ate one from Kessler. Froch waited to try again and, when he did, took another hard straight right across the nose that doubled him over. Kessler sensed Froch was hurt and sent in a right to the body and one to the head against the ropes. He added a left hook, followed by one to the body, before catching Froch with a straight right to the face. Froch exited the round – Kessler’s best of the fight – cut on the bridge of his nose.
Despite the disastrous round he just had, Froch landed the bigger shots of round nine, getting in two right hands on Kessler early. Kessler later knocked him back with a left hook under the chin and added a one-two to the body. But Froch kept coming and snapped Kessler’s head back with a sneaky left hook, followed by a right hand along the ropes. Kessler walked through a jab to land an uppercut, but Froch answered with another right and a left hook across the face, wobbling Kessler back.
With blood covering the left side of his face, Kessler tagged Froch with an uppercut in round ten. Froch also caught a left hook and a straight right as he was ducking. Kessler scored with another straight right and avoided the counter left hook – his technical prowess beginning to show through. He banged away at the body and turned Froch’s head with a yet another right. However, Froch came back to nail Kessler with a winging left hook. He banged home a right, followed by a left-right that rattled Kessler’s head. An increasingly aggressive Kessler worked Froch into a corner but failed to land significant blows, and Froch took the tenth.
Knowing the fight was still on the table going into the championship rounds, Kessler drove a right-left combination around Froch’s gloves, followed by a left-right combination in round eleven. Froch swallowed some jabs and attempted a right but got tagged by a straight right from Kessler. They traded big right hands, and Froch landed another, but Kessler retaliated with a monstrous counter left hook that snapped Froch’s head back and knocked him backward.
Kessler scored with another left hook, moving a grinning Froch into the ropes. With Froch’s hands down and the crowd roaring, Kessler drilled him with a right-left to the head. Just as fast, Froch stuffed in an uppercut and a right hand to knock Kessler’s head about. Two straight rights from Froch followed and moved Kessler back. The challenger landed a body shot but took an uppercut. Just before the bell, Kessler hit Froch with a left hook, just notching the round in the Dane’s favor.
Froch was swelling under his right eye as he came out for the twelfth round, where they wasted little time exchanging right hands. Kessler was first to follow up with two jabs and a straight right. He continued shooting the right and smacked Froch with a solid left hook. Kessler followed a right but took two left hooks from Froch. He next mixed in a body shot and swiped another left hook across Froch’s face. With a minute left, they held nothing back, swinging for the fences, Kessler doing most of the scoring and backing Froch to the ropes. Blood began to pour from a new cut over Froch’s left eye as he fought off the ropes with a left hook. He fired another and turned Kessler’s head with a straight right.
Suddenly, Kessler appeared to be stunned against the ropes as he turned sideways and took another right hand. He held on and grinned to avoid damage, but, once separated, Froch blasted him with another right. Froch landed a body shot and a left hook but took one from Kessler as well. Froch kept on him with a right to the head and an uppercut. But after holding again, Kessler finished strong, driving Froch into the ropes with two big left hooks to complete the seesaw battle. A right-left combination landed on the head of Froch just before the bell, turning what looked like a Froch round only thirty seconds earlier into yet another toss-up round.
An exhausted Kessler grinned in Froch’s face, and neither made a move to embrace the other as Kessler’s jubilant promoters rushed him with congratulations. Froch, meanwhile, fell into the arms of his corner man, who cradled him almost apologetically. If the seemingly bizarre post-fight expressions told the story of the fight, it was an obvious win for the challenger.
The judges’ scorecards took longer than usual to amount together. Once read, they confirmed what the fighters appeared to already know: a unanimous decision for Kessler by a justifiable 115-113 score and two questionably wide tabulations of 116-112 and 117-111. It was a bout that truly could have gone either way, depending on how rounds three, six and twelve were scored. Froch had a case for winning all three, but, going by the scores, they belonged to Kessler in the eyes of the only judges whose votes counted. A draw would seem to have been the fairest and most accurate verdict.
With the win, Kessler not only reclaims the WBC title he lost to Joe Calzaghe in 2007 but picks up two crucial tournament points, equaling Froch’s total thus far. Arthur Abraham still leads with three points, while Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell join Kessler and Froch in a four-way tie for second. Only Allan Green, who has not had the opportunity to fight, has no points. Kessler next faces Green later in the year.
It will be interesting to see how Froch rebounds after his first loss, though many, if not a majority of boxing experts and fans, felt Dirrell outclassed Froch back in October, only to lose a decision in Nottingham, England. While there will be those who felt Froch deserved the win over Kessler, still others will point to the Dirrell fight and suggest that hometown fighters in the Super Six just naturally get the benefit of the doubt in close rounds – and sometimes not-so-close rounds too.
Froch’s next fight comes against points leader Abraham in possibly the only remaining Super Six fight that could produce as much excitement as Froch and Kessler created in Denmark. A loss to Abraham could cost Froch a trip to the tournament semi-finals, meaning his back is against the wall. On the other hand, that has been when he’s at his most dangerous.
