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Denmark's WBA champion, Mikkel Kessler, is considered boxing's premier 168-pounder -- and for good reason.And it is among those same reasons why the 30-year-old "Viking Warrior" is favored to take down 25-year-old former Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward in defense of his title on Saturday night at Oracle Arena.
"Mikkel Kessler's just been in with a higher quality of opponent. And Kessler's been involved with more big fights, fighting, more or less, for 12 rounds since Andre Ward has been a professional boxer," said Doug Fischer, co-editor of RingTV.com. "And now he's fighting in Andre Ward's hometown of Oakland, Calif., which is going to be nothing new to him."
Not only does Kessler (42-1, 32 knockouts) have more than twice as many victories as Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) and almost three times as many knockouts, but Kessler has held a super middleweight crown for nearly five years, while Ward has been a professional for less than that amount of time.
"Andre Ward is a great, young fighter. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was his age. I won my first world title at 24," said Kessler, who he earned the WBA title with a seventh-round knockout of Manny Siaca on Dec. 12, 2004 -- six days before Ward made his professional debut by stopping Chris Molina in two rounds.
"I can see that [Ward] is hungry, has good speed and good technique. He's a good fighter," said Kessler. "But I have double the fights he has, and I'm more experienced in a lot of different ways."
In June of 2005, Kessler made the first defense of his crown against future world champion, Anthony Mundine, scoring a lopsided, unanimous decision in the challenger's hometown of Sydney, Austrailia.
Kessler is also the owner of impressive wins over former world titlist Marcus Beyer, as well as top-notch contender, Librado Andrade, with his third-round knockout of Beyer earning the WBC crown in October of 2006.
Kessler's next fight was the March, 2007, one-sided rout of Andrade (28-2, 21 KOs) by the scores of 120-108 on all three cards.
That victory came against a fighter who was 24-0 with 18 knockouts. In addition, Andrade will face IBF champ Lucian Bute (24-0, 19 KOs) in a Nov. 28 rematch of their clash in October of 2008, when an out-on-his-feet Bute benefitted from a long count in the 12th round.
Kessler later traveled to Germany in October of 2008 for a third-round knockout of Danilo Haussler, yet again, in front of the loser's hometown fans.
"Mikkel Kessler's just a seasoned veteran. He's been in with Anthony Mundine and Librado Andrade," said Fischer. "He's fought on the road against Joe Calzaghe in Wales and again against Mundine in Austrailia."
Kessler even has an excuse -- if one buys it -- for his lone defeat to Calzaghe in June of 2007, arguing that an injury to one of his hands contributed to a fading effort down the stretch of a unanimous decision setback before Calzaghe's partisan fans in Wales.
"Kessler won at least four rounds against Calzaghe and looked pretty good doing it," said Fischer. "Andre Ward's fakes and his footwork should make it competitive for the first half of the fight, but I think Kessler's straight right hand should buzz him a couple of times."
Kessler-Ward is the third bout of Showtime's Super Six Super Middleweight World Boxing Classic, a round-robin tournament comprised of six of the world's best 168-pounders whose completion isn't expected until early 2011.
On Oct. 17, Germany's Arthur Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) stopped Arkansas' Jermain Taylor (28-4, 17 KOs) in the 12th round and England's Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) defended his WBC crown with a decision over Michigan's former Olympic bronze medalist Andre Dirrell (18-1, 13 KOs). The tournament is not scheduled to end until sometime in 2011.
"Andre Ward is not to be underestimated. He is very good. He is technically very sound and can also punch hard as he has shown in previous fights. But I hope that my new stablemate, Mikkel Kessler, wins," said Abraham, who, like Kessler, is promoted by Kalle Sauerland."[Kessler] is versatile, very experienced and he has a great vision-anticipation in the ring. And most importantly, the 'Viking Warrior' is a true fighter," said Abraham, who, like Froch, believes the American will be staring at their third loss after Saturday night.
"If you ask me for a prediction, I would go with a points victory for Mikkel," said Abraham. "The boxing fans can certainly be thrilled about this fight because it puts together two of the best technicians in the division."
Ward last fought at the Oracle in May, when he decisioned knockout artist Edison Miranda over 12 rounds in what, until now, was considered the biggest win of his career.
"Obviously, the stakes are much higher this time. I've prepared for a fight like this since I was nine years old," said Ward. "It's about time. I approach all of my fights the same. Every fight, as an amateur, I took seriously."
Froch, however, isn't sure that Ward is quite yet ready for Kessler.
"Andre Ward has that terrific amateur pedigree, winning the Gold medal at the Athens Olympics. He's had some good wins in the pros, but we will only find out how good he really is when he steps in there with Kessler," said Froch.
"Ward will have the benefit of home advantage, which I'm sure will play its part," said Froch. "But Kessler is very experienced and has won on the road before so I'm sure he won't see it as an issue."
Next-round matchups have Dirrell facing Abraham on Jan. 23, Froch facing Kessler and Ward against Taylor.
After that, Froch is to take on Abraham, Kessler is slated to meet Taylor and Ward will face Dirrell -- results that will determine a four-man semifinal followed by a final to crown the tournament's winner.
"I'm hoping for my own selfish reasons that Kessler wins because then he'll still have the WBA belt," said Froch. "I'm fighting him next, so if he beats Ward, then it means that our fight becomes a massive WBC and WBA unification clash and I can get my hands on his belt."
FanHouse gives Kessler the edge based on experience, which he will use to close strongly for a decision over the second half of the fight.
