'It's My Time,' Andre Ward Says After Dethroning Mikkel Kessler

Most believed that Andre Ward faced a disadvantage in overall experience against Denmark's WBA champion, Mikkel Kessler, on Saturday night.

Not only did Kessler enter their matchup with more than twice as many victories as Ward, but he also had almost three times as many knockouts, and had held the super middleweight (168 pounds) crown for nearly five years -- longer than Ward has been a professional.

But youth trumped experience as did ring generalship in their clash at Oracle Arena, where Ward dethroned Kessler with an 11th-round technical decision before an enthusiastic, partisan crowd of 10, 277 in the 2004 American Olympic gold medalist's hometown of Oakland, Calif.

With Kessler cut and bleeding badly above and below his right eye, and also cut over his left eye starting at the bridge of his nose, referee Jack Reiss of California -- on the advice of a ringside doctor -- called a halt to the bout at 1:42 of the second-to-last round.

Since the cuts were ruled to have been caused by accidental head-butts, the decision was left up to the scorecards.

Judges Steve Morrow of California and Stanley Christodoulou of South Africa both had it 98-92 for Ward, and Swedish judge Mikael Hook scored it, 97-93 -- all for the new champion.

FanHouse scored it a shutout over 10 rounds, 100-90, for the 25-year-old Ward, who improved to 21-0 with 13 knockouts, as the 30-year-old Kessler slipped to 42-2, with 32 KOs.


Ending for Kessler was a string of three straight stoppages since his November 2007 unanimous decision loss to Joe Calzaghe of Wales, who retired unbeaten following wins over ring legends Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, respectively.

"I have to thank God for this because he constantly puts me up against giants. He puts me in situations where, naturally, I'm not supposed to be able to overcome. But I'm telling you, there's nothing impossible with Jesus Christ in your life. Nothing," said Ward, a winner of Oakland's first fight in 42 years.

"I just felt like it was my time. I wasn't intimidated by Kessler's record," said Ward. "Because, again, if God is with you, can accomplish anything."

Ward's early, tactical aggression baffled Kessler, and it lasted throughout the fight.

Ward alternated from his natural, orthodox, right-handed position -- from which he constantly beat Kessler to the punch with his left jab, lead-left and follow-up rights -- to the southpaw stance, where he did exactly the same thing, but in reverse.

Ward established the tone, from the outset, with a momentum-halting, piston-like jab that effectively disrupted the forward-moving Kessler's agression and prevented him from applying pressure.

As the fight progressed, Ward moved in and out.

On the inside, Ward dug to the body and used his free hands during clinches to pound home shots to the body, face and ears of the man nicknamed "The Viking Warrior."

From the outside, Ward fired freely, and, at times, unwisely. But Kessler rarely made the younger man pay for any indiscretions.

"I was kind of surprised being in there that he didn't make the adjustments. He kind of kept doing the same things, over and over. But I'm taking nothing away from him. He's a super champion, and I know why he's been a champion for so long," said Ward.

"But again, I felt like I was here for a reason. I was getting tons of text messages, tons of messages," said Ward. "And they were all saying the same thing, that 'It's your time.' You'll get what's rightfully yours. You've been training for a long time."

Ward, whose father died in 2002 of a heart ailment, also credited his trainer and father figure, Virgil Hunter, who helped to guide Ward to Olympic glory.

"Virgil, man, this is as much for him as it is for me. He has a gold medalist, and now, he has a world champion," said Ward. "He knows how to keep me focused in a fight from round to round."



Kessler complained of Ward's holding, as well as what he considered to be at least five intentional head-butts.

"I'm not used to the referee not stopping the fight when you're holding. And [Ward] was using his head-butt all of the time. Every time we got into a clinch, he head-butted me," said Kessler, briefly touching a cut on the area beneath his right eye with his left hand.

"Every time I tried to break a clinch, [the referee] let him punch me. I'm not used to that. It causes you to get out of rhythm. I think that it was unfair -- with the head-butting, and the holding, and a hometown referee," said Kessler, noting that Reiss is from California.

"[Ward] was coming in with the head-butt all of the time, and on purpose. He knew that I wasn't moving, so he was coming in with his head. And then, when we were holding, he was punching," said Kessler. "I couldn't see from my eyes. When I was head-butted, I'd be [dizzy] a little bit."

Ward was fighting at Oracle Arena for only the second time, having decisioned knockout artist Edison Miranda over 12 rounds in what was considered to be the biggest win of his career.

Ward denied that his head-butts were on purpose.

"My assessment is that I think that I felt two accidental head-butts. I'm not a dirty fighter. If you check any of my previous 20 fights, I've never done that intentionally," said Ward.

"He has three cuts -- two of them were punches for sure. One of them was a head-butt. But you can't say anything about the other moments in the other 10 rounds," said Ward. "Again, I take nothing away from him. He was a great champion."

Ward-Kessler was the third bout of Showtime's Super Six Super Middleweight World Boxing Classic's initial Group Stage One, and sets up a bout between Ward and former undisputed middleweight (160 pounds) champion Jermain Taylor (28-4, 17 KOs).

Also, Kessler must now regroup to face England's WBC titlist, Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KOs), who stopped Taylor in the 12th round prior to the tournament.

The tournament began on Oct. 17 with Germany's Arthur Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) stopping Taylor in the 12th round, and Froch defending his crown with a decision over Michigan's former Olympic bronze medalist, Andre Dirrell (18-1, 13 KOs). Ward-Taylor and Froch-Kessler will take place at a site and on a date to be determined.

"Of course, I have to look at how this fight went, and try to see what I can do better. I have to see if I still have it," said Kessler. "If I have to fight Ward again someday, I can't go straight forward or stay in the middle. I have to go side-to-side."

There was speculation that Taylor would not continue in the tournament, having lost four of his past five fights, and having been stopped three times during that stretch.

"That's up to him. But I read on his Twitter where he answered his fans and said that he was training and preparing, so that's who we'll get ready for. But whoever it is, we fought the best in the world tonight," said Ward.

"People thought that I got a bad draw against Kessler. But we told everybody, 'No, this is the right draw.' We beat the top guy; we're going to rest a little bit," said Ward. "It was a hard training camp, it's been a long 15 years, and I'm going to regroup and get ready for the next stage -- whoever it is."

Next-round matchups also have Dirrell facing Abraham on Jan. 23. After that, Froch is to take on Abraham, Kessler is slated to meet Taylor, and Ward is to face Dirrell -- results that will determine a four-man semifinal, followed by a final to crown the tournament's winner.