Kessler vs. Ward: Mikkel Over his Head In this One

By Scott Gilfoid: If WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (42-1, 32 KO’s) has his way, he’ll be facing WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch in the finals of the Super Six tournament. However, Kessler may have to settle for either Andre Ward (20-13 KO’s) or Andre Dirrell, if Kessler even makes it that far. He looked rusty, slow and old in his last fight against Gusmyr Perdomo on September 12th. Some people say that the 30-year-old Kessler was just a little rusty and that he looked so poor because of his year off from boxing.

However, I personally think that Kessler is on the slide in his career because he hasn’t done much since losing to Joe Calzaghe two long years ago. Kessler has been spoon by his management a couple of average fighters in Dimitri Sartison and Danilo Haussler last year and now with his latest average opponent Perdomo, Kessler is starting to show his age.

The bad news is that he’s facing easily his best opponent since Calzaghe in the young 25-year-old Andre Ward, and there’s big questions whether Kessler is up to the task in beating a fighter like Ward. For those who aren’t aware of who Ward is, he’s a 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist for the U.S. and one of the most talented super middleweights in the division, aside from Andre Dirrell. Ward made easy work of Edison Miranda recently, beating him by a lopsided 12 round decision in May.

Kessler might have been better off being matched up against Froch or Arthur Abraham rather than the young Ward. At least in facing those two, Kessler would have received another chance for a mini tune-up before facing a tough fighter like Ward. Kessler will have a problem landing his shots against a fast mover like Ward. Kessler is a pretty basic fighter who mainly throws jabs and hooks and does the same thing over and over again.

Kessler does well against fighters who are there for him to land his shots. Kessler likes to fight stationary fighters who allow him to land his shots. However, when he faced Calzaghe, who gave him a little bit of movement, Kessler looked confused and unprepared for his style. This is how it’s going to be against Ward. Kessler won’t know how to fight against him because his European style of fighting is ill-suited for a boxer/puncher like Ward.

Kessler may want to fight Froch in the finals, but if he can’t get by a talented fighter like Ward, the chances are slim that Kessler will end up in the finals. Based on how he looks, I see him getting beaten by before he gets to the finals. That may sound shocking since a lot of people are picking Kessler to win the Super Six. It takes more variety and skills to get to the Super Six tournament and I just think that Kessler is lacking. His hand speed isn’t on par with Ward or Dirrell and his skills seemed to have eroded in the past two years.

12 Responses to “Kessler vs. Ward: Mikkel Over his Head In this One”