If Kessler destroys Froch, does this win back respect for Mikkel?

By Scott Gilfoid: It was a sad sight to see former World Boxing Association super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler reduced to throwing wild haymaker shots against the younger, faster dare I say more talented American Andre Ward in their fight on November 21st. It was as if the 30-year-old Kessler grew old over night, going from the top of the pile in the super middleweight division to that of a former champion. Kessler took a terrible beating from Ward and never was in the fight for a second.

The bout was eventually stopped in the 11th due to cuts over both of Kessler’s eyes, and the bout was ruled a technical decision win for Ward. There was a lot of complaining after the fact about a few head butts that had accidentally occurred in the fight, two of them causing the cuts over the eyes of Kessler. But Kessler had problems way before the cuts.

Kessler just wasn’t fast enough to compete with Ward. The good thing is that Kessler is facing WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch. Kessler won’t have to deal with a lightning fast Ward or Andre Dirrell. Speed is something Froch has very little of. All that Kessler has to worry about with Froch is to stay on the outside, and don’t let Froch crowd him where he can try the rough stuff that he did in his bout against Dirrell.

This should be an easy fight for Kessler if he stays on the outside. A lot of people are writing Kessler off as being old right now because of the Ward fight. I do think Kessler has aged, but he’s still good enough to beat most of the fighters in the Super Six tournament, as well as all the other super middleweights in the division including Lucian Bute.

If Froch thinks he’s going to be able to do what Ward did against Kessler, then he’s sadly mistaken. Froch doesn’t have the hand speed or movement that Ward has. Froch moves slowly, looking very rigid and mechanical. Kessler is going to pick him apart. I see this fight as being similar to Kessler’s fight against Librado Andrade in 2007.

Andrade, a fighter with a great chin but little hand speed, came forward all night long taking shot after shot from Kessler. Each time Andrade would press forward, Kessler would nail him with jabs and hooks, and then skillfully move out of range. Froch is likely going to fight the exact same fight as Andrade. It’s not that Froch won’t try to do things differently, but he doesn’t have the foot or hand speed to change his style much.

The only thing I can see Froch doing differently is adding more rough stuff. Kessler looked uncomfortable with Ward on the inside and didn’t seem to have much of any ability to fight on the inside. Froch didn’t look all that great against Dirrell on the inside, but he did rough him up well. Kessler was also roughed up on the inside by Anthony Mundine in their fight.

I think Kessler will have studied Froch’s fight with Dirrell and will be well prepared for Froch’s tricks on the inside. When Froch gets close, Kessler will be much better on the inside than he was against Ward. I see Kessler getting a crash course in inside fighting in training camp to prepare for the Froch fight. On the outside, Kessler will be way too much for the slower Froch. The only question about this fight is if Froch can try to rough Kessler up enough in close to get him off his game. I don’t see that happening.

In the end, I think Kessler will be able to win back a great deal of respect from boxing fans by trouncing Froch and capturing his WBC super middleweight title. I see Kessler totally dominating Froch in such a one-sided manner that people will understand how good Ward really is. Only fighters like Ward and Dirrell could make Kessler look so beatable.

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