Did Calzaghe ruin Kessler?
February 20th, 2010
By Sean McDaniel: Although not much has been said about this topic, I think it’s something that needs to be considered. Former WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KO’s) hasn’t looked like the same fighter he once was since suffering a 12 round unanimous decision loss to unbeaten Joe Calzaghe in November 2007. The fight, which took place in Wales, saw Calzaghe and Kessler fighting at a pretty much even pace in the first six rounds of the bout. Indeed, it was hard to tell who the better fighter was during this point in the fight.
A volume puncher by tradition, Calzaghe’s fight against Kessler was no different in that respect than many of his other bouts of his career. Calzaghe unloaded with a high number of punches to the head of Kessler in the 2nd part of the fight, especially in rounds 8 through 12. Kessler looked fine at the end of the fight, aside from some redness around both of his eyes. However, in his next fight against Dimitri Sartison in June 2008, Kessler no longer looked like the confident, unbeatable fighter he was previous to his loss to Calzaghe. Something appeared to have been taken out of Kessler in the Calzaghe fight.
Kessler did not look confident at all against Sartison, and took a number of hard rights to the head from him until Sartison faded in the second half of the fight. If you look at that fight and compare it to Kessler’s other bouts before the Calzaghe fight, Kessler looked like he’d lost something in his performance. In Kessler’s next fight against Danilo Haussler in October 2008, he looked like the Kessler from old.
However, because Haussler was so badly over-matched and folded quickly in the 3rd round, you couldn’t see how Kessler had slipped as a fighter. But in Kessler’s next fight against Gusmyr Perdomo in September 2009, Kessler clearly looked like something was wrong with him. No longer was he dominating like he had before the Calzaghe fight.
Perdomo, a halfway decent southpaw, landed at will with sweeping left hands and right hooks against Kessler frequently during the first three rounds. Kessler’s power, which hadn’t abandoned him, bailed him out in that fight as he stopped Perdomo in the 4th round. But Kessler looked almost shot in his next fight against Andre Ward in November 2009, getting totally dominated by Ward en route to losing by an 11 round technical decision to the American boxer in the Super Six tournament.
At this point, other boxing fans and experts could see that something was amiss with Kessler that he no longer looked like the same fighter he once was. However, few people have arrived at the conclusion that Calzaghe may have somehow ruined Kessler in his win over him in 2007, but I think it’s something that needs to be considered.
Kessler hasn’t looked like the same fighter since that fight and with the huge amount of head shots that Calzaghe landed in that fight, I have to wonder whether it did something to Kessler to make him less of a fighter.
Tags: 19 Responses to “Did Calzaghe ruin Kessler?”
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well…you look at the andrade fight…you look at the sartison fight…that’s not the same boxer. so maybe. he’s had personal problems, he’s had trainer & promoter problems…he’s been in the ring less than he should. i always assumed he’d turn himself around…but maybe he won’t. it’s sad to see a guy who was that good just run out of ideas against ward like that. he gave up so early. i really hope he gets back to his old self…i always liked kessler, the guy was a beast. & for sure…he hasn’t been a beast since the calzaghe fight.
i bet Calzaghe’s little girl shots would take something out bof you and most fighters who step in the ring.46 and 0 tells all,and you Can all Come out with the same boring Comments that everyone he fought was shot,but that would be said if he fought any of the so Called top fighters now and won.Alot of people,fighters and these boxing writers who no it all for some reason dont give him the respeCt he deserves
CALZAGHE HAD AWESOME FITNESS WHICH ALOT OF PEOPLE OVERLOOK. THIS IS THE REASON HE MANAGED TO THROW SOME MANY SHOTS. HE WAS A FANTASTIC BOXER AND NEVER REALLY LOOKED LIKE GETTING BEAT. THE ONLY TIME I SEEN JOE IN BAD FIGHTS WERE AGAINST REID AND HOPKINS. IN BOTH FIGHTS JOES PRIDE TOOK OVER AND HE TRIED TO FORCE THOSE FIGHTS. ANOTHER THING PEOPLE BRING UP IS JOES SLAPPING PUNCHES. IF YOU WATCH JOE EARLY IN HIS CAREER HE WAS KNOCKING PEOPLE OUT AND NOT USING THE SLAP PUNCH. HAVING WATCHED JOE OVER THE YEARS YOU COME TO REALISE HE STARTED TO SLAP TO PROTECT HIS BRITTLE HANDS, USING THE INSIDE OF THE GLOVE AND NOT THE KNUCKLE PART OF HIS HAND IN A HOOK. I BELIEVE JOE IS ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREATS.
P.p.s Unfortunately Kessler is finished as the fighter he once was. However he may still beat Froch.
Shaun; I have come to the same conclusion on Kessler, however I differ with you as to why he is shot. Kessler is a confidence fighter, and up until his bout with Joe he truely believed [with good reason] that he was unbeatable.
Kessler was in his absolute prime against Joe, i.e he couldn’t get ant better…. and he still lost. This would have a MAJOR effect on a fighters mentality, to fight at your best, at a peak age only to be beaten. Kessler could no longer believe he is unbeatable, therefore his confidence which he relies so heavily upon has been smashed. I believe that it was the mental effect that fight had on Kessler which ruined him, not the physical…. There is an old boxing adage that I believe sums this up, “boxing is 90% mental and 10% physical”.
While the punches and exhaustion Kessler received from Joe most certainly would have effected him, but only a temporary one. A fighter typically subjects himself to far worse punishment during an average week training and sparring. But there is usually no mental trauma associated with a beating received while sparring, as it may have occured against a far bigger oponent. This is called the “toughening up process” and is something ALL boxers go through, it is how we improve. In short…. You can always recover from a physical beating but the mental effects are there for good.
p.s thanks to the author for touching on a relevant topic.
J C is one of the best fighters of all time and will be more understood as that in the comming months and years, Ward was dirt as hell holding and hitting kessler wasny used to a dirty Oakland fighter. He will beat Froch
I think Kessler has identified the problem and taken steps to resolve it. This is as it should be. Now it remains to be seen if his efforts will make any difference in the ring.
Froch has a lot to prove and I would like to think that out of all the fights, this is the one he has been looking forward to the most. So it will definately be an exciting fight.
colin, you’re right, its mental as well, theres is a mixture of physical and psychological damage that can be overestimated, but even the winner, as with brewster or ali, can be ruined….they never took a punch as well after their seminal fights….
he had that effect on fighters, they wer outworked & outclassed, just imagine what he would do to Dirrell or any of those other super 6, ba ha ha ! i know they should be just called ordinary 6, with the exception of maybe Ward
look at what happend to lacy after calzaghe taught him a lesson. Never the same again.
@Tim .. you are being over the top. One massive defeat can destroy a boxer as so much of boxing is having a strong mentality. Lacy never recovered from the absolute destruction he got from Joe. Kessler is older now, lost twice.. and joe humbled him as he did others. I think Froch being young and so aggresive and determined will take him out for that reason.
Same can be said of Hatton, Lacy, Kessler etc… even Tyson One defeat changed them and there is no turning back.
tim you dont know much about boxing….the damage inflicted is what changes a fighter…brewster outlasted vlad in their first fight but was damaged after that, whereas vlad lost but suffered little injury…but he wasnt the one getting hammered…same with samuel peters, he took a terrible beating from vlad, despite looking tough, was never the same, ali and frazier were both ruined by their third fight…there is a reason that so many fighters end up unable to speak, its damage to the brain and nervous system..lacey was destroyed by his ‘pitter-pat’ punches as well
I suppose you could say that since kessler lost his undefeated record he hasn’t been the same, he lost that aura of invincibility. That can change a fighter and also he had a year lay off. Ward was just better tho and really could take this tournament by storm.
I worry about Hatton for those very reasons since his terrible loss to Pacquiao.
Calzaghe did the same to Lacy, Eubank and Roy Jones – he showed them what level they where at compared to him… it would change any fighter. None of these boxers had ever been dominated in a fight they way they where against Calzaghe. Lacy and Kessler where undefeated before they faced him and thought they where unbeatable. That mental conditioning was destroyed once they lost, Lacy more so due to the complete shut-out, Kessler handled Calzaghe slightly better but was ultimately dominated.
I think you make a good point which is why I back Froch to beat Kessler by late stoppage.
I don’t think so. I just think ward was excellent. Kessler had been off boxing for a while but thats no excuse ward was just better, kessler will have to prove he is the best by beating froch and then beating ward in a rematch! And im no calzaghe basher or ward lover calzaghe is my favourite boxer and comes from my home country =)
Say that to the 22 fighters he KO’ed or TKO’ed out of his first 24 fights.
Lots of great fighters…in fact ALL great fighters have suffered at least a few losses.
I think what it really says is that Kessler was never that good to begin with. Calzaghe was over rated as well.
Calzaghe’s little girl shots cant take anything out of anyone