(Photo credit: Sauerland Events) By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (45-2, 32 KO’s) will be stepping inside the ring moments from now to face one of his biggest tests since his loss to Andre Ward in the Super Six tournament in 2009 when he battles Brian Magee (36-4-1, 25 KO’s) at the BOXEN, in Herning, Denmark.

Kessler is getting hit hard in this fight by Magee and it’s going to be difficult for Kessler to be able to take the big shots that Magee is going to be hammering him. Kessler lost a year of his career from he combined punishment he took in his fights with Ward and Froch.

Kessler has come back from the long layoff to defeat a couple of easy marks in Mehdi Bouadla and Allan Green. However, Kessler didn’t look good when he was getting hit by both guys, and that’s something you have to worry about for him.

Has Kessler’s ability to take a hard shot diminished since the Ward fight? Magee has got major power and he’s going to be looking to test Kessler’s chin from the get go. He no doubt saw how a past his prime Green was able to knock Kessler on his backside last May and he’s going to be wanting to try and test his chin early and often tonight.

Magee can’t give Kessler too much respect in this fight because Kessler is a front runner. He does well when he’s the one directing the attacks, but he’s a whole different fighter when his opponents are coming at him looking to hit him hard. Look at Kessler’s fights against Joe Calzaghe, Ward, Froch and Green and you’ll notice that Kessler was nothing special when his opponents were taking the lead and putting pressure on him. Kessler is a much better fighter when he can stand at a distance against a passive/scared opponent that’s letting him dictate the action. Magee can’t let Kessler be the one that does the attacking in this fight if he wants to win.