By Chris Williams: Mikkel Kessler looked nothing like a champion in his loss to Andre Ward in an 11th round technical decision last weekend in their Super Six tournament bout . Kessler, 30, lost his World Boxing Association super middleweight title in a bout in which he was totally dominated by the young 25-year-old Ward. Although Kessler stated afterwards that he was bothered by the holding and head-butts from Ward, those obviously weren’t the reason for Kessler being so easily handled by the American.

Kessler looked slow, limited and confused with how to deal with the quick southpaw Ward. The loss is a huge blow for Kessler’s pro career whether he wants to admit it or not. It’s got to hurt. However, things don’t get any easier for Kessler, because he next has to face World Boxing Council super middleweight champion Carl Froch, who hits hard and is good at pressuring his opponents.

Kessler looked tired and beaten by the 8th round against Ward, complaining continuously about a cut over his right eye. Later in the fight, Kessler was cut badly over his left eye as well. These two cuts will possibly be a problem for Kessler in his fight with Froch in early 2010.

Even with six months off between bouts, there’s a good chance that either or both of the cuts will reopen if Froch can land enough shots. Kessler didn’t seem to fight well with the cuts compared to some fighters. If he ends up getting cut against Froch, will Kessler go to pieces and start complaining about the nonstop?

Froch may not have the boxing skills to beat Kessler nor the speed, but he does have great stamina, a lot of power and is good at pressuring. Froch could very well wear Kessler down unless Mikkel comes in at top shape. Kessler won’t be able to stand and trade with Froch for 12 rounds, because Ward showed that Kessler has problems with his stamina.

Also, Kessler didn’t show much ability to fight on the inside against Ward. Froch, on the other hand, is good at fighting in close as he showed against his last opponent Andre Dirrell in their Super Six bout on October 17th. Froch will no doubt have seen the Ward-Kessler fight and noted that Kessler has problems fighting in close.

Kessler also had problems fighting Joe Calzaghe at close range. Kessler did a decent job against Calzaghe when the action was at a distance. However, when Calzaghe got right in front of Kessler on the inside, Kessler was helpless to do much about it and took a lot of shots.

If Froch defeats Kessler, it will be another nail in the coffin of Kessler’s once great career. Kessler has a fight against Jermain Taylor in the final fight in the 1st round Super Six tourney competition. A loss to Taylor would knock Kessler out of the competition and put him in a situation where he would need to consider where to do in the super middleweight division. Many boxing experts see the Taylor fight as an almost certain win for Kessler. However, that may not actually be the case.

As bad as Kessler looked against Ward, there’s a good chance that Taylor will be able to beat Kessler too. Kessler will be further softened up by the time he gets to Taylor because of the likely punishment that Kessler will take in the Froch fight. Kessler hasn’t had to face tough opponents like Ward and Froch back to back in his career, and it could have an effect on him.

Never the less, if Taylor beats Kessler, I can’t see any point in Kessler staying around and continuing to fight in the super middleweight division. Kessler, if he wants to continue with his boxing career, could always move down to the middleweight or move to the light heavyweight divisions. He could possibly get some more mileage out of his career by making that move. I doubt he will though. Kessler has a great deal of pride, and if he loses to Froch and Taylor, he might decide to hang up the gloves for good.