By Sean McDaniel: There are more than a few boxing fans who think that former WBC/WBC super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KO’s) is starting to show serious signs of slipping as a fighter after losing an 11 round technical decision to unbeaten American Andre Ward last November in Oakland, California. It’s still too early to tell for sure, but what is known is that Kessler has looked average in his last two fights. Before Kessler’s loss to Ward last year, Kessler defeated Gusmyr Perdomo by a 4th round stoppage in September 2009.

This was Kessler’s first fight in 11 months, as he was out of action because of a promoter issue. Whether it be the time away from boxing or possibly just Kessler having faced tough opposition, it’s clear that Kessler was now struggling and not looking as good as he was before. This could change on April 24th, when he meets Carl Froch in their stage 2 Super Six tournament fight at the MCH Messecenter Herning, in Herning, Denmark.

Froch doesn’t appear to have the same boxing skills as Kessler and Ward. Froch also isn’t as difficult to figure out compared to the 6’2” southpaw Perdomo, who was all arms as he landed a number of looping hooks to the head of Kessler before being stopped by Kessler in the 4th. In comparison, Froch is much more basic, a classic straight ahead type fighter who moves in straight lines and is very hittable at all times.

Froch depends on his conditioning, constant pressure and power to get wins for him. He’ll never be one of the fastest or the most skilled fighters that you’ll ever see. What makes Froch so good is that he never stops coming forward no matter how many punches he takes to the head. Froch just keeps plodding forward through a rain of punches, determined to get his own shots in. Like WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, Froch likes to keep his lead left hand down by his side, hanging dangerously low and basically useless to block punches.

Froch instead depends on his iron chin to absorb the shots and save him from getting knocked out. Froch can sometimes lean away to avoid punches, but he didn’t do a good job of this in his previous Super Six fight against the speedy Andre Dirrell. In that fight, Froch was hit pretty much by everything that Dirrell threw at him. Froch’s low guard didn’t block anything and he took more punishment than he usually does.

Against Kessler, Froch is going to be in danger of getting hit a lot because Kessler likes to throw a lot of jabs and has a good left hook to go along with it. If Kessler has lost anything, Froch could have a chance in this fight if he can take Kessler into the deep rounds. This is why Kessler is going to have to work on trying to get Froch out as fast as he can to avoid having Froch take over the fight late.

Kessler could hurt Froch if he sits down on his punches early. Froch has been hurt in his last two fights against Dirrell and Jermain Taylor. Kessler hits as hard as both of those fighters, maybe even harder. He has to focus on testing Froch’s chin as much as possible to see if there are any lingering effects from Froch’s last two fights.