Kessler vs. Magee: A rusty Mikkel ripe for another loss

By Boxing News - 10/17/2012 - Comments

Image: Kessler vs. Magee: A rusty Mikkel ripe for another lossBy Scott Gilfoid: When fighters get old they tend to pick up nagging injuries that limit the amount of fights they have. This in turn erodes their skills even more than the actual aging that is taking place. So what you get is a fighter that loses their skills due to inactivity from the injuries more so than just the actual aging.

This is what I see happening with Mikkel Kessler (45-2, 34 KO’s), and I believe he’s going to taste defeat because of that in his December 8th fight against Brian Magee (36-4-1, 24 KO’s) at the Boxen, in Herning, Denmark. The vacant WBA World super middleweight title will be up for grabs in this fight.

While Kessler may only be 33-years-old, he’s aging quick to where he’s not fighting all that much. He’s only fought twice in the past two years due to a string of nagging injuries that has kept him out of action. The injuries and inactivity are a definite concern for him as he goes into his fight with Magee, but what could hurt Kessler even more is the low quality competition that he’s fought during the last two years.

He’s fought Mehdi Bouadla and Allan Green, two weak opponents that he should have been well past at this point in his career. But the only reason he’s fighting those guys is because he’s got so much ring rust from injuries that his promoters were obviously concerned with putting him in with someone that could actually fight.

Kessler still has his power intact; that’s obviously the last thing that goes for an aging fighter, but his timing has eroded as well as his reflexes. You can even make an argument that Kessler’s chin might not be what it once was, because he was knocked down by a right hand from Allan Green in his last fight in May, and that punch probably wouldn’t have done anything against a younger Kessler.

Brian Magee has both the power and the boxing skills to give Kessler a lot of problems in this fight.



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