Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler

Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler was a championship fight for the World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Middleweight championship on 24 April 2010 in Herning, Denmark.[1]

Super Six World Boxing Classic
Date24 April 2010
VenueMCH Messecenter Herning, Herning, Denmark
Title(s) on the lineWBC Super Middleweight Championship
Tale of the tape
Boxer Carl Froch Mikkel Kessler
Nickname The Cobra Viking Warrior
Hometown Nottingham, United Kingdom Copenhagen, Denmark
Pre-fight record 26–0 (20 KO) 42–2 (32 KO)
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 167 3⁄4 lb (76 kg) 167 lb (76 kg)
Recognition WBC
Super Middleweight Champion		 WBC
No. 3 Ranked Super Middleweight
Result
Kessler defeated Froch via unanimous decision

Background

Froch defeated Andre Dirrell by split decision in his third WBC super-middleweight title defense which was a very controversial win with many believing Dirrell had won. Nevertheless, Froch got the win and the 2 points for his victory.[2] Meanwhile, WBA Champion Kessler was upset in his first Super Six match against Andre Ward who won via an 11th round technical decision.

In the buildup to the fight there were concerns that the Icelandic volcanic ash eruptions would cause the fight to be disrupted, but it went head as planned .[3]

The fight

In a closely fought contest where both men had great moments throughout the fight, Kessler took Froch's title and inflicted Froch's first professional defeat via unanimous decision, the judges scoring the contest by margins of 116–112, 115–113 and 117–111. The scoring was somewhat controversial, as some boxing announcers had scored the fight much closer, with some awarding Froch the win and others scoring it a draw.[4][5][6] Froch later stated that the fight was close and that he believes the decision would have gone his way if the event had been held in Nottingham.[7][8] The fight was a contender for the 2010 Fight of the Year.

Aftermath

In August, Kessler announced he was withdrawing from the Super Six tournament due to the worsening of the eye injury he suffered during his earlier fight against Andre Ward, vacating the WBC belt in the progress. WBC, after initially announcing that it would grant the belt to the winner of the upcoming Group Stage 3 match between its number one contender Andre Dirrell and the WBA champion Ward, it was confirmed that the WBC would grant its championship to the winner of the scheduled match between Froch and Arthur Abraham, which Froch won to retain title. [9]

Froch and Kessler would fight a rematch in 2013, with Froch winning by unanimous decision in London. [10]

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:[11]

WinnerLoserWeight division/title belt(s) disputedResult
Non-TV bouts
Koko Murat Nick Klappert Super Welterweight (8 rounds) Majority Decision.
Edmund Gerber Samir Kurtagic Heavyweight (8 rounds) Unanimous Decision.
Vinni Skovgaard Diane Schwachhofer Welterweight (6 rounds) Unanimous Decision.
Thomas Troelenberg Elio Cotena Middleweight (6 rounds) Split Decision.
Lukas Schulz Viktor Szalai Cruiserweight (6 rounds) 3rd-round KO.
Patrick Nielsen Norbert Szekeres Middleweight (4 rounds) 4th-round KO.

References
  1. "Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler (1st meeting) - BoxRec".
  2. Davies, Gareth (2009-10-18). "Carl Froch defeats Andre Dirrell and claims next contest with Mikkel Kessler will be a war". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
  3. Dirs, Ben. "Carl Froch's bout with Mikkel Kessler to defy ash cloud". BBC.
  4. Boxing News: Arthur Abraham vs Carl Froch Odds Archived 2012-06-17 at the Wayback Machine. OnlineSportsHandicapping.com (2010-09-27). Retrieved on 2013-03-01.
  5. Carl Froch Getting Anxious To Get Ward in The Ring – Boxing News. Boxingscene.com (2011-11-17). Retrieved on 2013-03-01.
  6. Iole, Kevin. (2011-12-13) Mailbag: Ranking the Super Six bouts – Boxing – Yahoo! Sports. Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-01.
  7. Vester, Mark (2010-04-24) Froch: If I Was Back Home, I Would Have Beaten Kessler – Boxing News. Boxingscene.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-01.
  8. Davies, By Gareth A. "Carl Froch loses belt to Mikkel Kessler".
  9. "Carl Froch v Abraham confirmed as WBC title contes". BBC.
  10. "Carl Froch gains revenge on Mikkel Kessler in gripping title fight". The Guardian.
  11. "BoxRec - event".
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