By Ian S Palmer
Carl Froch will have the home fans behind him this time when the IBF Super Middleweight titleholder meets WBA Champion Mikkel Kessler at London’s O2 Arena this Sat. When the pair met three years ago Kessler had the hometown advantage as the fight took place in Copenhagen, Denmark and it definitely helped him as he won a unanimous decision in the spring of 2010. Hopefully their two titles will be unified after this bout and barring a draw, they will be.
The 35-year-old Froch from Nottingham will enter the ring with a record 0f 30-2 with 22 Kos to his name. He’s got good height for the 168 lb division as he’s 6-foot-1 inches tall with a reach of 75 inches. The 34-year-old Dane Kessler is the same height with an inch shorter reach and boasts a record of 46-2 with 35 of his wins coming by the way of knockout.
Froch is a former WBC champion as well as a former Commonwealth and British titleholder. He’s an offense-first boxer who prefers to use his punching power and boxing skills as his form of defence. He’s got a rock-solid chin and is a very determined boxer to deal with. He’s got a bit more power than Kessler, but it didn’t really help him in their first bout since Kessler out boxed him most of the night.
However, Kessler will still have to respect the Briton’s heavy fists since Froch certainly has the ability to turn a fight around with one or two heavy punches. Kessler has proven over the years that he can take a good shot too though, and he might have to in this bout. Froch is an underrated boxer though as he’s not just a brawler. He doesn’t mind fighting it out in the trenches, but he can move around the ring well, throw out a stinging jab, and box when he needs to.
Kessler possesses the same skills though and he’s perhaps just a little bit better at them than Froch. This is how he won the first fight and he’s likely to stick with the same tactics in this matchup. Both boxers have lost just two fights in their pro careers. Froch of course was beaten by Kessler and he also dropped a unanimous decision to American Andre Ward back in 2011. Kessler lost by a technical decision to Ward in the 11th round in 2009 and suffered a unanimous decision loss at the hands of Welshman Joe Calzaghe in 2007. Kessler’s a former three-time champ and also used to hold the WBC version of the belt, which he took from Froch.
Prediction
The first meeting between these two was quite close and there’s not really any reason to believe this one will be much different. Kessler will be confident due to the win over Froch and the Englishman should also be brimming with confidence since he’s been victorious in four of his past five contests, including a big fifth-round KO over Lucian Bute last May to take his IBF crown. These two match up really well against each other. Froch may be out to avenge his loss against Kessler and if he is he needs to control his aggression and not get wild. This fight could actually come down to the crowd as Froch will receive a lot of support in London. It might just be enough to get him over the hump to win by a relatively close decision.
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