Mikkel Kessler - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mikkel Kessler is a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

professional boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

and former two time WBA

World Boxing Association

The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

& WBC

World Boxing Council

The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...

Super Middleweight

Super middleweight

Super Middleweight is a boxing and Muay Thai weight division that has a weight limit of 168 pounds .- 1960s–1983 :There was interest in a division between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s...

champion. In his professional career he has a record of 44–2 with 33 knockout

Knockout

A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...

s. Kessler, who holds the dinstinction of facing two of Britain's best contemporary fighters, has traded leather (and titles) with fan favorites Joe Calzaghe

Joe Calzaghe

Joseph William Calzaghe, CBE, MBE is a Welsh former professional boxer. He is the former WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring & British super middleweight champion and The Ring light heavyweight champion....

(L 12) and Carl Froch

Carl Froch

Carl Froch is an English professional boxer and is a two-time and reigning WBC super middleweight champion. He previously held the British, Commonwealth, & English titles at super middleweight.-Amateur:...

(W 12).

Early life

Kessler was born to a Danish father and an English mother, Ann, who hails from Salisbury

Salisbury

Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...

, Wiltshire. He began his vocation early, training in boxing gyms at age 13.

Amateur career

Kessler fought three years as an amateur. He finished his amateur career with a record of 44 wins, and three losses. He won the Danish Championship five times in addition to the Norwegian Championship and the Scandinavian Championship.

Professional career

Kessler originally campaigned as a light middleweight

Light middleweight

Light Middleweight , is a weight division in professional boxing, above 147 pounds and up to 154 pounds ....

and then middleweight

Middleweight

Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...

for the first 22 fights of his career. He won 16 of his first 22 fights by knockout

Knockout

A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...

(KO).

After 3 years and 22 fights, Kessler settled in the super middleweight

Super middleweight

division. Kessler continued his hard hitting streak, dispatching 6 of his first 7 opponents by KO, thereby improving his record to 29–0 with 22 KO.

On November 29, 2002, Kessler fought for his first championship and defeated former World Boxing Council

World Boxing Council

(WBC) super middleweight champion Dingaan Thobela

Dingaan Thobela

Dingaan Bongane Thobela , is a professional boxer in the Super Middleweight division."Rose of Soweto" The Dingaan Thobela story , the intimate biography written by Internationally renowned Deon Potgieter is available for order through all leading on-line stores world wide e.g.; Amazon, Barnes &...

over twelve rounds to become International Boxing Association champion. He gave up this belt

Championship belt

A championship belt is a large, extravagantly designed belt used primarily in combat sports such as boxing, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling to signify the champions of the promotion or company, much like a cup or trophy in other sports...

to fight for the more recognized WBC International title on April 11, 2003, versus Craig Cummings. Kessler won by a knockout in the third round.

He defended his title on three occasions before finally hitting it big on November 12, 2004. His stablemate, Mads Larsen

Mads Larsen

Mads Larsen , known as Golden Boy, is a professional boxer in the super middleweight division. During his career Larsen has held the European, IBO and WBF world super middleweight champion...

, another Danish World Class fighter, was set to challenge Manny Siaca

Manny Siaca

Manuel Alejandro Siaca, born , is a Puerto Rican boxer at super middleweight.Siaca was born in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. He turned pro in 1997 and challenged Bruno Girard in 2000 for the WBA Super Middleweight Title, but lost a split decision...

for the World Boxing Association

World Boxing Association

championship in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

. Larsen was injured in training and Kessler took the fight on short notice, winning the title.

Kessler defended his title against Anthony Mundine

Anthony Mundine

Anthony Mundine is an Australian professional boxer and former rugby league footballer.He is the current interim WBA Light Middleweight Champion boxer, former two-time WBA Super Middleweight Champion, former IBO Middleweight Champion and New South Wales State of Origin representative footballer....

in Sydney in June 2005 and Eric Lucas

Eric Lucas

Éric Lucas is an active professional boxer of height 183 cm.Lucas turned pro in 1991 and came up short in his first two title shots, against WBC Light Heavyweight Title holder Fabrice Tiozzo in 1996 and IBF Super Middleweight Title holder Roy Jones Jr later that year...

in January 2006.

On October 14, 2006, Kessler was elevated to WBA

World Boxing Association

"super champion" status after winning the WBC title in a unification battle against WBC World Champion Markus Beyer

Markus Beyer

Height 176 cmMarkus Beyer is a German boxer at super middleweight and the former WBC Champion, who resides in Lilienthal, Germany. He represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics, in the light middleweight division...

, at the Parken Stadium

Parken Stadium

Parken Stadium is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990–1992. It currently has a capacity of 38,065 for football games, and is the home ground of F.C. Københaven and the Danish national football team...

. He won by knockout at 2:58 in round 3.

Kessler defended his WBA super/WBC titles on March 24, 2007, at the Parken Stadium against WBC mandatory challenger Librado Andrade

Librado Andrade

Librado Andrade Ornelas is a Mexican boxer in the super middleweight division. His brother is fellow boxer Enrique Ornelas.-Personal:...

. The fight was scored as a shutout (120–108) by all three judges.

Kessler then met fellow undefeated champion Joe Calzaghe

Joe Calzaghe

Joseph William Calzaghe, CBE, MBE is a Welsh former professional boxer. He is the former WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring & British super middleweight champion and The Ring light heavyweight champion....

. The bout took place at Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

's Millennium Stadium

Millennium Stadium

The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...

on November 3, 2007, in front of over 50,000 fans (then the largest indoor boxing event in European history) and was a unification bout for the WBO/WBA

World Boxing Association

/WBC

World Boxing Council

/Ring Magazine super middleweight

Super middleweight

titles. Kessler lost the unification bout via unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the fight: 117–111, 116–112, 116–112.

Second Reign

Kessler faced Dimitri Sartison

Dimitri Sartison

Dimitri Sartison , is a professional boxer from Germany with orthodox stance. His professional record includes 27 fights: 26 wins , and 1 loss. He lives in Hamburg, Germany, but was born in Rudniy, Kazakhstan. He won the vacant WBA super middleweight title against Stjepan Božić from Croatia on 21...

on June 21, 2008, for the vacant WBA Super Middleweight regular title. Kessler won the match by knockout in the 12th round.

Kessler successfully defended his title against Danilo Häussler, KO3 on October 25, and against Gusmyl Perdomo (16–2, 10KOs), KO4 on September 12, 2009, one minute into the round.

In November 2009 the WBA once again promoted him to Super Champion, this time prior to unifying any Super Middleweight titles.

Super Six

His first fight was against Andre Ward

Andre Ward

Andre Ward is an American professional boxer and the current WBA super middleweight champion.Currently, Ward is rated among the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. He is rated #6, #7 and #10 by Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, and The Ring...

on November 21, 2009 for Kessler's WBA

World Boxing Association

Super Middleweight Championship in the Super Six World Boxing Classic

Super Six World Boxing Classic

The Super Six World Boxing Classic is a boxing super middleweight tournament organized by Showtime in co-operation with Sauerland Event. The winner of the tournament will hold the Ring, WBA, and WBC super middleweight titles....

.
On November 21, 2009 Kessler lost his championship to Andre Ward. The fight was stopped in the eleventh round due to cuts on Kessler's face caused by what was deemed unintentional headbutts by Ward. The fight went to the scorecards and Ward was far ahead by scores of 98–92, 98–92, and 97–93 at the time of the stoppage. Many observers were disappointed with Kesslers performance against Ward, the ways in which he was exposed in his defence, movement and the ability to fight on the inside were evident in the fight, questions rose about his retirement from boxing after the loss, however Kessler wanted to prove his worth with a huge test against Carl Froch

Carl Froch

then the current WBC

World Boxing Council

world champ.

On April 24. 2010 Kessler returned to form against Britain's undefeated WBC

World Boxing Council

Champion Carl Froch

Carl Froch

, a match that was called "a classic" and "one of the best matches in Danish boxing ever." The contest went the distance and Kessler was handed a close unanimous decision with scores of 115–113, 116–112, and a surprising 117–111. With the win Kessler became a two time WBC Champion, handing Carl Froch his first defeat in the process.

Andre Ward later praised Kessler tremendously in an interview with fightnews.com, calling Kessler "skill wise...the toughest I’ve fought so far". Ward went on to express admiration over Kessler's career and dispelling any criticism after his own victory over Kessler. "People want to put down Mikkel Kessler because of our fight but he’s proven himself. He’s proven that if he loses a title he can come back and become champion again, he did that after our fight so now he’s a three time world champion. Anybody that can win a world title three times and only have two losses in the process says a lot. He’s a great fighter and I give him a lot of credit and I have a lot of respect for him."

On August 25, Kessler announced he was withdrawing from the Super Six tournament due to the worsening of the eye injury he suffered in his fight against Ward. According to Ekstra Bladet newspaper, Kessler stated he was seeing double. Doctors told him he must take a nine month break from boxing.

The Comeback

Mikkel Kessler suddenly announced his comeback, and fought against Mehdi Bouadla and scored victory by TKO. Mikkel claimed that if he had lost this fight he would retire.

Other

On Volbeat's album Beyond Hell/ Above Heaven there is a song dedicated to Mikkel Kessler named "A Warrior's Call" which contains the lyrics "The viking warrior Mikkel Kessler". Also in which he provided vocals for the line "fight, fight, fight, fight", as revealed in the International EPK Video.

Kessler is sponsored by Jack&Jones clothing and can often be seen wearing the brand whilst training

Boxing training

Boxing training is the training method that boxers use in order to get more fit for their sport. This training method is often cited by medical doctors, boxing trainers, and writers as one of the most spartan forms of sports training.- Training :...

and as well on his underwear and shorts

Boxer shorts

Boxer shorts are a type of undergarment worn by men. The term has been used in English since 1944 for all-around-elastic shorts, so named after the shorts worn by boxers, for whom unhindered leg movement is very important.Reasons for a preference for boxers can be attributed to their variety of...

at weigh-ins and fights.

Kessler is the younger brother of adult model

Fetish model

A fetish model is a model who models fetish clothing or devices that augment his or her body in a fetish manner or in fetishistic situations, though he or she may not work exclusively in that form of modeling....

and actress Linse Kessler.

Professional boxing record

Germany Robert Stieglitz

Robert Stieglitz

Robert Stieglitz is a German boxer and the current WBO Super Middleweight world champion...

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Early Modern France Mehdi Bouadla
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United Kingdom Carl Froch

Carl Froch

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United States Andre Ward

Andre Ward

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Venezuela Gusmyer Perdomo
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Germany Danilo Haussler
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Germany Dimitri Sartison

Dimitri Sartison

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Wales Joe Calzaghe

Joe Calzaghe

Joseph William Calzaghe, CBE, MBE is a Welsh former professional boxer. He is the former WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring & British super middleweight champion and The Ring light heavyweight champion....

|UD

Joe Calzaghe vs. Mikkel Kessler

Joe Calzaghe versus Mikkel Kessler was a super middleweight boxing contest between the number one and two super middleweights in the World. At the time both fighters were unbeaten. On the line was the WBO, WBC and WBA World belts as well as the The Ring Magazine championship...

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Mexico Librado Andrade

Librado Andrade

Librado Andrade Ornelas is a Mexican boxer in the super middleweight division. His brother is fellow boxer Enrique Ornelas.-Personal:...

|UD||||
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Germany Markus Beyer

Markus Beyer

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Canada Eric Lucas

Eric Lucas

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Australia Anthony Mundine

Anthony Mundine

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Puerto Rico Manny Siaca

Manny Siaca

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South Africa Andre Thysse
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Julio Cesar Green

Julio Cesar Green was a professional boxer of height 173 cm in the middleweight division....

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Costa Rica Henry Porras
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Craig Cummings
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South Africa Dingaan Thobela

Dingaan Thobela

|UD
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United States Dean Williams
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Poland Gerard Zdziarski
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Argentina Orlando Javier Acuna
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United States Arthur Allen
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Canada Manny Sobral
|TKO
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United States Fernando Hernández
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Mexico David Mendez
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United States Rodrigues Moungo
|KO
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Colombia Miguel Julio
|KO
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France Patrick Rubes
|KO
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|Win||19–0
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United States Tony Menefee
|TKO
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|Win||18–0
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United States Kevin Hall
|KO
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United States Tom Younan
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Puerto Rico Israel Ponce
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Cayman Islands Charles Whittaker
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South Africa Sidney Mxoli Msutu
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France Jean Paul D'Alessandro
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Dominican Republic Jose Maquina Rojas
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Dominican Republic Alejandro De Leon
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Mexico Jaime Balboa
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South Africa Dean Martin
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United States Anthony Ivory
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Panama Edwin Murillo
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United States Sammy Sparkman
|KO
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|Win||5–0
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United States Terry Clark
|KO
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United States Rick Stockton
|KO
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Colombia Alex Lubo
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United States Michael Corleone
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External links

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Status changed: Emeritus Champion

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