Super Six World Boxing Classic Preview – Carl Froch Vs. Mikkel Kessler

When the participants for the Super Six were announced, this was the one match up that I was most looking forward to seeing. Neither of these guys posses the finesse of an Andre Ward or Dirrell, but that’s just not what they do..They are two big hitting, crowd pleasing fighters, who prefer to stand in range and trade. They both have that all important big fight experience, and they will know exactly what is required in a fight of this magnitude. Their styles are going to mesh perfectly, and what we are going to see Saturday night is a spectacular World title fight.

Both these guys are coming off frustrating nights work in the opening round of the Super Six. Froch took a close decision over Andre Dirrell, but had an absolutely torrid time chasing after the young American, and wasn’t able to put on the show he would have liked for his home town fans. He will be looking to put that behind him here. A win will essentially guarantee him a spot in the final four. Kessler got taken apart in a rough bout with Andre Ward, eventually losing a technical decision due to a cut stoppage. In that one fight he went from a firm competition favourite to desperately needing a result here to stay in with a shot at qualification. Was Wards style kryptonite for Kessler or did he just catch the Dane sleeping? Kessler was coming off a long lay off and was expected to win comfortably. It begs the question; will the Ward match prove to be an anomaly or is Kessler beginning to slide?

Carl Froch has already said he expects that this is going to bring the best out of Kessler, and I tend to agree with him. Mikkel really needs that big performance. You also can’t discount the importance of home field advantage either. In every Super Six fight so far the home fighter has come away victorious, so a win here would give Froch huge bragging rights over the other boxers. Froch is known as a slow starter, and I expect Kessler to come out strong with the crowd behind him. He will control the fight in the early going and build up a lead. Froch will find a way to claw his way back into this fight though. That is what Carl Froch does; the guy just has that winning mentality. He’s cool under pressure and then he finds his openings. I think there will only be that one major shift in momentum in this fight. It’s a matter of whether Kessler can stack up enough rounds before Froch does finally make that break through. We could be in for a real blockbuster finale with Kessler up on the cards, but Froch coming on strong in the last three to four rounds. In my book this is a 50/50. If forced to pick I think I would go with Froch, simply because you know exactly what Carl Froch is going to show up; for him, when the bell rings it will be business as usual. With Kessler too many questions remain unanswered after the Ward fight.

Prediction: A majority Draw

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