By: Jim Amato
Mikkel Kessler is 28 years old. He sports a 39-0 record. He is the WBA and WBC super middleweight titleholder. All that is missing is world wide recognition. HBO was smart enough to air his recent defense in Denmark, a one sided drubbing of previously undefeated Librado Andrade. That was the first step toward Mikkel being known on this side of the Atlantic. Hopefully the next step will be a unification bout with unbeaten WBO champion Joe Calzaghe. That is if Joe overcomes the challenge of Peter Manfredo Jr. on April 7th in Cardiff, Wales. Calzaghe is a solid favorite to win that fight and rightfully so.
Calzaghe won over the American boxing public when he dominated the highly regarded Jeff Lacy. He has done little though to build on the prestige since he gained with that victory. Calzaghe needs Kessler but Kessler needs Calzaghe more. Will this highly anticipated fight ever be made?
Calzaghe has made it clear that if he beats Manfredo he wants middleweight champion Jermain Taylor or the winner of Bernard Hopkins – Winky Wright. Even Roy Jones Jr. has been mentioned. Kessler doesn’t seem to be on Joe’s radar. The Andrade bout was an HBO showcase for Kessler. Mikkel won 120-108 on all three cards. Kessler jabbed, he moved, he punched in beautiful combinations, he gave a boxing clinic. Even though Andrade was unbeaten he was far from the caliber of a Joe Calzaghe. Still HBO stirred up interest in future Kessler matches, hopefully against Calzaghe. Will see…
Kessler is quite younger then Calzaghe. He is very strong and he is a solid puncher. He has a good jab and he boxes well. He is able to open up with both hands with great accuracy. That sounds like a winning formula for Mikkel against Calzaghe. The thing is that Joe is no ordinary Joe. Calzaghe has outstanding hand speed and he too is very accurate. He is also very awkward and not easy to tag with power shots. Also Joe has been in with better opposition.
If Calzaghe – Kessler is made this year I still have to go with Joe. Unless Calzaghe ages overnight I just see him having too much savvy for the upstart to beat him. More then likely though, we probably won’t see this match made and that’s a shame.