Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler

Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler was a professional boxing match contested on 24 April 2010, for the WBC super middleweight championship.^[1] The bout was the second match in the second group stage of the Super Six World Boxing Classic.

Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler

Date	24 April 2010
Venue	MCH Arena, Herning, Mid-Jutland, Denmark
Title(s) on the line	WBC super middleweight championship
Tale of the tape
Boxer Carl Froch Mikkel Kessler Nickname "The Cobra" "Viking Warrior" Hometown Nottingham, East Midlands, UK Copenhagen, Capital Region, Denmark Pre-fight record 26–0 (20 KO) 42–2 (32 KO) Age 32 years, 9 months 31 years, 1 month Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) Weight 167+3⁄4 lb (76 kg) 167 lb (76 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBC Super Middleweight Champion The Ring No. 3 Ranked Super Middleweight WBC No. 3 Ranked Super Middleweight The Ring No. 4 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]

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
Hungary	Sport 1
Poland	Polsat
Romania	Sport.RO
Ukraine	Sport 1
United Kingdom	Primetime
United States	Showtime

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:^[11]

Winner	Loser	Weight division/title belt(s) disputed	Result
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.