Excerpt from conference call prior to the Kessler Froch fight: Mikkel Kessler: Its a big opportunity to be fighting for a world title again. You know, I had to go back to boxing school after my last fight. Im so happy to be in this tournament with another chance to show all my boxing fans that I am the best. I learned from my mistakes after the Ward fight. I learned I made mistakes outside the ring. I had to pick my sparring partners better three or four weeks out of the fight. I just feel Im better than ever now. Im ready to fight this fight, I really cant wait. In the Ward fight I was really afraid of getting disqualified, like you saw with Abraham in his last fight. I was just very afraid if I was going to head-butt him or hit him with an elbow so I was a little bit tentative in that fight, but I will never be that again. Of course there were a lot of mistakes in my last might. I feel like a new fighter. I hope Carl is ready because Ive trained very hard the last three months. Im in my best shape ever and Im ready to fight. I dont like to talk about money. But, when Im the ring, Id rather have a belt than no money. I have to change a lot of tactics, of course, but I cant reveal that right now. Its nice not to be the favorite in this tournament. Like Kalle said, Im like a young warrior again. And Im super hungry again. Im very hungry. Im back and Im very sharp at this time. I made my mistake and I just want to get back up and show all my boxing fans from around the world that I am the best super middleweight in the world. Source: http://www.boxen.com/en/news-archive/news-details/article/k/23.html
Nice! He sounds like a real smart guy, and not the type of guy to give up so easily. I don't know why so many around here wanna stick a fork in this guy after the Ward fight.
Because he was supposed to be the best Supermiddleweight in the world and he wasnt even at least competitive in his loss He took a beating and was exposed badly By a guy everyone said was too green
Don't get why some people think that Kessler is done, he only lost to guys that had the right style to beat him, Froch is slow and has no defense, no way Kessler will lose to him!
This fight should answer some questions about Kessler. Is he shot? Can he handle a guy with an awkward and ugly style? Is he willing to get rough when is opponent does? I used to think Kessler would run right over Froch. Now I see this as a 50/50 fight.
IMO, that's not enough of a reason to say Kessler's finished. His weaknesses were exposed, maybe he took Ward too lightly, etc... Either way, he went back into the gym, worked on some things, and we'll see what happens. Sorry, I just don't understand this whole "BoxerX got beat, thus he's finished in the sport" thing going on so much lately.
I see this fight 50/50 too. Kessler's still good but Froch has a high tendency to fight dirty and rough up his opponents. I want to see how Kessler reacts to these tactics.
I never said Kessler was finished,I said he was exposed The supposably "best" SMW in the world (Which I always knew he wasnt) should not be gettin BEATEN SO EASILY by a guy who had half the experience then he does
Anyway Kessler could very well win this,Froch is slow and predictable But This fight could end in 2 ways,Froch by Stoppage or Kessler by UD Kinda close to call,But if i had to lean towards a fighter,It would be kessler Ill be rooting for Froch though
Montoya has been an assistant to Richard Olsen and I think Richard has had the final word on most occasions. Maybe Montoya has had ideas that he weren't able to execute before now. We'll see come 24 of April.
:deal I'll be rooting for Kessler. He seems like a class act and I don't cheer for arrogant pricks with girlfriends too hot for them.
Solid points, Boo. :thumbsup I've always referred to Froch as truth serum because even if he's getting outboxed, every fan watching's going to get a true measure of his opponent's heart and toughness (and conditioning) because one way or another, Froch forces that side out of them. If Kessler really has learned from his mistakes and is a tougher fighter, we'll find out soon enough.