johnmichael-bricJoe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler Recap
November 6th 2007 21:05
Round 1 started like a usual fight, both boxers were feeling each other out. Kessler was pumping his jab and Calzaghe was also jabbing and aiming for Kessler's body. The champion from Denmark came in hungry in this fight as he was using his jab very well then throwing his hard straight right afterward. They had some heated exchanges in the first round, neither having an edge yet but Calzaghe threw more punches and connected more. Kessler landed the harder punches in the first but it was pretty even at that point. The second round started with both fighters unleashing meaningful punches. Kessler was able to back Calzaghe to the ropes after landing a huge right. Calzaghe moved away from the ropes and answered with punches of his own. Kessler has the edge in the 2nd round.
In the third round, more heated exchanges between the two were exciting the crowd. Calzaghe kept coming forward and was using his jab really well and had the edge in this round as well. He was also starting to land his body shots and left straight more in this fight but Kessler was still dangerous with his own arsenal. In round 4, the fight was still very even. Kessler landed another one of his srtaight right that hurt Calzaghe a bit but he just walked through it and continued to fire numerous punches. Kessler won the 4th by landing accurate power punches.
In rounds 5 and 6, Calzaghe was getting the better of the exchanges. He was moving his head really well and connecting many punches to Kessler, whose nostrils was starting to bleed as well. Kessler is apparently having difficukty fighting in Calzaghe's pace because he appeared gun shy and his punch output kind of dropped.
Round 7 was another exciting round as Calzaghe again threw volumes punches (105 punches to be exact) while Kessler was jabbing and landing some of his right hand. Kessler landed a viscious right uppercut to the incoming Calzaghe. He was hurt a bit but he still fought back by landing more jabs, straights to the head and body. I think Kessler edged him in this round with those uppercuts he nailed Calzaghe with.
Calzaghe started to pull away even more in round 8 as he was excellently slipping Kessler's punches and still continued to back down Kessler. He was finding his target more and more. It appeared that Kessler didn't have an answer to his 35 year old opponent's speed as he was missing more punches.
Round 9, 10 and 11 was more of the same because Calzaghe was cleary dominating and outboxing Kessler. I noticed that Calzaghe didn't "slap" that much in this fight but was using his jab well and was landing more power punches. He was throwing almost a hundred of punches in theses rounds. Kessler's left eye was also starting to close at the end of the 11th.
Sensing that he was down on the cards, Kessler came out in the 12th round with with bad intentions. He fought desperately, trying to catch Calzaghe with his hard punches. He was able land some of them but Calzaghe wasn't fazed and was blocking and slipping most of them. Kessler won the final round but it was too late because of the lead Calzaghe built.
Joe Calzaghe definitely showed the every boxing fan that he still is very dangerous and formidable with his speed and world class skill. Despite being at the advanced age of 35 years old, he moved like he wwas 10 years younger and convincingly beat the 28 year old Kessler.
He is now the WBC/WBA/WBO and the Ring Magazine 168 lb champion of the world. With that display of speed and skill, I think challengers would have a hard time beating this seemingly invincible champion. To Kessler's credit, he fought valiantly and he also showed the world that he can bang with the greatest and toughest. He is still young and I believe he will capture another title again.
Calzaghe's record is now at 44-0 (32 KOs) while Kessler now has blemish in his resume' and is now 39-1 (29 KOs). Huge props to Calzaghe and I see him being dominant in the coming years.
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