By Kevin Mitchell, Guardian.co.uk
Carl Froch lost his undefeated record and his WBC super-middleweight title to the abnormally tough Dane Mikkel Kessler in front of a packed Messencenter here last night but can be proud of being part of a contest that at times resembled a wild west brawl.
The judges, two Belgians and an Italian, saw it 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111 for the challenger, but it looked much closer than that from this vantage point. I scored three of the 12 rounds even – and any of those could have gone either way – five to Froch and four to Kessler.
By far the best was the last. It was an astonishing exchange of fully loaded finishers as both men dropped their hands and slung their blows without care for their chins or looks. Blood smeared each face at the end. Both tanks were dry. They nodded briefly, an expression of mutual respect that had been evident in the build-up and was clearly genuine.
This fight will be their bond – but they are still deadly enemies in the Showtime Super Six series after two stages. Froch fights the Armenian Arthur Abraham next, probably in the UK. Abraham, who had tipped his stablemate Kessler, said: "I'm not just looking forward to the Froch fight. I'm living for it."
Froch reckoned this one might have gone either way, not an unreasonable view, but not one the gathering of 10,000 Danes agreed with.
"I am absolutely gutted," Froch said. "I don't want to make much of it but if this was somewhere else it could have gone the other way. I felt a little unsteady in there because of the ear injury I picked up in sparring. I took some big punches from a big puncher. I give him credit. He's a proud warrior and the Danish fans have been absolutely brilliant.
"It was a toe-to-toe battle. I thought the fight could have gone either way, but I am still in the tournament and I'll be back. I am looking forward to a couple of weeks' rest and then I'll be back in the gym. My girlfriend Rachael is pregnant and I want to celebrate the birth of our new baby as well."
The winner told the 10,000 fans from centre ring: "It was a very, very hard fight. Carl Froch was physically very strong. It was a great performance from him. But it was my night. I didn't do so well last time, but now I'm back."
Last time, Kessler's career looked in the balance as he was thoroughly outclassed by the rising American Andre Ward. Here, coming in his lightest in eight years and 14 fights, he was buzzing again, the same Kessler who took it to Joe Calzaghe in Cardiff three years ago.
Froch looked good too. He had patchy rounds and, from this vantage point, several very good ones. But the judges saw it differently. One of them, Daniel Van de Wiele, of Belgium, had scored Froch's desperately close win over Andre Dirrell in Nottingham last year 115-112 in Froch's favour. His compatriot Roger Tilleman gave last night's fight to Kessler by the ludicrous margin of six points. A more realistic judgment was that of the Italian, Guido Cavalleri, to the winner by two points.
Froch, normally a slow starter, speared jabs in Kessler's face from the opening bell and throughout most of the contest, which might well have led him to believe he had sneaked some of the closer rounds.
The Dane, who has held this title twice before, clearly had a thirst for the job and boxed with energy from start to finish, although he was steadied several times, particularly in round five when Froch got through with heavy head shots. He charged his opponent with such force midway through the round that Kessler tumbled to the canvas. The Canadian referee, Michael Griffin, who was tough on the champion all night, was right not to rule it a knockdown.
Froch might have taken the fight away from Kessler just past the halfway stage as he staggered him repeatedly with right crosses and his pet uppercut. But Kessler is made of stern stuff. Not even a nasty cut distracted him.
Froch's trainer, Robert McCracken, yelled at his man, "And again, Carl, and again!" as he pummelled Kessler in the thrilling 10th. But both men were drained. The power did not match the intent.
As they neared the end, it was anyone's fight – although not according to at least two of the judges. The 11th was even. The 12th was brutal, a throwback three minutes that had the gathering on their feet in a frenzy.
Source: guardian.co.uk
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