By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
WBC champion, Carl Froch, of England, will suffer his first loss to Denmark's Mikkel Kessler on Saturday night, that is, if you believe three of the tournament's four fighters who are not in action this weekend in Showtime's Super Six Super Middleweight World Boxing Classic.
The 32-year-old Froch (26-0, 20 knockouts), who is nicknamed, "The Cobra," will meet the 31-year-old Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs), whose alias is "The Viking Warrior," in front of Kessler's partisan fans at the sold-out MCH Arena in Herning, Denmark.
Froch is coming off of October's split-decision victory over 26-year-old southpaw, Andre Dirrell (19-1, 13 KOs), of Flint, Mich., who rebounded with last month's lopsided, 11th-round disqualification victory over Germany's 30-year-old Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KOs).
Kessler was dethroned as WBA champion after November's lopsided, technical decision loss to 26-year-old Andre Ward (21-0, 13 KOs), of Oakland, Calif.
Dirrell, Abraham and Ward are all picking Kessler to rebound in victory, while only 30-year-old Allan Green (29-1, 20 KOs), of Tulsa, Ok., is picking Froch.
"I'm going with Froch. I think he is more confident right now," said Green, who gets a shot at Ward's WBA crown on June 19. "I think that Kessler may be a tad bit quicker, but I think Froch is slicker, and he has more options, so he will win this fight."
Ward has a different take on Kessler, who is 39-0, with 29 knockouts in Denmark, and who stopped Gusmyr Perdomo in the fourth round of his only previous appearance at MCH Arena in September.
"Mikkel Kessler is too skillful, too polished, and has too many tools in the tool kit for Carl Froch to overcome. He's very motivated, coming off his loss to me, and he has the chance to regain a world title with a win over Froch," said Ward, who then refrenced the fact that Kessler has replaced trainer Richard Olsen with Jimmy Montoya.
"Kessler has a new trainer and seems refreshed and rejuvenated and has proven in the past that he can come back after being defeated to win a world championship," said Ward. "Froch is a tough customer and will give everything he has. It will definitely be a tough match-up for Kessler, but at the end of the night, Mikkel Kessler will get his hand raised."
Dirrell lost on the road to Froch, who fought him before his hometown fans in Nottingham, England.
"Mikkel Kessler will win by majority decision. He's a very smart boxer with great ability," said Dirrell. "Despite his loss to Ward, Kessler has had a lot of success against Europeans, and that will be the case again in his fight with Froch."
Abraham, likewise, is going with Kessler, his promotional stablemate with Sauerland Promotions.
"As my teammate, I do, of course hope that Kessler will beat Froch, although it will be a very tough and exciting fight. All Super Six fighters are very strong, so I look forward to an exciting evening in Herning," said Abraham, who is scheduled to face Froch on August 21 in Nottingham, England.
"I think Kessler will win. This is basically his last chance," said Abraham. "His career and his future -- at least in the Super Six -- are on the line. It would be a huge surprise if someone of his class would be eliminated that early."
Entering the second of three Group Stage 2 matches, hometown fighters have a record of 4-0 in the tournament.
Froch is in a three-way tie for second place with two points, but can overtake Abraham (three points) for the top spot on the tournament scoreboard in victory.
Kessler has no points, and needs to win -- worth two points -- to stay alive in the tournament.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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