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Tuesday 28 May 2013

28/05/2013 Froch v Kessler II



Its safe to say that this past Saturday night saw the fight of the year so far, redemption for Carl Froch as he battled his way through 12 hard fought rounds to overcome the Danish 'Viking Warrior' Mikkel Kessler. It was a fight that had Boxing fans watering at the mouth from the moment it was announced, partially due to the first encounter between the 2 warriors, but also as fans knew that Froch was in the shape of his life, and this was his time to snatch back the loss he had 3yrs ago to Kessler.

From the opening round it went exactly as planned for Froch, a game plan that consisted of working the jab and not letting Kessler catch him on the front foot, many fans looked on in ore of what Froch was producing, at this point the tables had turned 360 degrees and Froch was the man in charge. But in round 4 the Kessler that we all knew but had forgotten about came on strong, catching Froch with some incredible shots, but it was never quite enough to trouble the Nottingham based fighter.

Through the middle rounds, fans watched on not really knowing which way this fight was going to go, but what was certain was if this was going the distance, Froch had got himself into a great position to take the win. Everyone knew that Froch had to start the fight strong as this has always been a reoccurring theme when he has lost or won by a close margin. But not only did he have to come out strong, he also then had to maintain this throughout the contest, by round 9 though the tide had taken a drastic turn in Kesslers favour. Was this going to be a comeback performance from the Dane, and was he going to give Froch a taste of his own medicine. Kessler caught his opponent with some great shots that most fighters would have struggled to pick themselves up from, but the Boxing world knew (Kessler included) that if you hit Froch with a clean punch you better make it count. The British fighter has a chin made of granite, i can not put that any clearer.

In the last 3 rounds just when it seemed that Kessler was establishing himself back in the match, Froch sucked it up and went at him with everything he had left. It was a brutal few rounds that left the crowd standing from their chairs. Round 12 was everything the previous fight had and more, Kessler needing a KO and Froch needing to finish strong, and it didn't disappoint. With the final bell sounding, and after Froch looked to have nearly ended the fight after a barrage of punches unloaded on Kessler, both men stumbled towards the centre of the ring and embraced each other like only these two men could. They knew they had been in an incredible fight, and they knew they left everything they had in the ring.

After the fight both fighters couldn't have been more gracious to each other, and with Froch suggesting a third showdown with Kessler, Bernard Hopkins looking for the winner before the fight had even started and Andre Ward watching on, it leaves Frochs career very carefully balanced on a knife edge.

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