| 24 April 2010
Kessler is walking to the ring. He's looking for redemption tonight coming off of his loss against Andre Ward. He looks focused.
Froch follows to the tune of "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns and Roses and also "We Will Rock You" by Queen.
This is certainly a pro Kessler crowd.
Since this is tape delayed Showtime is wasting no time.
Here we go.
Round 1:
They meet in the center. Lots of head movement from Kessler. They're feeling each other out in this round. Kessler gets a good jab inside. Froch lands a jab of his own. They trade jabs again. Kessler lands a solid right hook. Kessler lands a right to the body. Froch lands a right to the body and Kessler counters with a right upstairs. He lands a right hook to the body. Close round but I'm giving it to Kessler.
Parker: 10-9 Kessler
Tylwalk: 10-9 Froch
Uatu: 10-9 Froch
Round 2:
Froch lands 2 hooks upstairs. Kessler's face looks red. Kessler lands a flush right hand to the body. Froch lands a counter left. Kessler has him in the corner, but looks causious. Froch is circling the ring. Kessler lands a left hook. Froch is in the corner once again. Froch lands a great left counter jab. And another. And another. Froch lands a counter straight right. Kessler lands a left to the body. Good flurry by Kessler at the end.
Parker: 10-9 Froch
Tylwalk: 10-9 Kessler
Uatu: 10-9 Kessler
Round 3:
Froch lands a couple more counter jabs. Kessler is stalking Froch around the ring. Kessler gets inside and lets his hands go. Froch scores with a great jab that knocks Kessler's kneck back. They clinch for the first time in the fight. Froch lands a left hook. And now 2 right hands. This has been a masterfull round so far for Froch. Froch is unloading some punches from some odd angles but they are scoring.
Parker: 10-9 Froch
Tylwalk: 10-9 Froch
Uatu: 10-9 Froch
Round 4:
Kessler tries to get inside, but Froch keeps countering on point. Kessler is still trying to figure out Kessler. He lands a left to the body. Froch scores with 2 more jabs. Froch lands a great right hand. Kessler answers back with a left uppercut. Froch lands 2 great power punches upstairs. Froch is certainly headhunting with lots of success. Froch comes forwards and Kessler lands a great right that looks like it bothered Froch who ties up.
Parker: 10-9 Froch
Tylwalk: 10-9 Froch
Uatu: 10-9 Froch
Round 5:
Kessler lands a double job. He counters Froch while he comes forward. Froch lands 2 mosterous left hands and Kessler covers up. Kessler isn't looking to great in there. He can't find and solution for Froch's style. Froch lands 2 more huge power shots and Kessler goes down. The ref is calling it a slip, but it looked like a clear knockdown to me. He's up and Froch lands 2 more left hooks. Froch lands another giant right hand and Kessler is on wobbly legs. Rather than applying the pressure, he drops his hands to admire his handy work.
Parker: 10-9 Froch
Tylwalk: 10-9 Froch
Uatu: 10-9 Froch
Round 6:
The replay shows that the knockdown was caused by tangling feet. Froch drops his hands below his waist. Kessler tries to get the jab going. Froch counters Kessler again. Kessler unleashes 2 uppercuts while Froch is against the ropes to the body. Froch gets out of there. Kessler lands a left hook. Froch continues to drop his gloves, but he's avoiding Kessler's shots. Froch looks really comfortable in there. Froch lands a left and a right hook which both loked pretty slow but still landed. Froch lands a left hook and Kessler backs up.
Parker: 10-9 Froch
Tylwalk: 10-9 Froch
Uatu: 10-9 Kessler
Round 7:
Froch counters with a left hook. Froch's punches look like they've lost some steam, but he may be conserving his energy. Kessler lands a right to the body. Both fighters stick with the jab. Kessler lands a short left hook. Kessler lands a left to the body. Kessler sticks the jab. Froch comes forward with a right hand. Not too many meaningful punches landed from either fighter. Kessler lands a big right hand up the middle. Froch looked a bit hurt at the end.
Parker: 10-9 Kessler
Tylwalk: 10-9 Kessler
Uatu: 10-9 Kessler
Round 8:
Froch continues to circle the ring. Kessler counters with a right hand. And another. Froch looks like he's getting either tired or lazy. His trainer asked him is he was tired in between rounds. Froch misses with a looping right hook. Kessler misses with 3 hooks. Kessler staggers Froch with a big right straight and he's hurt. He's trying to shake the cobwebs out. He's in the corner. Kessler lands another right hand. Blood coming from the nose of Froch. He's still wobbly. Froch makes it out of the round.
Parker: 10-9 Kessler
Tylwalk: 10-9 Kessler
Uatu: 10-9 Kessler
Round 9:
Froch looks more cautious now. Kessler is choosing his punches wisely. Froch has 2 of his punches blocked. Kessler counters with a jab. Kessler works the body. Froch is still blinking the cobwebs out and still looks shaky. Tarver adds that Froch's nose looks badly broken. Froch lands a left and right hand. Froch ducks very low and Kessler lands a wide hand. The ref stops the action to tell both fighters to watch their heads. Kessler lands a left uppercut. Froch lands a left hook. Very entertaining and close round.
Parker: 10-9 Kessler
Tylwalk: 10-9 Kessler
Uatu: 10-9 Froch
Round 10:
Kessler tries to keep his jab going. Kessler lands a big left hooks. Froch is still blinking a lot and his movement isn't as sharp. Kessler keeps applying the pressure. Froch misses with a left uppercut. Kessler has some blood on his face and it's from a cut over his eye. They trade jabs. Kessler lands a jab. Froch lands a slick straight left. Froch lands a jab. Kessler lands a jab. They trade hooks in the center of the ring. Froch drops his hands low. Close round.
Parker: 10-9 Froch
Tylwalk: 10-9 Froch
Uatu: 10-9 Froch
Round 11:
Kessler comes out firing and lands a big right hand. Froch lands a right hand. They are both going for a KO. They are trading blows. Kessler looks like he's landing the more meaningful punches. Froch lands a left hook and Kessler lands one of his own. It's all offense now. Kessler lands a looping right hand that backs up Froch. This has been an amazing round. Froch lands a left hook and right uppercut. Froch counters Kessler with a left. Froch misses a jab. Kessler lands a left to the body and Froch lands a big left.
Parker: 10-9 Kessler
Tylwalk: 10-9 Kessler
Uatu: 10-9 Kessler
Round 12:
They square up in the center. Kessler lands a right hook. Froch counters with a right and backs him up. The crowd is on their feet. Kessler lands 2 jabs and a right hand. Froch misses with a counter attempt. Froch has a looping right hook blocked. Froch tries the jab. Kessler lands a right hand. Froch comes right back with a left. Kessler just misses with big right hand. They are both swinging for the fences. Kessler looks like he may be hurt. They both landed huge punches. Froch lands 2 more hooks and Kessler is against the ropes. Kessler fires back. They both land enormous punches. They trade punches all the way to the bell. Amazing fight.
Parker: 10-9 Froch
Tylwalk: 10-9 Kessler
Uatu: 10-9 Froch
The judges score the bout 117-111, 115-113 and 116-112 all for the winner by unanimous decision Mikkel Kessler
Parker: 116-112 Froch
Tylwalk: 114-114
Uatu: 115-113 Froch
Kessler says that that he can't wait to fight Ward again and it feels good to get his belt back. He says he knew that Froch wasn't good at fighting while moving backward and he took advantage. He thanks the fans and adds that they were a great motivator.
Froch says he thought he did enough and he had Kessler hurt, but says that he should have sustained the attack. He adds that he felt a little fatigued, but thinks it was mental. He doesn't make any excuses for himself. He blames the judges to a point when he says that if the fight was in his backyard the decision would have been his.
