UNITED KINGDOM- Joe Calzaghe turned back Mikkel Kessler?s claims of being the best super middleweight on the planet with a convincing win via scores of 117-111 and 116-112 (twice) on home ground (Cardiff, Wales? Millennium Stadium) last night.
TigerBoxing scored the bout 116-113 for Calzaghe, now king of the super middles beyond doubt (Lucian Bute holds the IBF belt, which Calzaghe vacated after beating Lacy, but the talented Canadian?s claim, is a minor one).
As was the case when outclassing Jeff Lacy in March of 2006, the Welshman (166.7-lbs) used his southpaw skills and superior hand and foot speed to impress at the highest level. Defending his WBO crown for the 21st time, ?The Pride of Wales? annexed the WBA and WBC crowns that Kessler had looked so good defending.
Kessler, 28, couldn?t quite establish his jab versus the southpaw, who?s still a quicksilver at the age of 35. Against the ?wrong? style, the visitor (168) was reduced to trying hard rights, some of which stunned Calzaghe in the fourth, seventh and twelfth frames.
But Calzaghe, who?d trained for speed, had Kessler out of sorts after an even first half, surprising him with handspeed, smothering many of the replies and usually having the last word especially when the action fell in close.
It was a sublime showing from a man thought by some to be on the decline after an unimpressive showing vs. Sakio Bika, but Calzaghe took it to the next level against an excellent opponent.
The bout opened cautiously, with the sprightly, aggressive Welshman backing up his foe with varied attacks. But Kessler was the more accurate, timing Calzaghe?s lunges with jabs and right crosses that moved the home fighter back. The older man looked fast and lively, but the Dane?s cleaner work decided the first two sessions.
Calzaghe made his first breakthrough in the third, with a left to the body that made Kessler slip to the canvas. After an exciting flurry, Joe ate up a solid right but used a rapid jab and laser lefts to jolt the Dane?s head and keep him off balance.
The tides turned again in round four, as Kessler timed a right cross when the Welshman flurried at him. A right uppercut jolted Calzaghe, and two further right crosses followed by a left hook downstairs sent gasps through the arena.
After one of the worst rounds of his career, Joe took over the fight with southpaw jabs in the fifth. Kessler made him pay with a right, but couldn?t work his own jab. Joe beat his man to the jab but had to eat a big right uppercut. Kessler finished the round with another big right, but was eating up a lot of punches.
Quicker on the trigger and with superior variety, Calzaghe?s jabs, movement and left crosses broke Kessler?s rhythm in round five, and he had Kessler at his mercy in round six, teeing off on the visitor with fluid combinations.
The seventh was much closer, with Calzaghe?s rhythmic boxing leaving Kessler unable to set himself to punch. But, after being shaken by snappy lefts, the younger man forced out some straight and hard rights to drive Calzaghe back. Joe followed up with a scintillating right hook-straight left, but Kessler seemed to hurt the homeboy with rights fired through the guard, which made him do an involuntary dance.
Following the best two-way action of the fight, Calzaghe went back to boxing clever, dishing out a lesson with fast and relax attacking from both hands. Mikkel was looking stiff and tired, and was steered to the ropes where the southpaw used mugging attacks through the eighth and ninth.
Applauded for his mastery to start round ten, Calzaghe fed off the crowd to drive his man to the ropes. Kessler lacked the tools inside, and missed wildly at times. A rapid flurry made room for a terrific right uppercut in the eleventh, and Joe unloaded on Kessler, who was completely flustered by the fittest 35-year-old in the game.
Calzaghe had utterly mastered his man, but Kessler dredged it up in the final round. Desperate to score a knockout, he drove forward with a left hook, right uppercut and several right hands smack in Calzaghe?s face. The Dane?s courage and desire put Joe in some trouble, but couldn’t manage the knockout.
Said Calzaghe, of his biggest win, ?I knew this was going to be one of the toughest fights of my life. Mikkel Kessler’s a fantastic fighter, at his prime. Not bad for a 35-36 year old.
?I struggled at the end a bit, I got a bit tired,? added Joe, now 44-0 (32). ?But I felt I controlled the fight and I?m just proud of my performance. I realised after a few rounds my jab was way too fast for him. He was trying to get his lead foot outside of mine so he could land right hands and he did occasionally. But I put my boxing together and he just couldn’t get past the jab.?
Of his future plans, Calzaghe enthused, ?The Americans I think are going to be pretty excited. (I want) big names. (Up) at light heavyweight I’ll be a different animal. If you think I was good at super middleweight, wait until you see me at light heavyweight. Then you’re going to see some damage?
But Calzaghe may find it hard to secure an American name, with KO artist Kelly Pavlik locked into a rematch with Jermain Taylor and Bernard Hopkins fighting with immense caution these days.
Judging by the success of last night?s all-European bout, which drew some 50,000 fans, he could challenge light heavyweight champion Zsolt Erdei (WBO and Lineal king), whose promoter Klaus Peter Kohl was ringside.
Kessler, who drops to 39-1 (29), was gracious when interviewed post fight. His left eye swollen, the Dane was hard on himself: ?It wasn?t a great performance. I don?t think so.
?I knew he was fast,? added Kessler, one of the few big names to brave Calzaghe?s home court. ?I knew he had trained a lot for me. He had to be sharp to beat me today.”
Praising his conqueror?s offbeat skills, Kessler elaborated, ?Joe is a kind of match spoiler and he spoiled my boxing. He?s really good at it. Big respect to Joe. I needed more distance because he’s good at punching and holding.
“I knew that (I was behind), of course. I tried all that I had in me. I wanted to hit him just once clean but…He’s a difficult boxer but he’s a good one.”
Denmark?s finest will have won plenty of fans in defeat and can improve from the experience. When Calzaghe vacates the titles, Mikkel will surely be one of the first in line, with plenty of outstanding fights out there for the taking.
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On the main undercard, home fighter Enzo Maccarinelli (197 ?) defended his WBO cruiserweight title with a fourth round KO of Mohamed Azzaoui (weighing the same) of New Zealand. Azzaoui, 31, a late substitute after the British Boxing Board of Control refused to sanction Ezra Sellers, showed a tricky defense, inspiring Maccarinelli, 27, to dig the body with a wicked left hook in the second round that hurt the visitor.
The third offered more of the same in this routine title defense, with Azzaoui ducking low and turning half away, which made the Welshman?s punches come perilously close to hitting him in the back. Maccarinelli never really got his jab working and the right hand improved under Enzo Calzaghe?s tutelage was never a factor, but Enzo stuck with the body beating against his negative opponent whom he knew little about.
Less than a minute into round four, Maccarinelli missed a left hook with his opponent stuck in the corner. Azzaoui ducked extremely low and half turned away, causing Enzo?s left hook to the body to hit him near the kidney area. After being counted out at the 58-second mark, the challenger claimed he?d been hit with an illegal punch, but he moved right into it.
Enzo moves to 28-1 (21) with his fourth title defense and his eyes on next Saturday\’s fight between Jean Marc Mormeck and David Haye for the WBC and WBA titles at 200-lbs. Azzaoui goes back home with a 22-1-2 (8) record.
Maccarinelli has shown huge promise since joining Enzo Calzaghe?s gym and dominating Wayne Braithwaite. But easy matches such as last night?s suggest he may not step up properly until he replaces Joe Calzaghe as Wales? number one fighter.
Judging by the way Calzaghe?s still going, that could be at least a couple of years.
