Leading into their rematch at the O2 Arena in London, England, Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler appeared to be fighters on different trajectories. Since their first fight in 2010?which ended in a close unanimous decision for Kessler?Froch has continued to face the best opposition available. A loss to eventual Super Six Tournament winner Andre Ward was mitigated some by defeating Arthur Abraham, outworking Glenn Johnson in the rugged Jamaican?s last quality performance, and savaging Lucien Bute in five lopsided rounds. With his flattened nose, insolent sneer, and belligerent casualness, Froch is proof that a loss is not the death-knell of a career. Froch overcame defeats by refusing to deviate from the same gauntlet that caused him to stumble. Kessler, on the other hand, spent nearly fourteen months out of the ring after beating Froch, recovering from an eye injury before feasting on three easy marks in re-acclimatizing to combat. Questions abounded regarding Kessler?s durability, his decline, even his zest for fighting when he said he would retire if he lost to Froch ?fair and square.? After twelve fervent rounds before a raucous throng of over 18,000 spectators, Kessler indeed fell to Froch by unanimous decision in a performance that should quell the rumors of his demise for the time being. Kessler believed the improvements he made since first facing Froch would swing the bout in his favor, but none of those changes were unveiled in the early going. In fact, Kessler?s performance over the first half of the fight seemed to confirm the suspicions of his decline. By the fourth round, Froch?s awkward aggression was beginning to tell an ominous tale, as Kessler, Copenhagen, Denmark, was left tentative by the unpredictability of his Froch?s attack. Applying both hands to the task, Froch whipped his sinewy limbs at his passive opponent and carried the action early. While Kessler did an adequate job of blocking and slipping the incoming fire, his face began to flush from the leather that snuck through; and in offering little in return, he did nothing to counter the influence of Froch?s superior?albeit largely inaccurate?activity. But just when Kessler seemed tied to the tracks, one of his improvements surfaced. We saw this same improvement rigidify Allan Green last year?a single left hook that made removing the fallen fighter?s mouthpiece a struggle. Against Froch, Kessler failed to land a similar recumbentibus, but starting in the fifth round, this new wrinkle, and a few others, allowed him to fight his way back into the contest. A sharp left hook landed for Kessler early in the round, and a hard right soon thereafter momentarily froze Froch. It was the best punch of the night, and spurred by his success, Kessler finally invested in damage. His defense also improved halfway through the fight. Rather than back straight up, or step repeatedly to his left?and into Froch?s right hands?Kessler ducked and pivoted. This tactic allowed him to move to his left without getting caught and led to a smoother transition to offense. Kessler was now landing with both hands, and taking far less punishment. At the close of the sixth, Froch, Nottingham, England, returned to his corner with a swelling left eye. With both fighters aware of what was needed to secure victory, a fight broke out. Over the remaining rounds both Froch and Kessler would have success in exchanges; and while it could be assumed that such a rugged affair would favor the awkward and durable Froch, many of the heated exchanges that punctuated the rounds were retaliation for the cleaner, sharper punches Kessler landed. Froch, 168, was still the more active puncher, and the crowd erupted whenever his blows terminated on Kessler?even if their point of impact was a glove, arm or hip?but Kessler?s accuracy was staggering. In taking the lead, Kessler had finally accepted the invitation of the opening round, and to greater effect than Froch and frustrated trainer Robert McCracken preferred. But while the challenge before him was now more manageable, Kessler, 167, was running out of time?a problem exacerbated by that fact that, despite Kessler?s preposterous connect percentage, Froch continued to walk through everything that hit him. Though Froch buckled momentarily in the eleventh, a stoppage remained only the remotest of possibilities, while Kessler seemed to be waning a bit under the relentless assault. In the final round Kessler continued to bury his fists into his opponent, but Froch closed the show with a number of flurries that drove the crowd into a frenzy and had the tiring Dane in retreat. The scores read 118-110, 116-112, and 115-113 for Froch, with those tallies properly awarding a victor if inaccurately reflecting the action. Kessler, 46-3 (35), lost ?fair and square? to Froch, but it would be a shame if perhaps the third best super middleweight in the world were to retire. Have his improvements nullified the inevitable decline that accompanies age and the wear of almost fifty professional fights? Certainly not, and a premature retirement is always preferable to one that comes a fist too late, but Kessler has plenty of fight left, and plenty of loyal Scandinavians willing to pay to see him exhaust it. Retirement may be fast approaching for Kessler, but the final heat in a robust career could be lucrative, if not remarkable. Lucrative, if not remarkable, is almost the best case scenario in the cruelest sport. Remarkable, however, remains the focus for Froch, 31-2 (22), who expressed an interest in a rematch with Andre Ward in his post fight interview. Ward had his way with the Englishman in their first fight, and Froch acknowledged that beating Ward would require an exceptional performance from him; still, he wants the opportunity to avenge, in his mind, the only real blemish on his record. Faulkner wrote, ?The skull followed by the temperament: the two hardest parts of the body.? There may be no active fighter who better embodies this obstinate toughness than Carl Froch, who, if he cannot coax Ward to England for a rematch?a tall order given Ward?s reluctance to leave California?will surely dare another tough nut to smack that flattened nose and insolent sneer off his face.
