Late last week the Danish news site ekstrabladet.dk reported that their hometown boxing hero, Mikkel Kessler, and the super middleweight phenom Andre Ward would be getting it on again. The pair originally met in November 2009 as part of the Super Six tournament, and was the first fight where boxing fans well and truly saw what Andre Ward was capable of. Entering as a moderate underdog, Ward was kicking Kessler’s butt when a cut opened by an accidental head butt led to a stoppage and Technical Decision.
Is There A Ward vs. Kessler Rematch, Or Isn’t There?
The first thing to say is that it has now been several days since the word broke, and there has been no follow up to speak of. No respectable news outlet (Boxing News 24 not qualifying anywhere near “respectable”) has published even so much as a murmur that the two camps are in negotiations, let alone that they are close to or have agreed upon a deal.
When has keeping contract negotiations quiet ever been the norm in boxing? Ward vs. Kessler II is starting to look like a tabloid hoax.
Frankly, the real shock of a Ward vs. Kessler rematch is that Mikkel Kessler would take it. While I have no doubt of the Great Dane’s general interest in scoring a major fight against the World Super Middleweight Champion, he has been plagued by injuries even more than Ward has, and hasn’t fought since losing his rematch to Carl Froch in May 2013. Kessler would have to be suicidal or desperate to go after Ward at the end of such a lay-off (even though Ward himself hasn’t fought since pasting Edwin Rodriguez in November 2013).
But What If There Was A Rematch…?
The thing is that, despite what I wrote above, in general terms a Ward vs. Kessler rematch makes a lot of sense. First, the most recent work of both men was for HBO, so the single largest hurdle — TV network conflicts — should not pose a problem.
Second, the most lucrative alternate opponent for either man, Carl Froch, is off the table right now. Following his spectacular knockout victory over Lucian Bute, Froch seems to have built an industry about himself in duking it out with fellow Britons. First there was George Groves, and now James DeGale looks increasingly likely for the Cobra. If he gets around to taking out fellow slugger Julio Chavez, Jr., and many expect him to do so, Froch is booked out well into next year.
Mikkel Kessler could just stay in Copenhagen and have some fights, but without a world title belt he might find luring a major contender onto his home turf difficult. He also can’t be too interested in using the last couple of years of his career fighting European trialhorses for middling paychecks. Ward is the only guy out there whom HBO would pay him enough money to make a trip out of the country worthwhile.
Andre Ward, on the other hand, has no meaningful engagements left at super middleweight except rematches with Froch and Kessler. His logical career path would be to move to 175 lbs permanently and go after Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev, but having just barely emerged from recovering from injuries he shows no signs of being eager to move up in weight. Apparently 168 lbs it is and remains for Ward, at least for a year or so.
So while it seems the talk of Ward vs. Kessler II is full of hot air at just this moment, it’s not so far-fetched an idea. We might see real negotiations for that very thing several months from now.
