The Viking Warrior is back! WBC Super Middleweight World Champion Emeritus Mikkel Kessler (44-2, 33 KOs) celebrated a spectacular comeback on Saturday night when he destroyed brave Frenchman Mehdi Bouadla (22-4, 10 KOs) in six rounds. With a boisterous crowd of 12,500 fans supporting their idol in Copenhagen’s PARKEN Stadium, Kessler stamped his authority on the fight early.
A huge right then sent Bouadla down in the third, but he scrambled back to his feet and carried on. In the fourth, Kessler knocked him down again, and Bouadla took further punishment in the fifth. After two more knockdowns in the sixth, the referee waved the bout off. “It’s great to be back,” Kessler said. “Fighting in this great atmosphere with my Danish fans supporting me was fantastic. I have to give credit to Bouadla. He was a tough opponent and refused to give up. I was surprised how many punches he could take. I am pleased with my performance.”
Trainer Jimmy Montoya also praised his fighter. “Mikkel did very well tonight,” he said. “He did exactly what he was supposed to do. Bouadla is a tough kid, we knew that, but Mikkel never allowed him to get into the fight and took control straight away. That´s exactly how I want him to fight. He has big things ahead. The best is yet to come.”
Promoter Kalle Sauerland called the comeback “sensational”. He stated: “The Viking Warrior is back! It looked like he has never been away. He continued where he left it against Froch and left Bouadla without a chance. I take my hat off to Mehdi, who proved he can really take a punch and that he is an extremely tough guy. But there was no way he could keep up with Mikkel. We will now sit down and look at the best options to get Mikkel the biggest fights out there. The future certainly is bright for Mikkel.”
Bouadla, who had never been stopped before, congratulated Kessler on a big victory. “He is a great fighter and very strong. My game plan did not work. He was punching a lot and hit me a couple of times but I carried on. Mikkel is a great champion and deserved to win, but I will be back.
On the undercard, Patrick Nielsen (10-0, 6 KOs) continued his rise to the top with a spectacular third-round TKO victory over Joe Rea. Nielsen, considered “The next Kessler” by many fans and experts, knocked his opponent down with a huge left in the second. After two more knock-downs in the third, Rea´s corner threw the towel. “It was fantastic to fight at PARKEN Stadium,” Nielsen said. “This is a great win for me.”
Also on the undercard, Kim Poulsen knocked out Tarik Sahibeddine in the third round, Kasper Bruun clinched a unanimous points victory over Jay Morris, Edmund Gerber outpointed Zack Page and Dustin Dirks stopped Juan Nelongo in the fourth.
