On Saturday evening in Copenhagen, Mikkel Kessler celebrated a successful debut at light heavyweight. Kessler ended up scoring an early knockout, but not before he survived an earlier scare of his own against American Allan Green. Below, find complete Kessler vs. Green results, as well as some photos from the event as well.
The “Viking Warrior” lived up to its name, showing some real fighting spirit and warrior instincts by surviving an early 1st round knockdown to come back and win the day. By the end of round one his spirit seemed to have returned to him, and he began turning the tide against “Ghost Dog” Green with a combination of the right grade and left hooks. The 15,000 spectators in the stadium for home-PARK was certainly also a significant influence on him.
From then on the 33-year-old Dane dominated the fight, especially with his jab, which he connected with both to the body and head. From the third round, Kessler’s dominance in the ring and had increased with more successful hooks, and the swollen right eye of his younger counterpart.
This was then the beginning of round four and the key to victory. Green tried to keep his distance but was unable to do so successfully against the former WBC and WBA world super middleweight champion. Kessler connected with a hard left hook, inducing in Green the land of dreams – and referee Ian John-Lewis stopped the fight immediately. Green appeared to eventually recover, however, he needed to be treated for several minutes, and could not independently leave the ring.
After the big KO victory, Kessler remarked: “This was a great victory for me,” Kessler said. “I had to get rid of the ring rust in the first round. But once I got going, everything went according to plan. I am glad I could give my fans a spectacular victory. Their support was fantastic.”
Coach Jimmy Montoya praised Kessler’s power: “Mikkel has always had a lot of power in both hands. He prepared Green well to the body. He opened him up and then he caught him. And that was not a lucky punch.”
Kalle Sauerland was thrilled about Kessler’s performance. “This KO – and the way he set it up by hitting Green with body shots – showed that Mikkel is still at the very top of the sport,” the promoter stated. “I said before he needs to win and he needs to impress and today he delivered in impressive fashion. The people of Denmark can be very proud of their Viking Warrior. He has great fights coming up now.”
The defeated Green saw the decisive moment like this: “Congratulations to Mikkel. He caught me with a hard blow – this happens in boxing. ”
In earlier action…
Mateusz Masternak is still undefeated after he won his 27th fight against Hari Miles from Wales. The victory (99-90, 99-91, 99-90) proved that Masternak is a fighter that is worth following in the future. He dominated throughout the fight but Miles was a tough opponent.
Patrick Nielsen beat Gaetano Nespro after six rounds of action. All the judges scored 60-54 for Nielsen.
