In the wake of the Super Six Tournament, the super middleweight division continues to be one of the hottest scenes in boxing today, with a deep roster and plenty of action. In another installment of 168-pounder excitement, April 14 sees Mikkel Kessler make his bid for a fourth reign as a world champion when he takes on Robert Stieglitz in Kessler’s hometown of Copenhagen. The big Dane is heavily favored in this fight, and for good reason, but there is a lingering question mark hovering over Kessler. That alone is enough to make Stieglitz a live prospect.
Mikkel Kessler (44-2, 33 KOs)
6’1″ tall, 74″ reach, 32 years old
Danish
Former three-time super middleweight world champion
The Viking Warrior is coming back from the eye injury that forced his departure from the Super Six tournament, and has one of the most distinguished careers in the division under his belt. His two losses are to current divisional top dog Andre Ward and retired divisional top dog Joe Calzaghe, and Kessler is one of only a few men still active today to have fought the great Welsh champion.
The big Dane also owns wins over Carl Froch and a host of contenders and fringe contenders, the latter grouping reading like a who’s who of the 168 pound division for the last decade. He is an athletic, strong (arguably the physically strongest man in the division), hard-hitting fighter who fights in the Continental, stand-up boxing style. Proboxing-fans currently ranks him at #3.
Robert Stieglitz (41-2, 23 KOs)
5’11” tall, 30 years old
Russian living in Germany
WBO Super Middleweight Champion
Robert Stieglitz wears a belt around his waist made great by men like Chris Eubank and Joe Calzaghe, but he has yet to prove himself a worthy successor. He won the belt in 2009 against undefeated fringe contender Karoly Balzsay, and followed up that win by polishing off another undefeated fringe contender in the form of Eduard Gutknecht (who also beat Balzsay). Since then, however, Stieglitz has been feasting on a steady diet of journeymen. He is an able enough boxer, and Stieglitz also fights from the Continental, stand-up style, but the man has no remarkable attributes. The Russian is merely one of those fighters who is above average in every department.
Perhaps the most revealing things about Stieglitz are his losses. In his first world title bid in 2007, Stieglitz was knocked out in a rematch with fringe contender Alejandro Berrio. A year later and he was stopped again by Librado Andrade (a man Kessler beat from pillar to post prior to his clash with Calzaghe) in a title eliminator.
Kessler vs. Stieglitz Preview and Analysis
If this fight goes the way conventional wisdom thinks it will, Kessler will establish his jab early on by virtue of his superior height, reach, skill and athletic ability. That done, his strength ought to ensure the break-up of Stieglitz’s guard and enable Kessler to tee-off. Stieglitz is not the most mobile of fighters, so the Viking Warrior should have no problems finding him.
Still, there is just a bit of a question mark hanging over Kessler at this stage in his career. He is 32 years old and has suffered three very tough fights: the win over Froch and the losses to Ward and Calzaghe. Given that he is coming back from an eye injury and we haven’t seen him fight a “name” guy since the bruising encounter with Froch, he might be more fragile than anyone suspects. Sometimes the body just collapses suddenly — either completely or in part — from a double whammy of age and abuse.
Frankly, this is Stieglitz’s only hope, as the Russian is totally outclassed by the Dane. The classic theory applies: Kessler can do anything Stieglitz can do, only much better. I was rather surprised when Stieglitz took the fight, since I thought he would clock up a busy succession of easy-but-modest paydays in sheltered Germany for a few years, in the style of the wretched Sven Ottke. Clearly Stieglitz’s handlers have decided the time has come to cash in. Either that or they know something we don’t.
Prediction: Mikkel Kessler TKO6 Robert Stieglitz
