Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward
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Mikkel Kessler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | 21 November 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Oracle Arena, Oakland, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA super middleweight championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ward defeated Kessler by 11th round technical decision | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward was a professional boxing match contested on 21 November 2009, for the WBA super middleweight championship.[1] The bout was the final match in the first group stage of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, a tournament staged by Showtime to crown a unified world super middleweight champion and took place at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
Mikkel Kessler was making the third defense of the World Boxing Association championship he entered the tournament with. Kessler defeated Dimitri Sartison in June 2008 for the title Joe Calzaghe had defeated him for the previous fall; after defeating Kessler, Calzaghe vacated his super middleweight titles to campaign at light heavyweight. Ward was fighting in his first world title bout, after a victory against former two-time world title challenger Edison Miranda.[citation needed]
The fight
Despite Kessler's status as the overall favorite, Ward was able to outpunch the champion and won a unanimous technical decision to win his first world championship.[2] The fight was halted in the eleventh round after Kessler, who suffered cuts due to two controversial headbutts, was ruled unable to continue by the ringside doctor and as per the rules the final score was tabulated at the time of the stoppage. Ward was ahead 98–92, 98–92 and 97–93 at the time of the stoppage. Ward joined Calzaghe as the only fighters at the time to defeat Kessler.[3][4]
Aftermath
Following the victory, Ward led the Ring Magazine's rankings for super middleweights.[citation needed]
