Title(s) on the line WBA Championship 42-1 (32 KO) 20-0 (13 KO) | The Viking Warrior S.O.G. Date 21 November 2009 | |
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Result Ward won by technical decision Location Oracle Arena, Oakland, California, United States | ||
Mikkel Kessler versus Andre Ward was a professional boxing match fought as part of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, a tournament staged by Showtime to crown a unified world super middleweight champion. The bout was the final one in the group stage of the tournament and took place at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, USA on November 21, 2009.
Contents
Mikkel Kessler (42-1, 32 KOs) 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.
Andre Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) was fighting in his first world title fight, coming off from a victory against former 2-time world title challenger Edison Miranda.
Broadcast
The fight was broadcast live in the United States on Showtime and in the UK on Primetime.
Result
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. 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.
Aftermath
After the fight, Jim Gray congratulated Ward, who thanked God. Kessler complained to Gray about the holding and hitting and Ward using his head. The referee Jack Reiss apparently said there were five unintentional butts, but Kessler said he thinks they were blatant. Following the victory, Ward was vaulted to the #1 position for Ring Magazine and Kessler fell to 4th.
Fight Card
The fight card included the following fights: