Kessler-Ward Live Round-by-Round Coverage

by Corey T. Willinger on November 21, 2009

In the third and final first round match-up of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, WBA Super Middleweight Champion Mikkel Kessler defends his title against the undefeated Andre Ward. The fight takes place tonight in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, California and will be televised by Showtime at 10 pm ET.

Inside Fights will provide live coverage of the fight right here. Be sure to refresh this page for live updates on the action.

Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward
Referee: Jack Riess

Fight time is nearly upon us. A quick review of the other Group Stage One bouts: Arthur Abraham picked up 3 points by knocking out Jermain Taylor while Carl Froch earned 2 points with his controversial split decision over Andre Dirrell.

Amid suspicion that he might drop out after the knockout loss, Taylor plans to continue on to his Group Stage Two fight against Ward.

Dirrell is in attendance and still feels he won his fight against Froch. He is there to show his support for Ward as a fellow American. Dirrell likens Ward’s fight with Kessler to Ward’s winning a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics. As far as his next fight against Abraham, Dirrell thinks his team will evaluate Abraham and put him in position to get the win.

Scott Smith is also in attendance and hypes his upcoming fight against Cung Lee in December. Smith says Cung Lee is a technical fighter who he respects but one that he doesn’t fear. Cung Lee has been inactive for 18 months, and Smith says he is the wrong person to choose as a tuneup opponent.

Group Stage Two begins “early in 2010,” but there are no confirmed dates yet.

So far, home turf has held up in the Super Six tournament, with Abraham winning in Germany and Froch winning in England. This fight is in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, California, but Kessler is a well-traveled fighter, having fought Anthony Mundine in Australia and Joe Calzaghe in England. Kessler has tried to negate some of that advantage by coming to the states three weeks early.

Ward comes out first, and he is being rapped to the ring by someone I don’t recognize, probably a local rapper. He’s wearing the red, white and blue, and there is no shortage of U.S. flags in the crowd. Ward salutes the fans with his own miniature flag.

Kessler is booed on his way to the ring, though some fans from Denmark appear to have made the long trek to California. He takes much longer to get to the ring, seeming to wait for the fans to get their boos out of the way. By the time he gets in the ring, the boos are still very much prevalent.

ROUND 1: Jack Reiss takes a while getting everyone out of the ring. Ward sticks a good jab. He adds one to the body. Good jab to Kessler’s head and one to the body. Kessler is missing his one-two’s. Ward goes southpaw briefly and lands a left hand upstairs. Left to the body by Ward. Another. Kessler corners Ward but can’t land. Jab to the body by Kessler. Ward goes conventional and jabs the body. The crowd chants, “USA.” Ward jabs the body. Ward shoots a straight left to the head. No big punches landed, but it was Ward’s round.

10-9 Ward

ROUND 2: They fight for the jab, but Ward lands a left hook and a jab to the body. Kessler lands a jab. Kessler with a straight right to the body, but Ward hits him with a right upstairs. Ward with a jab. Kessler is getting closer, and Ward holds for the first time. Kessler’s face is reddening a bit. Kessler works the jab to corner Ward and lands a straight right to the body. Ward sticks two jabs to the head of Kessler, and Kessler holds, but Ward gets in an uppercut. Ward with a right hand that gives him the round on his last rally. Ward stares Kessler down after the bell.

10-9 Ward

ROUND 3: Ward lets his hands go and lands right hands and left hooks to start the round. Ward lands two jabs, and Kessler looks a little befuddled. Kessler jabs the body. Ward with a left hook that just catches Kessler on the chin. Ward jabs the body. Kessler gets in a body shot. Kessler lands a good counter jab, but Ward backs him off with a right hand and one to the body. Ward bangs a three-punch combination into and around Kessler’s gloves. Ward catches Kessler coming in with a right hand. Ward jabs the body. Kessler jabs the head. They trade jabs. Ward lands a left hook to back Kessler off. Kessler tries to rally, but Ward holds to stop it. They hit heads before the bell, but no cuts as Reiss checks it out.

10-9 Ward

ROUND 4: Ward has gotten off to a great start, and Kessler is swelling under the right eye. Ward jabs the body. Kessler steps into a left hook. Ward with a body shot that Reiss says was low. Press row has it 3-0 for Ward as does Al Bernstein. The crowd is chanting, “SOG,” Ward’s nickname. Kessler lands a great left hook as Ward is ducking, and Ward immediately holds. Ward answers with a huge right to the head, and Kessler is stunned. Kessler is holding as Ward beats shots into Kessler’s gloves. Kessler continues to hold as he was shaken up by that right. Kessler throws down a right to a ducking Ward’s head. Kessler is bleeding under the right eye as Ward lands a big right to the head. Kessler is grinning and dropping his hands, but he gets his head snapped up by a big left hook. Kessler gets in a left hook but eats a left as Ward goes southpaw. Huge round for Ward.

10-9 Ward

ROUND 5: Kessler’s right eye looks terrible. He will need some magic to turn this fight around. Ward lands a big right hand. Ward jabs the body. Ward steps in and snaps Kessler’s head back with a left hook. Ward lands a left hook but walks into one from Kessler. Ward with another left hook. Ward scores with a jab, and Kessler lands one to the body. Ward moves Kessler back with two left hooks upstairs. Ward goes southpaw and lands a left to the body. Kessler goes back to his corner wincing and with blood on the side of his face.

10-9 Ward

Ward pops Kessler’s head back with a pair of jabs. Ward swings wildly at Kessler like he’s trying to score a knockout and walks into a left hook from Kessler. Ward knocks Kessler’s head back with a jab. Ward turns Kessler’s head with a right hand. Ward lands a big uppercut, and Kessler backs off for a bit. Ward with a right-left again knocks Kessler’s head back. Ward knocks him back with a left hook. A jab knocks Kessler’s head back. Kessler lands a good jab, but he needs a lot more. Ward knocks Kessler’s head back with his own jab. Ward with a hard right hand turns the head of Kessler. Ward continues to dominate the fight.

10-9 Ward

ROUND 7: Kessler is hopping and trying to will himself back into the fight. Ward jabs him and lands a body shot. Press row somehow found a round to give to Kessler, but there hasn’t been one yet he could have won. Ward jabs the body. Kessler smacks in a body shot. Ward lands a body shot and knocks Kessler back with a left hook that rattled his head. Ward lands a right hand. Reiss wants Ward to stop measuring with his glove. They trade some jabs, and Ward goes to the body. Ward lands an uppercut and moves, then lands another as Kessler drops his gloves. Ward knocks Kessler back with a jab. Ward jabs the body. Ward takes a left hook and lands a better right hand. Better round for Kessler, but he didn’t win it by any means.

10-9 Ward

ROUND 8: Kessler told his corner between rounds that he couldn’t see. Kessler jabs the body and eats a straight right hand. Ward adds a jab. He has been going toe-to-toe with Kessler all night and winning. Kessler is holding now. Ward gets in a body shot. Left through the gloves knocks Kessler’s head back, and Ward adds a right hand. Ward is pushing the attack and landing rights. Ward adds a body shot and an uppercut. Ward knocks Kessler’s head about with a right and a left. Kessler lands an uppercut but eats a right that knocks him back to the ropes.

10-9 Ward

ROUND 9: Kessler is cut over the left eye now and repeats that he can’t see. His face is a mess, and he is talking a lot about not being able to see. Kessler says he doesn’t want the fight stopped though. Kessler’s corner told him he can only win by knockout, but Ward knocks him back with an uppercut. Kessler is jabbing but taking hard jabs as well. Ward lands a body shot and a left hook. Kessler is holding and getting knocked into the ropes regularly, but Reiss hasn’t thought about stopping it. Kessler lands a left hook as Ward advances. Ward jabs and lands a right. Kessler holds and takes three or four uppercuts. Kessler suddenly has his best rally of the fight, landing left hooks and right hands, but it is short-lived, and he still lost the round.

10-9 Ward

ROUND 10: Kessler’s corner sends him out again. Ward snaps Kessler’s head back with a right. Kessler walks into a left hook. Ward with another left-right to snap Kessler’s head back. Ward comes in, and they bang heads. Kessler shouts and complains, but Reiss says he’s all right. Now, Reiss rules the cut the result of a head butt. Kessler is a bloody mess and eats a right hand. They trade hard shots, and Ward takes Kessler’s right hand well. Kessler lands another right. Ward knocks Kessler’s head back with a jab. Five-punch combination from Ward, and Kessler has to hold on. Ward lands a huge right hand, and Kessler is still standing. Ward gets in an uppercut. Ward knocks Kessler’s head back with a jab. Ward with a good jab before the bell. It’s only a question now whether Ward can stop him.

10-9 Ward

ROUND 11: Ward’s gloves look like pillows compared to Kessler’s, yet he’s done all the damage in this fight. Credit Kessler for not just trying to survive. He is fighting to win and taking a beating. Ward lands a huge right hand halfway through the round. Reiss has called time to have the doctor look at Kessler’s cut on the eyelid. The doctor has stopped the fight, and it is going to the scorecards.

10-9 Ward

Ward starts celebrating, but Reiss stops him short because they are going to the scorecards. Apparently, Reiss has stopped it on a cut from a head butt. There have been several head clashes, so it’s not a bad call. Either way, Ward has the fight won, though he won’t get a third point for a knockout.

Inside Fights has scored the bout 110-99 in favor of Ward.

The judges have scored the fight 97-93, 98-92 and 98-2 to the winner by technical decision, Andre Ward. Ward becomes the new WBA Super Middleweight Champion.

The judges were supposed to score round 11. You have to score partial rounds in technical decisions. Either way, Ward was a clear winner.

Ward starts his interview by asking Jim Gray to give him his moment. Ward says he knew it was his time, and he wasn’t intimidated by Kessler’s record. Ward credits God for the win. He was surprised that Kessler couldn’t make any adjustments and kept doing the same thing over and over. Ward says Kessler was a good champion. He says this was rightfully his, and he went and got it.

Gray asks Kessler his assessment of what happened. Kessler says Reiss should have stopped the fight because Ward was holding and head butting. Kessler says he isn’t used to referees acting like that. Kessler is playing the “unfair” game and saying Reiss was a home referee. Kessler feels the head butts were intentional. He will look at the tape and see if he still has it. He thinks the cuts might be a problem going forward in the tournament.

Back to Ward with the questions, and Gray asks about Taylor, pointing out that Taylor lost three of his last four fights but now can win a title in his next fight. Ward says he told everyone he had a great draw in the tournament and will be ready for his next opponent, whether or not it’s Taylor. Ward says the fans can determine if the head butts were intentional. Ward says he isn’t a dirty fighter and wouldn’t do that intentionally. Ward asks how to explain the rest of the fight when he was dominating Kessler. In a weird moment, Ward calls Gray a legend.

Bernstein doesn’t buy Kessler’s case for losing and says Ward fought a perfect fight. He also doesn’t feel Ward was robbed of a third point because Reiss was specific and clear about the head butt he stopped the fight on and that it needed to be stopped.

So Ward advances with 2 points with his victory and moves on to face Taylor. Kessler will try to regroup and can regain a title in his next fight against WBC Champion Froch. Abraham remains in the lead with 3 points.