14.10.07 – By Matthew Hurley: As the super middleweight showdown on November 3rd between WBO champion Joe Calzaghe and WBC/WBA champion Mikkel Kessler draws closer the tensions between the two fighters continues to combust. Both fighters were respectful of one another when the fight was finally signed but with the notion of contending in the biggest fight the division has seen since Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard held their long awaited rematch at 168 pounds in 1989 in Las Vegas, and in front of over 60,000 people at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales nerves and the anxious desire to just get in there are swirling about the two combatants.
“He’s going to be in for a big surprise,” Kessler remarked recently. “He’s never fought a guy like me before, that’s why he’s going to be in trouble. I hit harder than him and I’m going to hit him directly. I’m going to show everyone I’m a bigger champion than he is.”
Calzaghe, who has been in this position before, and in his biggest fight against Jeff Lacy found himself tabbed as an underdog, turned all that negative press and indeed much of the negative energy that was going on around him into the best performance of his career. When his worth as a champion was called into question he switched to another gear and Jeff Lacy paid the price, suffering a brutal boxing lesson that left him a ruined fighter.
However, when this fight was signed Calzaghe knew immediately that the young man from Denmark who had been calling him out would be the toughest test of his career. “I have to beat Kessler,” he said. “He probably is the best fighter I’ve fought and a win will be important to my career.”
Now as the fight approaches and Kessler, the upstart young challenger who exudes confidence, continues to pepper him with insults the pit bull in Calzaghe, that Lacy faced, is beginning to surface. “I know Hans Christian Andersen is from Denmark,” he said with a smile, “but if Kessler wants to believe in fairy tales I suggest he read ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ before he starts believing the tales his camp is telling him. Kessler is going to get exposed on November 3rd. I just hope I don’t get a hernia carrying all those belts out of the ring.”
As of October 13th Calzaghe has been instilled as the favorite in Las Vegas. Calzaghe is posted at –160 and Kessler at +130. Those odds could swing to even money by the time of the fight, that’s how good this match up is. Until then Calzaghe will have the bettors upper hand and the knowledge that he has more big fight experience than his young challenger. But Kessler has proven that he can perform at the highest level in front of massive audiences in Denmark. He’s also proven that he can talk a good game as well. All that’s left to do now is fight.