Mikkel Kessler (born 1 March 1979) is a Danish professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2013 and again from 2026. He held multiple super-middleweight world championships, including the World Boxing Association (WBA) title (Super and Regular versions) three times between 2004 and 2013, and the WBC title twice between 2006 and 2010. In 2020 Kessler was admitted into the Danish Sports Hall of Fame.
Early life Kessler was born to a Danish father, Ole, and an English mother, Ann, who hails from Salisbury, Wiltshire. He began his vocation early, training in boxing gyms at age 13.
Amateur career Kessler competed five years as an amateur (2/93-1/98). He finished his amateur career with a record of 44 wins and three losses. He won the 1995 European Cadet (15-16 age group) Championship, 1996 and 1997 Danish Junior Championships,team palle amateur record bottom page the 1996 Nordic Amateur Championship,scroll through Nordic Champions at bottom page and in his last amateur bout won the 1998 Zealand International Tournament after stopping all 3 of his opponents.
Professional career
Early career Kessler originally campaigned as a light middleweight and then middleweight for the first 22 fights of his career.
Super middleweight After 3 years and 22 fights, Kessler settled in the super middleweight division. Kessler continued his hard hitting streak, dispatching 6 of his first 7 opponents by KO, thereby improving his record to 29–0 with 22 KO.
On 29 November 2002, Kessler fought for his first championship and defeated former WBC Super Middleweight Champion Dingaan Thobela over twelve rounds to become the International Boxing Association Champion. He gave up this belt to fight for the more recognized WBC International title on 11 April 2003, versus Craig Cummings. Kessler won by a knockout in the third round.
He defended his title on three occasions before finally hitting it big on 12 November 2004. His stablemate, Mads Larsen, another Danish World Class fighter, was set to challenge Manny Siaca for the WBA Championship in Copenhagen. Larsen was injured in training and Kessler took the fight on short notice, winning the title.
Kessler defended his title against Anthony Mundine in Sydney in June 2005 and Eric Lucas in January 2006.
On 14 October 2006, Kessler was elevated to WBA Super Champion status after winning the WBC title in a unification battle against WBC World Champion Markus Beyer at the Parken Stadium. He won by knockout at 2:58 in round 3.
Kessler defended his WBA (Super) and WBC titles on 24 March 2007, at the Parken Stadium against WBC mandatory challenger Librado Andrade. The fight was scored as a shutout (120–108) by all three judges.
Kessler vs. Calzaghe
Kessler then met fellow undefeated champion, Welshman Joe Calzaghe, in a bout that would unify his WBA and WBC super middleweight championships with Calzaghe's WBO and The Ring titles. The bout took place at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on 3 November 2007, in front of over 50,000 fans (then the largest indoor boxing event in European history), and Kessler lost the unification bout via unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the fight: 117–111, 116–112, 116–112.Calzaghe v Kessler as it happened
Second world title reign After Calzaghe vacated the WBA title to move up to light heavyweight, Kessler was put in a match with Dimitri Sartison on 21 June 2008, for the vacant belt. Kessler knocked out Sartison in the final round to regain his title.
Kessler successfully defended his title against Danilo Häussler by third-round knockout on 25 October and against Gusmyl Perdomo (16–2, 10 KOs) by fourth-round knockout on 12 September 2009, one minute into the round.
In November 2009 the WBA once again promoted him to Super Champion, this time prior to unifying any Super Middleweight titles.
Super Six
Kessler vs. Ward
His first fight was against Andre Ward on 21 November 2009 for Kessler's WBA Super Middleweight Championship in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. On 21 November 2009 Kessler lost his championship to Andre Ward. The fight was stopped in the eleventh round due to cuts on Kessler's face caused by what were deemed as unintentional headbutts by Ward, five in total. Kessler expressed in the post fight interview that he couldn't get out of first gear due to the headbutts and excessive clinching from Ward, and that he was eventually blinded by one of Ward's headbutts which on the post fight replay showed Ward ram his forehead directly into Kessler's eye. The fight went to the scorecards and Ward was far ahead by scores of 98–92, 98–92 and 97–93 at the time of the stoppage.
Kessler vs. Froch
On 24 April 2010 Kessler returned to fight against Britain's undefeated WBC Champion Carl Froch, a match that was called "a classic" and "one of the best matches in Danish boxing ever." The contest went the distance and Kessler was handed a unanimous decision with scores of 115–113, 116–112 and 117–111. With the win, Kessler became a two time WBC Champion, handing Carl Froch his first defeat in the process. Froch later stated that he'd suffered a minor ear injury during training and he felt he would've won the fight if it had been held in his home-country of England, but congratulated Kessler on his victory.Vester, Mark (24 April 2010) Froch: If I Was Back Home, I Would Have Beaten Kessler – Boxing News. Boxingscene.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-01.
Andre Ward later praised Kessler tremendously in an interview, calling Kessler "skill wise... the toughest I’ve fought so far." Ward went on to express admiration over Kessler's career and dispelling any criticism after his own victory over Kessler. "People want to put down Mikkel Kessler because of our fight but he’s proven himself. He’s proven that if he loses a title he can come back and become champion again, he did that after our fight so now he’s a three time world champion. Anybody that can win a world title three times and only have two losses in the process says a lot. He’s a great fighter and I give him a lot of credit and I have a lot of respect for him."
On 25 August Kessler announced he was withdrawing from the Super Six tournament due to the worsening of the eye injury he suffered in his fight against Ward. According to Ekstra Bladet newspaper, Kessler stated he was seeing double. Doctors told him he must take a nine-month break from boxing.
Comeback
Light heavyweight
Kessler vs. Green In 2012, Kessler moved up in weight class to light heavyweight. In May 2012, he fought Allan Green for the vacant WBC Silver Light Heavyweight title. Kessler won via knockout in the fourth round, after getting dropped by a hard right hand in the first round.
Return to super middleweight
Kessler vs. Magee
Late in 2012, Kessler went up against Brian Magee of Northern Ireland for the WBA (Regular) super middleweight title. Two times in the 2nd round Brian Magee went to the floor after hard bodyshots from Kessler, and 24 seconds in the third round it was all over, when Kessler landed another hard bodyshot to Brian Magee.
Kessler vs. Froch II
On 15 January 2013, it was announced that a rematch between Mikkel Kessler and Carl Froch was going to take place on 25 May 2013 at The O2 Arena in London. There will be two belts on the line, Kessler's WBA (Regular) and Froch's IBF title. Kessler won the last showdown between the two boxers, in Herning, Denmark. That time Froch was an undefeated WBC title holder, and they were both fighting in the Super Six World Boxing Classic. The faced each other at stage 2, after Kessler lost his first fight against Andre Ward, and Froch won a close fought contest against Andre Dirrell.
Froch defeated Kessler by unanimous decision on 25 May 2013, by 118–110 116–112 115–113 as he controlled Kessler with his jab for large parts of the fight. Kessler caught Froch with a big right hand in the 11th round to wobble him, but it was too late in the fight.
Retirement and potential comeback On 1 February 2015, Kessler announced that he was in a "state of retirement" via social media. Kessler came out of retirement on 31 March 2017. On 21 June, it was said that Kessler could be added to the World Boxing Super Series. Kessler passed on the Super Series and was looking to face Roamer Angulo on November. On 16 October, Kessler revealed he had been hit by Lyme disease and his return would be delayed until 2018. In February 2018, speaking to BT, Kessler said, "I just can't find the motivation to go through with it all," confirming he would stay retired.
Kessler came out of retirement on 1 October 2026 and is due to fight the American, Bernard Joseph, on the 28 of November 2026.
Life after boxing After his retirement he have been training young boxing prospects at his gym. Examples of this is the IBF super middleweight world championship challenger Oliver Zaren.
Personal life Kessler is married with 4 children.
In popular culture Mikkel Kessler is mentioned by name in the Danish band Volbeat's song "A Warrior's Call" with the lyric "The Viking warrior Mikkel Kessler will now brand his name in the back of your head, yeah..."
Kessler - The Viking Warrior, a movie about his life and career is set to be released in early 2027.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes49Loss46–3 Carl FrochUD1225 May 2013 48Win46–2 Brian MageeTKO3 (12), 8 Dec 2012 47Win45–2 Allan GreenKO4 (12), 19 May 2012 46Win44–2 Mehdi BouadlaTKO6 (12), 4 Jun 2011 45Win43–2 Carl FrochUD1224 Apr 2010 44Loss42–2 Andre Ward11 (12), 21 Nov 2009 43Win42–1 Gusmyr PerdomoTKO4 (12), 12 Sep 2009 42Win41–1 Danilo HausslerKO3 (12), 25 Oct 2008 41Win40–1 Dimitri SartisonKO12 (12), 21 Jun 2008 40Loss39–1 Joe CalzagheUD123 Nov 2007 39Win39–0 Librado AndradeUD1224 Mar 2007 38Win38–0 Markus BeyerKO3 (12), 14 Oct 2006 37Win37–0 Eric LucasTKO10 (12), 14 Jan 2006 36Win36–0 Anthony MundineUD128 Jun 2005 35Win35–0 Manny SiacaRTD7 (12), 12 Nov 2004 34Win34–0 Andre ThysseTKO11 (12), 11 Jun 2004 33Win33–0 Julio César GreenKO1 (12), 13 Mar 2004 32Win32–0 Henry PorrasTKO9 (12), 24 Oct 2003 31Win31–0 Craig CummingsKO3 (12), 11 Apr 2003 30Win30–0 Dingaan ThobelaUD1229 Nov 2002 29Win29–0 Dean WilliamsKO1 (8), 8 Nov 2002 28Win28–0 Gerard ZdziarskiTKO8 (8), 4 Oct 2002 27Win27–0 Orlando Javier AcunaRTD6 (8), 24 May 2002 26Win26–0 Arthur AllenTKO6 (8), 15 Mar 2002 25Win25–0 Manny Sobral4 (8), 8 Feb 2002 24Win24–0 Fernando HernándezTKO2 (8), 16 Nov 2001 23Win23–0 David MendezUD613 Oct 2001 22Win22–0 Rodrigues MoungoKO4 (6), 27 Apr 2001 21Win21–0 Miguel JulioKO3 (6), 9 Mar 2001 20Win20–0 Patrick RubesKO2 (6), 9 Feb 2001 19Win19–0 Tony MenefeeTKO6 (6), 1 Sep 2000 18Win18–0 Kevin HallKO2 (6), 28 Apr 2000 17Win17–0 Tom YounanKO3 (6), 31 Mar 2000 16Win16–0 Israel PonceKO2 (6), 4 Mar 2000 15Win15–0 Charles WhittakerKO3 (6), 18 Feb 2000 14Win14–0 Sidney Mxoli MsutuUD614 Jan 2000 13Win13–0 Jean Paul D'AlessandroUD64 May 1999 12Win12–0 Jose Maquina RojasKO2 (6), 16 Apr 1999 11Win11–0 Alejandro De LeonUD619 Mar 1999 10Win10–0 Jaime BalboaKO6 (6), 12 Feb 1999 9Win9–0 Dean MartinUD627 Nov 1998 8Win8–0 Anthony IvoryUD66 Nov 1998 7Win7–0 Edwin MurilloKO2 (6), 16 Oct 1998 6Win6–0 Sammy SparkmanKO1 (4), 18 Sep 1998 5Win5–0 Terry ClarkKO1 (4), 4 Sep 1998 4Win4–0 Rick StocktonKO1 (4), 5 Jun 1998 3Win3–0 Alex Lubo41 May 1998 2Win2–0 Michael Corleone3 (4), 3 Apr 1998 1Win1–0 Kelly Mays1 (4), 20 Mar 1998
Titles in boxing Major world titles WBA (Unified and Super) super middleweight champion (168 lbs) (2×) WBC super middleweight champion (168 lbs) (2×)
Secondary major world titles WBA (Regular) super middleweight champion (168 lbs) (2×)
Silver world titles WBC Silver light heavyweight champion (175 lbs)
Minor world titles IBA super middleweight champion (168 lbs)
Regional/International titles WBC International super middleweight champion (168 lbs) WBO European super middleweight champion (168 lbs)
Honorary titles WBC Emeritus Champion
Viewership
Denmark