Living up to the hype, Kessler dominates Thobela
By Carsten Rylander
30.11 - Long touted as an exceptional prospect by his countrymen, Danish super middleweight Mikkel Kessler (now 30-0, 22 KO) dropped the prospect-tag and inched closer to a future world title shot with an impressive unanimous decision over South Africa's popular "Rose of Soweto", Dingaan Thobela (now 40-10-2, 26 KO) in Copenhagen.
The 23-year old Dane dominated the former WBC champ in a lopsided contest, and picked up the vacant IBA belt in the process. The belt itself does not matter much, and it seems certain that Kessler will move on to bigger and better things in his career. What does matter is the experience that Kessler gained from going 12 rounds with a seasoned opponent, who had rarely been outclassed the way he was Friday night. All three judges agreed on giving Kessler every round to make it a 120-108 whitewash, and one would have to be named Eugenia Williams to disagree.
Kessler, enjoying a 5-inch height advantage, kept Thobela at the end of his jab from the opening bell, and often went to the South African's pudgy body with the left. Thobela was visibly hurt by vicious body punches in the second, and Kessler's combinations to the head found their way through Thobela's cross-armed defense. Near the end of the third, a barrage wobbled Thobela at the ropes, but the bell ended the round before too much more damage could be done. Thobela backed Kessler up to open the fourth, but the Dane came back with a right that made the veteran stumble. Kessler's movement and combinations confused Thobela, and though he is more of a boxer than a puncher, Kessler has enough power to make even partially blocked shots look spectacular.
Again in the fourth, Kessler finished strongly, and Thobela became increasingly defensive-minded as the fight progressed. Early in the fifth, Kessler steered his opponent into a corner and teed off. Thobela stumbled but stayed upright, and he showed commendable courage throughout the fight. Thobela was shaken again in the eighth, and while Kessler was now slowing down, he still hurt the South African repeatedly. Thobela just held on for dear life. In the 12th, Kessler dropped his hands and dared his opponent to trade. Memories of Thobela's title-winning KO of Britain's Glenn Catley with 13 seconds remaining in the final round just over two years ago surfaced, but Thobela didn't try to repeat it. He just held. Kessler rallied furiously, trying to get the KO, but to no avail. Thobela survived, and a tired Kessler celebrated with a delighted crowd.
Kessler erased several questions with his performance. In his first 12-rounder, the "Hitman" proved his stamina by keeping a high pace the entire fight. His oft-injured hands survived, although he complained to his corner of pain in his right hand midway through the fight. And perhaps most importantly, Kessler showed that his remarkable skills are not only visible against the steady diet of tomato cans and journeymen he has been fed so far in his career. The only question mark remains the chin. Thobela never caught him cleanly, and the few times the African warrior went on the attack, Kessler moved well and blocked most of the shots.
Where does this win leave Kessler in the super middleweight landscape ? To read too much into this victory would be silly. Thobela is 36 years old and a blown up lightweight. But his reign as WBC champ ended less than two years ago, and he fought for the same title exactly a year ago. Thobela is awkward, and would still be a test to most super middles. And in a weight class dominated by aging Sven Ottke (who was troubled by Kessler's stablemate Rudy Markussen two weeks ago), underachieving Joe Calzaghe and mediocre Eric Lucas and Byron Mitchell, a "real" title is very probably in Kessler's grasp. But there is still a lot of work to be done and a lot of lessons to be learned for the charismatic young man from Copenhagen.
On the undercard, heavyweight Steffen Nielsen rebounded from a KO loss to Julius Francis by stopping Herbie Hide's conqueror, Joseph Chingangu of Zambia in the third round. Nielsen is now 18-1 (11 KO)…world rated featherweight Spend Abazi had a hard night's work against late sub Anthony Martinez of Nicaragua. Abazi (now 25-1, 8 KO) still won every round…cruiserweight Jesper Kristiansen moved to 25-3-1 (9 KO) with a spectacular third-round knockout of South African Isaac Mahlangu. A slashing uppercut sent Mahlangu crashing and his mouthpiece flying…the early fights on the card featured promoter Bettina Palle's "Tomorrow's champions". Super middleweight Martin Nielsen upped his record to 4-0 (3 KO) with a unanimous decision over yet another South African, Patrick Simelane…flashy junior middleweight Reda Zam Zam went to 6-0 (3 KO) with a unanimous decision over Mohamed Bourhis of France…lightweight Martin Kristjansen (3-0, 2 KO) took a unanimous decision over Frenchman Tarik Amrous…junior welterweight Mehdi Abedi (4-1, 1 KO) knocked out Anildo Lopes of France in the opening round…in the opener, featherweight Jadgar Abdullah (4-0, 0 KO) unanimously outpointed Jean-Marie Codet of France, who lost for the first time in seven pro bouts. Codet had three wins and three draws going into the fight.
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