Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward

Kessler vs Ward

Date	21 November 2009
Location	Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
Title(s) on the line	WBA Championship
Mikkel Kessler vs.  Andre Ward
The Viking Warrior		S.O.G.
Tale of the tape
Copenhagen, Denmark	From	Oakland, California
42-1 (32 KO)	Pre-fight record	20-0 (13 KO)
WBA Super Middleweight Champion	Recognition
Result	Ward won by technical decision

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. Kessler 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.

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.