Mikkel Kessler announces retirement

MIKKEL KESSLER looks to have announced his retirement on Twitter.

The 35-year-old Dane last fought in May 2013 when he lost a decision to old rival Carl Froch but he had been expected to return this year – with Froch his target – until this latest announcement.

“Thank you for supporting me through out my career,” Kessler said on the social media site. “It has been an absolute pleasure stepping into the ring, home as well as abroad.”

When asked if the tweet was a wind up, Kessler replied, “I’m afraid I’m not…”

On his Facebook page Kessler said: “I have thought long and hard over the options, which have been made available, but none of these options are enough to get me motivated.” Mikkel said on his official Facebook page today.

“My promoter has done a great job in creating these, but unfortunately the opportunities in the division are currently limited. I said at the time when I would fight on, that I would need the right fights to motivate me. This is not a question of money, in fact these offers have been for great purses, but it is about motivation. After all, if you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?

“I need big events to make me train to get me to the standard that I have been used to presenting my fans with. I said I would like nothing more, than to avenge my loss against Andre Ward and also to have the decider against Carl Froch.

“These are fights that motivate me but for one reason or another, they do not want to fight me. I am always in training, it is part of my life, but I consider myself in a state of retirement.

“Finally, I would like to thank all of my fans for supporting me through out my career. It has been an absolute pleasure stepping into the ring, home as well as abroad.”

Kessler is a massive star in Denmark, and won multiple versions of world super-middleweight titles in a professional career that began in 1998. In 20o7 he journeyed to Cardiff as WBA and WBC champion to take on WBO boss Joe Calzaghe in a unification showdown before losing a stirring 12-rounder.

In 2010 he bounced back from a 2009 loss to Andre Ward by defeating Froch in a savage encounter that saw him regain his WBC title.

But injuries have been a problem for many years and, it would seem, have at last taken their toll.

Thank you for the memories, Viking Warrior.

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