FanHouse AndreWard

Denmark's WBA champion, Mikkel Kessler, is considered boxing's premier 168-pounder -- and for good reason.

And it is among those same reasons why the 30-year-old "Viking Warrior" is favored to take down 25-year-old former Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward in defense of his title on Saturday night at Oracle Arena.

"Mikkel Kessler's just been in with a higher quality of opponent. And Kessler's been involved with more big fights, fighting, more or less, for 12 rounds since Andre Ward has been a professional boxer," said Doug Fischer, co-editor of RingTV.com. "And now he's fighting in Andre Ward's hometown of Oakland, Calif., which is going to be nothing new to him."

Former Olympic gold medalist, Andre Ward, calls upcoming rival, Mikkel Kessler, of Denmark, "absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt the most skilled" fighter that he will have faced over the course of his nearly five-year professional career.

"He's the champion. He's very tough. I take nothing away from Mikkel Kessler," said Ward, who will put his 20-0 record with 13 knockouts on the line in pursing Kessler's WBA 168-pound title on Nov. 21 before a partisan crowd at Oracle Arena in Oakland. "At the same time, this is what it's all about -- taking the challenge and rising to it. And I plan on doing that 11 days from now."

Their first-round clash is part of Showtime's Super Six Middleweight World Boxing Classic.

Although Denmark's Mikkel Kessler is nicknamed "The Viking Warrior," he could easily borrow the monicker of another fighter, "The Road Warrior," given how he has embraced the prospect of defending his WBA crown against American Andre Ward on Nov. 21 in the latter's hometown of Oakland, Calif.

"I've been here for three weeks now in California. The climate and the time change are very good. You have to be there at least three weeks beforehand to adapt," said Kessler, 30, who will face Ward (20-0, 13 knockouts) in a 168-pound, first-round clash of Showtime's Super Six Middleweight World Boxing Classic at Oracle Arena.

"It took me about three or four days to get used to it, but I'm in a very good rhythm now, and my conditioning hasn't been better. I just fought eight rounds today, and it's been one of the best eight rounds of my life. I'm looking forward to Ward, and I'm so ready for Ward," said Kessler (42-1, 32 knockouts), who has fought only once in the U.S.

"I think after this fight, people are going to recognize me better. I'm going to show them how my boxing style is," said Kessler. "I'm ready to show the American boxing fans how I fight, because it's difficult for me, as a Danish guy, to get known in the U.S., so here's my big chance for it."

Southpaw "Bad" Chad Dawson moved effortlessly around the ring while Glen "The Road Warrior" Johnson was mostly flat-footed and looked old.

Dawson fired his right jab, following it up with left hooks and straight lefts. Dawson won the exchanges when they existed over the course of Saturday night's lopsided, 12-round unanimous decision over the aging Johnson before a partisan crowd at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.

In victory, Dawson improved to 29-0 with 17 knockouts, earning the WBC's interim light heavyweight title while also defending his IBO crown, and in the process erasing all doubt as to who won the first Dawson-Johnson bout in April 2008.

Confidence has never been an issue for WBC champion Carl Froch.

In a wide-ranging interview, the outspoken and talented Englishman, who is 26-0 with 20 knockouts, says why he thought Andre Dirrell was "scared" in their Oct. 17 fight, why he believes Dirrell will defeat Germany's Arthur Abraham and why he will defeat WBA champ Mikkel Kessler.

Read what Froch had to say during this Q&A after the jump.

Edison Miranda got back to his winning ways in a hurry, dominating Thursday night's clash of super middleweights with a first-round knockout over Francisco Sierra at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, Calif.

In victory, accomplished at 2:16 of the round, the 168-pound Miranda scored his 29th knockout to improve to 33-4, successfully rebounding from May's unanimous decision loss to former Olympic gold medalist Andrew Ward.

The win also marked his first triumph under trainer Joe Goossen, brother of Miranda's promoter, Dan Goossen.

"When [Sierra] would throw a right hand, then he would drop his left hand, and I knew that that was the moment when I could throw my right hand and to land it," said Miranda, who has been training under Joe Goossen since June.

Edison Miranda has demonstrated punching power throughout most of his professional boxing career.

He won his first 26 fights, with the initial 21 coming by way of knockout, and an incredible 16 of those being in the first round. However, he has had mixed results ever since with only six wins in his last 10 fights, suffering a unanimous decision loss to former Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward in April.

Showtime's Sports general manager, Ken Hershman, said that he is "thrilled" concerning the success of last weekend's two super middleweight bouts of the Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament, even as he expressed concern and well-wishes toward Jermain Taylor, who was diagnosed with a concussion following his 12th-round knockout loss to Germany's Arthur Abraham.

After losing to Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) in a clash of former middleweight (160 pounds) champions, Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) was hospitalized for a few days in Germany following their 168-pound battle.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Donyil Livingston has been an avid boxer ever since he was 11 years old, when he won the national title for his age group. As an amateur he is 173-21 with 83 knockouts. Over the years, he has won many tournaments, including a world championship. Now, at 25 after taking some time off to let his body heal, he is ready to turn pro.

In this video, we talk to Donyil about the life of an amateur boxer. We also talk about some of the boxers he grew up with, which include heavyweight star Chris Arreola and Donyil's cousin, Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward.

Check out the video after the jump.

On Saturday, Andre Dirrell, broke training camp in Big Bear Lake, Calif., where the former Olympic bronze medalist worked out at 7,500 feet above sea level for this coming Saturday's bid to win the WBC super middleweight crown from England's Carl Froch.

And it seems that from the moment Dirrell (18-0, 13 knockouts) landed in Froch's hometown of Nottingham, the Flint, Mich., native has been running his mouth as swiftly as he plans to move his hands and feet during their clash of 168-pounders.

"I've spent my whole life dreaming of this night when I fight for the world title," said the 27-year-old Dirrell. "Froch has been foaming at the mouth saying how hopeless my chances are against him. Frankly I find his rants tiresome."