Key points:
- Mikkel Kessler is reportedly considering a boxing comeback on November 28 in Copenhagen, 13 years after his last fight
- The 47-year-old Dane previously announced a comeback in 2017 that never materialised after he contracted Lyme disease
- An unnamed American opponent is reportedly being lined up, with neither Kessler’s team nor promoter Kalle Sauerland confirming the plans
- Kessler has spent recent years training IBF super middleweight challenger Oliver Zaren rather than competing himself
Thirteen years out of the ring, one failed comeback attempt already behind him, and Mikkel Kessler is reportedly ready to try again anyway.
Danish outlet Ekstra Bladet reports the former WBA and WBC super middleweight champion is targeting November 28 at Brøndby Hallen, just outside Copenhagen, with promoter Kalle Sauerland organising the show. An unnamed American opponent is reportedly being considered. Neither Kessler’s camp nor Sauerland has confirmed any of it.
The last attempt had an actual excuse
Kessler tried this once before, in 2017 at 38, only for Lyme disease to derail his training entirely. “I was tired, my muscles were aching, and I was unable to train,” he said at the time. That comeback never produced a fight. This one arrives with no illness to point to, and nine additional years of inactivity sitting on top of the original absence.
A record most fighters would happily retire on
Kessler finished his last run 46-3, beaten only by Joe Calzaghe, Andre Ward and Carl Froch, three of the finest super middleweights of his generation. A win here would technically be fight number 50 in a career most assumed was finished for good back in 2015.
Why the timing raises real questions
Kessler’s spent recent years in a trainer’s corner, working with IBF challenger Oliver Zaren, rather than anywhere near a competitive ring himself. Whatever’s prompted the switch back to his own gloves, a 47-year-old fighter returning after this long away is attempting something genuinely rare, regardless of how sharp he looked in whatever sparring reportedly convinced him to try.