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Kessler: Age is against Calzaghe

31/10/2007

Mikkel Kessler claims that he will have the advantage of youth when he faces Joe Calzaghe in their world super middleweight unification bout.

The Dane will be defending his WBC and WBA belts against Calzaghe's WBO title and is confident of creating an upset at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

Both fighters are unbeaten during their careers but Kessler feels the seven-year age gap could prove to be a significant advantage in his favour.

The 28-year-old said that, although he is prepared for a tough fight, his age could become a factor the longer the bout lasts.

Kessler said: "He's [Calzaghe] always been in great physical shape and is by no means an old man, but he's 35 and that could be a weakness.

"I've seen other problems I won't name. Calzaghe's a great fighter but I'm more focused and youthful, he may tire."

Having made four-successful defences of his WBA title, Kessler is looking forward to facing Calzaghe who is defending his title for the 21st time this Saturday.

"It is a dream come true and a big step up for me. We are two unbeaten champions and it is going to be a great fight," said Kessler.

The Dane said he was not daunted about the prospect of facing Calzaghe in front of 50,000 home supporters and expected 1,000 fans from his own country to be in attendance.

"I can feel the fight coming and things building, but I'm not nervous. I went all the way to Australia to make the first defence of my title against Anthony Mundine and I had no problems there," added Kessler.