After failing to land a big fight over the past few months, Mikkel Kessler has announced his retirement from professional boxing.
The popular Dane, known affectionately as the 'Viking Warrior', hasn't been in the ring since losing on points to Carl Froch on 25 May 2013 and has been unable to land another big fight since.
”I've spent a lot of time evaluating the fight offers I have received over the past six to eight months,” Kessler, 35, told Ekstra Bladet tabloid. ”And at the end of the day, none of them were the fights needed to motivate me at the level needed to get in the ring again.”
READ MORE: Viking Warrior succumbs on points
A small chance for return
In particular, the four-time super-middleweight world champion wanted a rematch against Andre Ward and Carl Froch, two of only three fighters to beat Kessler in a career that finished with 46 wins in 49 bouts (35 by knockout).
The retired Welshman Joe Calzaghe was behind his first career defeat as a professional in 2007.
The hard-hitting Dane, who held the WBA and the WBC titles at several points in his career, said he wouldn't completely rule out making a return to the ring at some point should a prime fighter come calling.
