Mikkel Kessler is 34 and has been a professional for more than 15 years. He's got a Hall of Fame-worthy resume and has met some of the best fighters of his time.

And yet, outside of the most hardcore boxing fans, he's virtually anonymous in the U.S. and doesn't have a particularly solid following anywhere other than in Europe.

Mikkel Kessler, left, and Carl Froch appear to get along at the weigh-in Friday despite some harsh words from Froch. (Getty Images)It's a tragedy, because Kessler has all the elements to be a superstar here, yet he's not even remotely close to one.

Today, he finds himself in a remarkably similar position to where he was nearly six years ago, when he traveled to Wales to meet Joe Calzaghe in a battle of unbeaten super middleweight champions.

Kessler was 28, owner of a 39-0 record and was believed by many to be one of the world's elite fighters. Yet, he was also seen as a protected, coddled fighter who fought primarily in the comfort of his home base in Denmark against good, but not great, opposition.

In a decision loss to Calzaghe, he not only left his comfort zone, but he dared to take on

Read More »from Mikkel Kessler looking to boost his rep with a title victory over Carl Froch

LAS VEGAS – Months of work, hours of poring over film, long days of torturing his body, preparing for the biggest fight of his life, was rendered useless in 15 seconds.

Antonio Silva was down on his back and split open by a Cain Velasquez elbow between the eyes that instantly began gushing blood.

When the fight was stopped three minutes, 36 seconds after it began with Velasquez the one-sided winner, Silva looked as if a madman had hacked him in the face with a meat cleaver.

One mistake against Cain Velasquez turned Antonio Silva into a bloody mess. (Getty Images)It wasn't the cut, or the blood, or the pain from the punches and elbows that Velasquez pummeled him with that bothered Silva so much. He knew what he was in for when he signed the contract for the fight.

What he didn't expect, though, was that only seconds after the bell sounded, against arguably the greatest heavyweight in the world, he'd be essentially blind and unable to see shots coming at him.

Velasquez is a fearsome opponent for any man, let alone one whose sight is not just blurred but almost entirely gone.

Read More »from Antonio Silva eager to prove he's a cut above in UFC 160 rematch with Cain Velasquez

LAS VEGAS – Junior dos Santos stretched out his entire 6-foot-4 frame, filling an oversized chair in a locker room at the MGM Grand Garden. Minutes earlier, he'd completed a surprisingly intense workout, just days from his three-round heavyweight bout Saturday against Mark Hunt in the co-main event of UFC 160. 

He furrowed his brow and took a deep breath as he pondered a seemingly bizarre, but now pertinent, question: Would he quit, or at least change his methods, if he knew for certain that his job could create health issues that would last the rest of his lifetime?

He wiggled in the chair and clasped his hands behind his head.

"That's a good question," he said. "That's a really good question."

A period of silence ensued before dos Santos shifted in his chair and began to answer. A smile began to crease his face.

"You know, I think it's worth it," he said. "This is my life. This is everything I have. People don't know how hard we [work] and what we sacrifice to [be successful]. MMA

Read More »from Junior dos Santos: Fighting is worth the health risks because it's 'everything to me'

Andre Ward (L) won the WBC super middleweight belt in 2011 by beating Carl Froch (Getty)Super middleweight champion Andre Ward was lavished with praise on Monday when he essentially told the WBC to stick their gaudy green title belt where the sun doesn't shine.

But Ward's actions won't amount to much, because there are few boxers who are willing to take the same stance.

Despite the fact that boxing's major sanctioning bodies routinely cheat, manipulate the rankings, strip fighters of titles they won in the ring, coerce them into giving up their fight-worn equipment and almost daily break their own rules, boxers are desperate to have them.

Few boxers are willing to take a stand like Ward did and tell these morally and ethically bankrupt grounds to get lost. It's going to take fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Wladimir Klitschko, Canelo Alvarez, Juan Manuel Marquez and other high-profile boxers to follow Ward's lead for his action to have any kind of an impact.

Rest assured, though, that's not going to happen in our lifetime.

Andre Ward wears his WBC belt (Getty)Ward won his WBC title by defeating Carl Froch in

Read More »from Andre Ward tells the WBC to get lost, and hopefully he is the first of many

LAS VEGAS – T.J. Grant chuckles at the thought that he may someday become known as the most famous resident of his hometown.

Maybe in some other sleepy ocean-side town of 25,000, a statue of him would be erected in the town square and he'd be celebrated throughout the years for his athletic feats.

T.J. Grant, left, defeated Evan Dunham last September at UFC 152. (Getty Images)But Grant is from Canada and was born and still lives in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. That pretty much guarantees that, no matter what he's able to accomplish in the UFC, his ceiling is pretty much becoming the town's second-most famous resident.

Cole Harbour, you see, is the birthplace of Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, the NHL's greatest player. And while a popular championship fighter may become more widely known worldwide than a hockey player, it's a massively different story in Canada.

"You know what? Anywhere else in the world, maybe I'd have a shot," he says. "But this is hockey country. This is Canada. Not much chance of [ever surpassing Crosby]. But maybe if things go

Read More »from UFC 160 could be launching pad for Canadian T.J. Grant, but he'll never be top star in hometown

Shane Mosley (R) is 1-3-1 in his last five fights, but has no plans to retire (AP)One of the saddest sights in professional sports is trying to watch a one-time great who is well past his or her prime still trying to compete.

Willie Mays played long past his prime (AP file photo)Willie Mays is, arguably, the greatest all-around player in Major League Baseball history, but if you only saw him playing for the New York Mets in the 1973 World Series, you'd have a hard time believing that.

Similarly, Johnny Unitas is one of the best quarterbacks to have ever lived, but definitely not to those who only saw him play for the San Diego Chargers.

There have been countless boxers in similar situations and fans and media routinely plead with them to retire. Most recently, Roy Jones Jr. and Evander Holyfield have fallen in that situation, fighting on long since their skills have left them.

Shane Mosley, the one-time lightweight, welterweight and super welterweight champion who is one of the best fighters of the last 20 years or so, is another of them.

Shane Mosley's Twitter accountMosley defeated Pablo Cesar Cano by a unanimous decision on Saturday in Mexico,

Read More »from Shane Mosley plans to chase another world title, so don’t ask him to retire

Manny Pacquiao will look to break a two-fight losing streak when he returns to the ring on Nov. 24 (Nov. 23 in the U.S.) at The Venetian in Macau, China, to fight Brandon Rios in a 12-round welterweight bout, Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz exclusively told Yahoo! Sports on Monday. 

Manny Pacquiao throws a right at Juan Manuel Marquez. (Getty)The bout will be distributed on HBO pay-per-view in the U.S. Significantly, though, Koncz said it is going to be sold online in China in something of a test run for the American equivalent of $5 or $6. 

Pacquiao had also been considering Mike Alvarado, but Koncz said the choice to go with Rios was made because of the style matchup. Rios is a straight-ahead fighter who loves to get into a slugfest and it should make for a sensational television bout.

"Rios isn't going to get in there and dance around and run around," Koncz said. "He's going to come to fight. He'll move straight forward and try to brawl with Manny, and that's the kind of fight that will be very entertaining for the fans. Anyone who knows these

Read More »from Manny Pacquiao to fight Brandon Rios in Macau, China, on Nov. 24

LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather showed yet again why he is, conclusively, the greatest fighter of his generation.

He brilliantly outboxed Robert Guerrero on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden, cruising to a wide unanimous decision in their WBC welterweight title fight that probably would have been a stoppage had he not injured his right hand in the middle of the fight.

Mayweather is far beyond being judged against his peers, but the lack of depth and quality among them keeps him from seriously being regarded as one of the 10 best fighters ever.

[Related: Fans boo Floyd Mayweather's 'boring' style]

Sugar Ray Robinson is, without question, the greatest fighter who ever lived. He was 128-1-2 before he suffered his second defeat, and he beat enough Hall of Famers to fill a football team. Floyd Mayweather avoids a Robert Guerrero punch on Saturday. (USA Today)

The thing that Robinson, and more recent superstars such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, had over Mayweather was elite opposition.

"Let me tell you this right here about the

Read More »from Floyd Mayweather Jr. can't be considered greatest of all-time due to lack of elite competition