Mikkel Kessler Still a Huge TV Draw in Denmark

Mikkel Kessler has been a big TV draw in the past in his native Denmark, and Saturday's comeback win over Mehdi Bouadla was no different.

On the Danish network TV2, Kessler's fight with Bouadla peaked at 1.137 million viewers, or in more remarkable terms, a 66% share of the TV audience.

"That is truly an amazing figure and tells you all about the Viking Warrior´s popularity in Denmark," promoter Kalle Sauerland said. "The 12,500 fans at PARKEN Stadium created a fantastic atmosphere. And to have two-thirds of the entire TV viewers tuning into Mikkel´s fight is simply sensational. Other than Mikkel, I cannot think of any other individual athlete in Europe who would generate such a massive interest and beat the national football team by a landslide."

Middleweight prospect Patrick Nielsen also did strong ratings, getting a 45% share of the market for his fight. The Danish national football team played Iceland in a Euro 2012 qualifier, and did a 19% share.