Yesterday The Viking Warrior, Mikkel Kessler, became the second professional boxer to be admitted into the Danish Sports Hall of Fame.

Kessler was, in 2006, named Athlete of the Year after he had beaten Markus Beyer and was at the time both WBC and WBA super middleweight champion of the world. He lost in 2007 to Joe Calzaghe but beat Carl Froch in 2010 and was for a number of years one of the best fighters in the world.

Kessler is the 35th member in this elite club of top athletes.

"It’s a huge honor for me to be a part of the Sports Hall of Fame, and I’m totally overwhelmed. I have always looked up to the other athletes and they have filled a lot with my upbringing," says Mikkel Kessler in a press release.

Kessler began boxing at the age of 13 trained by Ricard Olsen. At 19 he turned pro with promoter Mogens Palle with Olsen still as trainer and was carefully moved forward and developed into a world class fighter.

He later joined Team Sauerland and was for his last few fights trained by Jimmy Montoya.

The other fighter to be admitted to the Hall of Fame is Tom Bogs.