OLDENBURG, Germany — Mikkel Kessler of Denmark retained his WBA super middleweight title today by knocking out Danilo Haeussler of Germany in the third round.

Kessler caused Haeussler's left eye to start swelling in the second round. The Dane ended the fight with a left to Haeussler's chin. He went down flat on his back and could not beat the count.

Kessler improved to 41-1, with 31 knockouts. Haeussler fell to 29-4 with one draw.

Kessler lost his WBA and WBC titles in a unification bout with Joe Calzaghe last November, then won back the vacant WBA belt with a knockout of Dimitri Sartison in June.