Well Sven has referees who penalise opponents for punching him and give him the nod on the cards as long as he stays upright so you can't pick anyone over him in Germany. In reality though Ward beats the brakes off him. Calzaghe, Kessler, Reid, ward, Froch, Dirrell, Taylor, groves, lacy, bika, Bute, pascal and a host of others easily beat the phantom with fair officiating.
The officiating was horrible in some fights, especially Reid, no doubt. But I think it's unfair to reduce Ottke to that. He was very fast and durable, high workrate, not easy to hit, and he had a great amateur career. He also retired with a perfect record. I think he is quite underrated and I don't think it would be a walk in the park for Ward, especially in Germany, even without utterly bad officiating and biased judging. I still think Ward would take it though. But it would be interesting to see him out of his comfortzone, that's why I also like the idea of a Ward-Groves fight in England.
Yes he should, that was the biggest joke of a fight in history of boxing, just think about it his opponent was repeatedly warned for punching Ottke, he is joke he is legend for German fans that dont know **** about boxing and thats it...
The fight was a joke, everybody knows it, it has been discussed to death. But looking at Ottkes amateur resume, holding wins over the likes of Tarver, Moorer, Byrd, Michaelczewski, Erdei, Gomez etc. and in the pros legit ones over Mundine, Branco, somewhat disputable decisions like Brewer, Johnson etc., I refuse to see him as the overprotected corrupt bum people make him out to be. Most of the "robberies" where in fact rather close decisions that just went his way, but once you have the reputation... Reid and Mitchell were the only legit robberies in my eyes, the rest is being blown way out of proportion imo. Not fighting Beyer and especially Calzaghe hurts his resume, no doubt. By the way, how many debateable decisions did Chris Eubank win, just as an example? I don't see him getting half the **** around here Ottke gets for his highway-robberies.
I don't see Lacy or Bute beating Ottke, sorry. Taylor, Bika and Dirrell are at the very least debateable also in my eyes. Edit: Roy Jones Jr. might have also been gifted enough to edge out a close one over Sven
In a fair fight Ward wipes the floor with Ottke. In Germany Ward probably gets disqualified for his rough house tactics or at least gets points deducted and still gets robbed on the scorecards.
tbf otkke fights were worth watching, but not for the fights. for the overblown heavy rock and orchestral performances before hand - these germans sure know how to dress up mutton as lamb! a free concert with every fight. The main reason I watch the Abraham Stieglitz fights.. on youtube that is.