Calzaghe couldn't have done any better in terms of comp than he did.

it was purly money

warren offered a few times ottke money to fight calzaghe but the offeres were always around the £1 million mark which he new would be declined as ottke was on 2 million euros a fight so would have actually had to take a pay cut to fight calzaghe.

never going to happen.

£3 million uk and the fight might have been able to take place.

would have been buying ottkes belts but only way it would happen.

ottke did extensive interviews after all his fights and i watched live every defense on tv and neither wenger (ottkes trainer) wilfred sauerland ( ottkes promotor ) or ottke himself ever acknowledged that calzaghe even exsisted.

calzaghe guilty as well as he said at the time he would not fight in germany but wanted ottke and ottke simply ignored calzaghe pretending he did not exsist.

it would have needed a big honeypot for ottke as the only way fight would happen.


i should add there was never an offer for calzaghe to ever come to germany.

 

I dont doubt for a second Joe would have put the beatdown on both fighters, however, why did he not move on? Instead of making yet more WBO defences against nobodies he could have fought Dariusz. That way he could have even kept that WBO bauble he loves so much.

Top man.:good

Did Ottke really never mention Joes name once?

 

That WBO strap is unrivalled in it's shinyness and comfort, I see where you are coming from

If I was Joe I would wear it to Tescos

Although to be fair the others aren't half bad, he's spoilt for choice

 

That black WBA one is arguably more versatile.

 

i saw hours of interviews over a 8 year period from all 3 men and calzaghe was persona non grata

out of sight out of mind.

calzaghe`s name never touched his lips.

german tv has long ring interviews then you go back to a studio and give a 15 min interview and also about 20 mins of interviews from wifred/wenger and sven in the build up to fights.

but as i say not all ottkes fault, warren never ever made the carrot big enough and calzaghe point blank refused to fight in germany.

 

sean, while I respect you a great deal, how on earth could they get £3 million together for a fight against Ottke? Ottke retired in 2003 (?) and Joe wasn't really making big bucks until a couple of years after that.

If I were Frank Warren and with Calzaghe breaking his hands all over the place at that time, it would have been suicide to go to Germany to be robbed. And I'm sure Ottke had no interest whatsoever in leaving his homeland. I just don't see how this fight could ever have happened. None of the US TV networks had much of an interest in either boxer.

 

to make a fighter higher profile sometimes as a promotor you have to buy a title.

i am sure frank racked up a good few millions on calzaghe routine defenses.

for example kesllser bought beyer`s title for 1 million but lost on the promotion but it got him a £5 million pound purse down the line.

an old saying but a true saying that i lived by in business for 20 years allowing me to retire young.

"you have to speculate to accumulate."

 

Glen Johnson for starters???

Listen, I love Joe. But he hasnt faced the best when he could have. Lets not ignore the obvious.

 

as a light heavy yes
as a super middle no

take a quick look at glen johnsons record from when he lost to hopkins and went to 168.

at 168 johnson had an appaling record albeit he fought in his opponents backyards and never got decions but he was never considered as a viable 168 fighter at the time.
her lost virtually every 168 fight he had.
sheika/branco/ottke/and a few others some basically jouneymen who i cannot remember.

at light heavy calzaghe was guilty of messing johnson around completely and johnson reinvented himself admiradbly.

johnson will fight anyone anywhere and is a true pro.

 

But the original point of the post was that Joe fought the best fighters available. As much of a fan of his I am...I cannot agree with that at all. Johnson was just the first name that popped into my mind.

 

There's been talks of a fight vs. Clinton Woods for what seems like ages now as well.

 

Kessler's a Euro-Bum but Sturm is a quality opponent? Or is Sturm only credible due to fighting (and apparently robbed) against ODLH? Also, how would you expect a career SM to boil down to 160 and still be effective?

 

Most likely will happen before JC retires. Big money UK fight.

 

I can see this being the case if Warren could get Ottke to fight in Cardiff where they could have got a big crowd to minimize the losses. But would Ottke have agreed to this?

He was fighting 3-4 times a year earning a tidy sum each time allowing himself to continue in this vein for a number of years without too much risk. Ottke was blatently happy with his lot and retired knowing full well that he would have been in trouble against JC. Ottke had no interest at all.

Lacy, on the other hand, couldn't wait to jump at the chance (Warren did what you suggested here).

I agree that JC/FW could have done a lot more a lot sooner but in the Ottke case, I just don't see it.