SVEN OTTKE-hOW MANY 'ACTUAL' ROBBERIES?

I take it that you're not into Ottke. He was a good champion and there will always be debate whether he was great or not but he was dominant. It's unfortunate that him and Calzaghe didn't fight but I think Joe would've whipped the floor with him from what little I've seen from Ottke. I'll rewatch the Reid fight soon but after that I'll decide whether I want to see more from Ottke or not. It's a shame there's not much Glen or Sven on youtube.

 

I've got a certain level of respect for him...he was an average athletic talent who really honed his craft so he was able to be a world class amatuer and pro. It's great to see that because so often you see absolutely astounding athletic talents just not have the discipline or heart to take their abilities to the limit.

But he really is quite tedious to watch...his just enough style is far from endearing.

Joe would have raped him on the way to a shutout decision in Wales or a SD in Nuremberg.

 

Completely agree with that part especially when you look at these young talented fighters(D.Hopkins, Dawson, Alexander). I don't actually mind safety-first styles as I'm a fan of Jimmy Young as I'm a purist and like to put technique over brawn. Yes, Joe would've raped him but it would be interesting to watch and maybe entertaining as I see Joe outworking him especially if Reid made him look pretty bad(not going to watch that whole fight again. ref should've been no where near a ring after that awful performance).

 

Ottke was past it when he fought Reid imo.He was average to mediocre by then.

 

I think Calzaghe would have whipped him...in Germany..and the decision would have been too wide to have the officials screw him..yes, even in Germany. That much said, however, I never hated or even disliked Ottke...rather I always admired how he did so well within his limitations and that he was a clever boxer.

 

Well, Reid was at the end of his career. Watch the Mundine, Johnson or the second Brewer fight instead.

I don´t think Calzaghe would have raped him - more to do with not thinking that high of Calzaghe than with Ottke beeing that good. Calzaghe struggled with mediocre fighters. Ottke would have spoilt him and it would have been a close one.

Ottke was not great. Very good though. He had atg judging of distance timing, a very good boxing brain and footwork and endless stamina.

 

They didn't call Sven "The Phantom" for nothing.

 

You guys remember the fasted disappearing thread of all time don't you? It was my Sven Ottke-Hugo Corro matchup (it went to page 6 or 7 in a day)..lol...it's a shame, because I really am a fan of both of these guys..purveyors of safety first..negative defensive boxing...perhaps best exemplified by the man in my avatar...not exactly box office magic..but a favorite aspect of boxing of mine just the same.

 

There's not much of Ottke on youtube except for his fight with Reid(not watching that again) and bits of his Mundine fight. I would like to see him to see what you mean but there's no full footage of the fights you've mentioned.

 

I watched a highlight of Ottke-Mundine & Ottke-Mitchell and I have to say that I prefer his style over Calzaghe's or even Monzon's. I'm a purist so my thing is the "sweet science" even if it's by a safety first fighter. I'd take a boxing clinic over a war anyday. He was so controlled and had solid defense/fundamentals I like it. Too bad there's not more I can watch on him. I need to see more fights from him and most likely he'll win a fan in me but it's unlikely his fights get uploaded on yt anytime soon.

 

To be real, man, those were probably his best televised fights. He gets alot more boring than that.

 

Liking a fighter's style is subjective. I want to see more of him before making further assesments. As I said, I'm a purist and he is well-schooled so he shouldn't be too bad at least not to me. I love Jimmy Young and he was pretty defensive-minded. Just watched Ottke spar AA on yt(they sparred a year ago I'm not sure if they still do) and I like how he fights so far I'm just waiting to see more of his fights uploaded on youtube.

 

Ah, I thought you got hold of his fights somewhere. Very few people taped his fights. It´s a bit sad that promoters don´t upload vids from their fighters on yt by themselves to promote them. Universum is the only one that does but they are f*cked due to losing their TV contract.

 

I'd say Brewer and Reid were robberies and a lot of others were just fights that could have gone either way.

The problem for Ottke was more hype than anything else. If he'd just been a quiet clubfighter, no-one would have complained much. But, because he was boxing at a world level and getting promoted as this great boxer, it was comical how poor he actually looked in almost all of his fights and frustrating when he got hometown decisions.

That said, he will forever hold a little place in my heart for the Mundine fight.

 

Very sad. Just goes to show you how the state of boxing is now(corrupt). There's still some good fights to be made especially this year but more footage from fighters needs to be viewable to really draw a bit more people in. Most footage from guys like Ottke and Glen is so hard to come by.