By Mark Vester
 
If WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe defeats his WBA/WBC counterpart Mikkel Kessler on Nov. 3 at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, he will tie the 21 defense record of career rival Sven Ottke, currently sitting at the number-three position on the all-time list. Ottke retired in 2004 with his undefeated record (34-0, 6KOs) intact, holding the IBF and WBA super middleweight titles when he made his decision to hang up the gloves.
 
Ottke's title reign was smeared with controversy. He never fought outside of Germany, making all of his opponents come to him, and several of his wins were called hometown decisions that should have gone the other way.
 
Calzaghe had tried to secure an Ottke fight without success. The two camps held minor talks on more than one occassion, but the German champ was unwilling to leave the confines of his country to make the fight. While Calzaghe was not going to take a chance by fighting Ottke in Germany, especially with some of the dodgy decisions that were given to Ottke, he was willing to stage the fight in a neutral country, which was also turned down by the Ottke camp.
 
The "Pride of Wales" told IC Wales that his main focus was not to break the all-time defense record of heavyweight great Joe Louis. He predicts a Kessler win to place in third, but says that Ottke has no business being listed in the number three position. 
 
"I could continue for the rest of my career picking three or four easy defenses and beating Joe Louis' record," Calzaghe said. "But I don't want to because the record is just a number. Sven Ottke is up there, but I don't think he deserves to be up there because he lost half his fights and he never left Germany. Personally, I think it's much more about fighting the big names."
 
 ”I don't think I'm going to be around long enough anyhow. This is possibly my last fight at super-middleweight because there is nobody else at my weight ready to give me the challenge. It is likely I will have to head over to the United States and look for someone like Bernard Hopkins. All I care about is being a champion. I've always been a champion, I've got a one-track mind and I know I'm going to win."

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