After reading over the thread regarding Dariusz and Roy not ever fighting, it got me thinking of another all time great fight that would have broken all types of records (:P) not being made.
I speak of two of the most controversial undefeated Super-Middleweights of all-time.
Ottke held his IBF title from 98-04
Calzaghe held his titles from 97-07
Any reasons why they never fought? Were they ever close?
Ottke's brutal destruction of Mundine struck fear into the Welsh Dragon's heart.
I think you mean that Calzaghe's brutal destruction of Manfredo scared Sven into retirement.
I understand Ottke fought at home and all times and received preferential treatment. But at anytime in their careers were they close to arranging a deal to fight at all.
Edit: Managed to find two arcticles from Calzaghe explaining he was chasing fights with Ottke in the past. Years of the article are dated 2003 and 2007.
http://www.boxingscene.com/calzaghe-ottke-belong-near-my-record--11006
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/weblog/news.php?p=339&more=1
Ottke had a string of robberies in Germany. In fact, most of them were against guys Calzaghe beat - Brewer, Mitchell and Robin Reid were all given bad decisions against them.
Sven Ottke fought every single fight in his career in Germany. Repeat: EVERY SINGLE FIGHT in Germany. You get a fighter like that who's winning controversial decisions it's tough to convince anyone who already has a belt to come over to fight him.