If Joe Calzaghe had fought Sven Ottke

[JadeaKallen]

If on October 22nd 2004, Joe Calzaghe had fought and beaten Sven Ottke instead of Kabary Salem. The rest of his record being the same, relinquishing the IBF belt so Jeff Lacy could win it. Regaining the IBF belt from Lacy and winning the WBC belt from Mikkel Kessler.
How much if any would Joe Calzaghe's legacy be enhanced by that Sven Ottke Win?

2004-10-22 Sven Ottke /Win UD
WBO-WBA-IBF
2005-05-07 Mario Veit /Win TKO
WBO-WBA
2005-09-10 Evans Ashira /Win UD
WBO-WBA
2006-03-04 Jeff Lacy /Win UD
WBO-WBA-IBF
2006-10-14 Sakio Bika /Win UD
WBO-WBA-IBF
2007-04-07 Peter Manfredo Jr /Win TKO
WBO-WBA
2007-11-03 Mikkel Kessler /Win UD
WBO-WBA-WBC

[Sugar Adam Ali]

It wouldn't rise him up the rankings a lot, but it would enhance his reputation as the best 168 guy of his era, and takes him out of the discussion for being "borderline" for the hall of fame.

[Canelo and GGG]

Sven is not better then Brewer .theyr fight showed it,i got it 115-113 Brewer,Scholar who gave Ottke more Credit had it 114-114,it would not change anything realy.

[yngwie]

The only thing that the fight could do for boxing, was taking away Sven from the list of undefeated retired champions.

[Monaco Slim]

Sven Ottke isn't even a footnote in boxing history.

[The Old LefHook]

Ottke wasn't much, but he was just one more fighter Calzaghe should have fought and didn't. Calzaghe could have a much greater legacy with a different career path. He is not someone who took it to the limit to see just how good they were. He was satisfied with a mediocre legacy.

[Anthony342]

Yeah, weren't there also talks of a Calzaghe/Froch fight just before he retired?

[The Old LefHook]

Yeah, weren't there also talks of a Calzaghe/Froch fight just before he retired?

Yes, Froch was pushing for a fight, and Calzaghe was right into the war of words hotly like the Donald, saying how he would have thrashed Froch if he weren't about to retire, and had a good mind to thrash him anyway...and all that. "One more got away, darn it," Joel was heard to mumble later.

[BattlingNelson]

As is always the case, Ottke gets severely underrated on this anglo-saxon forum.

Had Calzaghe fought and beaten Ottke, it would have meant a major legacy enhancement for him. It would arguably have been Calzaghe's best win or at least top 3.

[Canelo and GGG]

As is always the case, Ottke gets severely underrated on this anglo-saxon forum.

Had Calzaghe fought and beaten Ottke, it would have meant a major legacy enhancement for him. It would arguably have been Calzaghe's best win or at least top 3.

Ottke was Good title holder ,but Joe had better opponents and Ottke would be more like top 5