All I hear on here is "he should have fought Ottke..." "he should have cum to tha states pwn!" etc.. But lets have a look at all the champions during Calzaghe's WBO reign.
SMW Champs by way of Boxrec:
WBC
Robin Reid - Beaten by Calzaghe
Malinga - Beaten by Woodhall who Calzaghe beat.
Woodhall - Beaten by Calzaghe
Lucas - Beaten by Kessler who Calzaghe beat
Beyer - Beaten by Kessler who Calzaghe beat, drew with Bika (many people had Bika ahead at the time) who Calzaghe beat,
Sanavia - Beaten by Beyer who was beaten by a guy Calzaghe beat.
IBF
Brewer - Beaten by Calzaghe.
Sven Ottke - CONTROVERSY. Should have lost one of the SD's to Brewer, should have lost to Mitchell and potentially should have lost to Reid.. also very close against David Starie. In my view and the view of many, Ottke lost at least 2 of the above 5 fights. If not 3-5 of them. All the fighters mentioned? Beaten by Calzaghe convincingly, even Robin Reid who got a whack job SD (go review the fight, Calzaghe had that fight won comfortably)
Lacy - beaten by Calzaghe
Berrio - Beaten by Poras who was beaten by Kessler who Calzaghe beat
Lucian Bute - Undefeated but won't face Kessler.
WBA
Liles - Beaten by Mitchell who Calzaghe beat, also pulled out against Calzaghe
Mitchell - Beaten by Calzaghe
Girad - Drew with Mitchell who Calzaghe beat, refused rematch with Siaca and was stripped of title.
Mundine - beaten by Kessler who Calzaghe beat
Siaca - Beaten by Kessler who Calzaghe beat
Sven Ottke - see above
Kessler - beaten by Calzaghe.
So, Sven Ottke, Girad and Bute remain the only guys who haven't either been beaten by Calzaghe or beaten by a guy Calzaghe beat.
Bute is the only one of that trio who doesn't have controversy surrounding him, although he's refusing a match with Kessler.
Can any other champion of this era show such a dominance over their division by having a majority of ex champions either be beat by him or beaten by someone he beat?
Now you're starting to see why Calzaghe is considered to have a great career by those that know something.
SMW Champs by way of Boxrec:
WBC
Robin Reid - Beaten by Calzaghe
Malinga - Beaten by Woodhall who Calzaghe beat.
Woodhall - Beaten by Calzaghe
Lucas - Beaten by Kessler who Calzaghe beat
Beyer - Beaten by Kessler who Calzaghe beat, drew with Bika (many people had Bika ahead at the time) who Calzaghe beat,
Sanavia - Beaten by Beyer who was beaten by a guy Calzaghe beat.
IBF
Brewer - Beaten by Calzaghe.
Sven Ottke - CONTROVERSY. Should have lost one of the SD's to Brewer, should have lost to Mitchell and potentially should have lost to Reid.. also very close against David Starie. In my view and the view of many, Ottke lost at least 2 of the above 5 fights. If not 3-5 of them. All the fighters mentioned? Beaten by Calzaghe convincingly, even Robin Reid who got a whack job SD (go review the fight, Calzaghe had that fight won comfortably)
Lacy - beaten by Calzaghe
Berrio - Beaten by Poras who was beaten by Kessler who Calzaghe beat
Lucian Bute - Undefeated but won't face Kessler.
WBA
Liles - Beaten by Mitchell who Calzaghe beat, also pulled out against Calzaghe
Mitchell - Beaten by Calzaghe
Girad - Drew with Mitchell who Calzaghe beat, refused rematch with Siaca and was stripped of title.
Mundine - beaten by Kessler who Calzaghe beat
Siaca - Beaten by Kessler who Calzaghe beat
Sven Ottke - see above
Kessler - beaten by Calzaghe.
So, Sven Ottke, Girad and Bute remain the only guys who haven't either been beaten by Calzaghe or beaten by a guy Calzaghe beat.
Bute is the only one of that trio who doesn't have controversy surrounding him, although he's refusing a match with Kessler.
Can any other champion of this era show such a dominance over their division by having a majority of ex champions either be beat by him or beaten by someone he beat?
Now you're starting to see why Calzaghe is considered to have a great career by those that know something.
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