Sven Ottke (born 3 June 1967) is a German former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 1997 to 2004. He was a unified

super-middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

world champion, having held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

title from 1998 to 2004, and the

WBA (Unified) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Bo ...

title from 2003 to 2004. With 21 successful title defences, Ottke was the fourth European boxer to retire as an undefeated world champion, after Jack McAuliffe, Terry Marsh, and

Michael Loewe Michael Arthur Nathan Loewe (born 2 November 1922) is a British Sinologist, historian, and writer who has authored dozens of books, articles, and other publications in the fields of Classical Chinese as well as the history of ancient and ear ...

;

Joe Calzaghe Joseph William Calzaghe ( ; born 23 March 1972) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Undisputed), WBC, IBF, WBO, ''Ring'' magazine ...

later became the fifth. Ottke defended the title against 20 boxers, a record in the super-middleweight division shared with Joe Calzaghe. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, Ottke won a bronze medal in the

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

division at the 1989 World Championships.

Early life

Sven Ottke served two apprenticeships as a plasterer and industrial clerk. He became a member of the boxing club ''

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...

er BC 26 Berlin'' at the age of 14.

Amateur career

He rebutted his critics, which had complained that he had started too late, when he became German Champion at the age of 18 at

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

. Ten further titles would follow. He took part in the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and 1996

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. He became European Champion in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and 1996, and came third in 1993. Ottke held amateur wins over

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and

Juan Carlos Gómez Juan Carlos Gómez (born 26 July 1973) is a Cuban former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2014. He held the WBC cruiserweight title from 1998 to 2002, and challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2009. Amateur career *Ama ...

. *Amateur Record: 256-47-5 *German Middleweight Champion (FRG) 1985–1989 *German National Middleweight Champion (1990–1991, 1995–1996) *German National Light Heavyweight Champion (1992–1993) *Three time Olympian Ottke finished his amateur career with a record of 256 wins, 47 losses (at least 4 by knockout,) 5 draws. As his professional career, he spent most of his amateur career within Germany. Of a few

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, which he participated in, Ottke did not manage to pass the

quarterfinals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

(apart from the Moscow 1989, where he was dropped out of the semifinals.)

Professional career

After 308 fights as an amateur, of which he won 256, he turned professional in 1997. Less than a year later on 24 October 1998, he won the

super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

championship from Charles Brewer via a disputed decision victory. After this he made 16 successful defenses of his IBF title against fighters such as Thomas Tate (twice),

Glen Johnson Glen McLeod Cooper Johnson (''né'' Stephens; born 23 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played predominantly as a right back. Johnson began his career at West Ham United, spending time on loan at Millwall, and was ...

Silvio Branco Silvio Branco (born 26 August 1966) is an Italian former professional boxer of Romani origin. Career 1992 he was outpointed by undefeated southpaw Agostino Cardamone for the Italian middleweight title. When Cardamone vacated he could win the va ...

, James Butler,

Anthony Mundine Anthony Mundine Jr. (born 21 May 1975) is an Australian former professional boxer and rugby league footballer. In boxing he competed from 2000 to 2021, and held the WBA super-middleweight title twice between 2003 and 2008. He also held the I ...

, Charles Brewer in a rematch, and a controversial points win against Robin Reid. He was at the peak of his career when he won the WBA title on 13 March 2003 against WBA champion Byron Mitchell, winning by split points decision. After successfully defending his title 21 times, Ottke stepped down as undefeated world champion on 27 March 2004. Ottke has a record of 34 wins and 0 losses as a professional, of which 6 were by knockout. He was named IBF "Fighter of the Year" in 2003. Ottke was a durable and attritional fighter, with most of his wins coming by points decisions rather than knockout. Notably, Ottke refused to defend his title outside Germany, and referees and ringside officials were often German. It has been alleged that both the refereeing and some of the points decisions were biased, with many commentators in the Reid fight, in particular, commenting that it was some of the worst refereeing decisions that had seen and alleged corrupt judging being the only reason Ottke keeping his title. Reid, if he had won, had stated his intention to pursue a rematch against old foe Joe Calzaghe: the latter, holding the WBO belt, called out Ottke instead for a unification title match, but Ottke took only one more fight and then retired.

Planned comeback

In May 2008, a comeback was planned against

Dariusz Michalczewski Dariusz Tomasz Michalczewski (born 5 May 1968) is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1991 to 2005. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA, IBF, WBO and lineal light heavyweight titles ...

in Germany, but the match never materialized.

Professional boxing record

Television viewership

Germany

References

External links

* *
Amateur record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ottke, Sven 1967 births Living people Boxers from Berlin Middleweight boxers Light-heavyweight boxers World Boxing Association champions International Boxing Federation champions Boxers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of West Germany Olympic boxers of Germany German male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists World super-middleweight boxing champions Undefeated world boxing champions Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! participants