BoxRec

Same here, and people who just joined in the 'Ottkes a bum' bandwagon having never seen the fight

Eubank does seem to get underrated boxing-wise, still.

Yes he stunk the place out more often than not, but he was also involved in more spectacular fights/performances than fornicating anybody (Camara, Dos Santos, Benn 1, Watson 2, Jarvis, Rocchigiani, Wharton, Calzaghe, Thompson 1).

The genius camera positioning and way he struck that pose after the stunning 20-second KO of Dos Santos, coming out with his back turned to Benn and throwing a KO blow, throwing the tragic uppercut at Watson after being knocked down for the first time in his life, the way he soaked up all the hate in Berlin and remained the calmest man in the arena, the Wharton fight in general from arena entry to breathtaking in-ring display, coming out of the Calzaghe fight looking fresh and happy and brimming with energy without a mark on him while Calzaghe looks almost dead and is bruised from head to toe, and the Thompson fight was thee icing on the fornicating cake.

To compare Sven Ottke to Chris Eubank is quite hideous in many respects, Ottke was a wiiimp. Eubank took some of the worst beatings ever in boxing!

The only fights i had Ottke losing were Starie by a point (I know noone else did) and Reid by 2

Larsen, Tate, Brewer2, Mitchel, Johnson were all clear Ottke for me

revisionists!

Eubank's footwork is underrated, yes he was shit at moving forward, but there was none better at moving back, not that I've seen anyway. His usage of the ring, positioning and timing was quite masterful and the technique he used for defence the full body sways with those high hips was very effective at making opponents fall short a lot and waste energy.

And yes I do think Eubank was the only guy who really stood much chance of causing Roy Jones some real problems in there.

Some interesting facts about Eubank :

There were only 5 fights in his career where he wasnt the favourite- Logan, 1st Benn, Calzaghe, Thomson fights..

It wasnt until his 36th fight that he fought an opponent younger than him..

He only ever lost the 1st round of a fight on all three scorecards once in his career- Calzaghe..

He signed professional just 2 years and 2 months after first hitting someone with a gloved fist..

Its many years since I saw his fight with Calzaghe, was Calzaghe badly ffed up at the end of it then?

I saw this Ottke's fight Reid but havent seen any others, I dont recall him being on SKY..?

Greg Nicholas wrote:I saw this Ottke's fight Reid

And yea that was daylight robbery..

Greg Nicholas wrote:I saw this Ottke's fight Reid but havent seen any others, I dont recall him being on SKY..?

Eurosport, all of them

Greg Nicholas wrote:

Greg Nicholas wrote:I saw this Ottke's fight Reid

And yea that was daylight robbery..

Yep, worst fit-up job I think I've ever seen, there was no way on god's earth Tillerman was going to let Reid leave that ring with the title belt.

When the ref helped Ottke up after he was knocked down by a left hook and refused to issue a count, that pretty much confirmed it. He also warned Reid after landing a right hand for some imaginary infringement.

If Reid had knocked Ottke down again, I'm sure Tillerman would have found an excuse not to give it, and then would have DQ'd reid as soon as possible.

Ottke's conduct that night was truly shameful, I don't care how good he was in his prime, those imploring looks over at the referee for help every time Reid landed a shot were absolutely disgusting, it was as clear as day that the ref had been instructed to ensure Ottke left with his title, and that Ottke knew this also.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Its many years since I saw his fight with Calzaghe, was Calzaghe badly ffed up at the end of it then?

Joe said last October in the papers that the Eubank fight was his toughest by far, he said he was in bed for three weeks after that!! and had a headache for a week, bruised body and closed eye..

Eubank has said he couldnt walk for weeks after the Calzaghe fight because he had an injection before the fight in his knee that was badly fucked to mask the pain.. he said he didn't feel near as battered as he did after the 1st Benn and 2nd Watson fights but that Calzaghes punches were the most stunning, and also said that it was the only time he could physically feel his brain rattling around inside his skull- when Calzaghe punched him.. nice..

Yeah, those lightning quick flurries must be horrific when they land in bunches of 5-6-7-8 punches. People often forget that the cumulative effect of lots of smaller punches can be just as bad as swinging monster shots. Ali was a similar puncher, lots of quick flurries of arm punches, but they mashed the life out of the likes of Foreman, Liston and Frazier, three of the toughest nuts in the history of the heavyweight division.

Calzaghe actually used to be a banger when he was coming up, dont know what happened to his power.. its a strange one that..

Smashed up hands.

Calzaghe-Eubank was a terrific fight. I gave Eubank 4 rds. Though he was down twice, he badly hurt Joe at the end so IMO it qualifies as a top drawer battle. Eubank landed a lot of right hands and Joe would roar back.

Came across an old Eubank article on my travels

Greg Nicholas wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Its many years since I saw his fight with Calzaghe, was Calzaghe badly ffed up at the end of it then?

Joe said last October in the papers that the Eubank fight was his toughest by far, he said he was in bed for three weeks after that!! and had a headache for a week, bruised body and closed eye..

Eubank has said he couldnt walk for weeks after the Calzaghe fight because he had an injection before the fight in his knee that was badly fucked to mask the pain.. he said he didn't feel near as battered as he did after the 1st Benn and 2nd Watson fights but that Calzaghes punches were the most stunning, and also said that it was the only time he could physically feel his brain rattling around inside his skull- when Calzaghe punched him.. nice..

Calzaghe said after three rounds he seriously doubted he could go the 12, because he felt absolutely knackered, and so from there he was just trying to knock Chris out or stop him.


Yeah it was a good war, good fight. Both men strong til the end. Shame it was only on PPV gone midnight (it was moved to the main event in front of Naz's fight because Eubank had gone on Parkinson the week before saying he was making a comeback and it boosted PPV sales!), because if that was on ITV Calzaghe would have been a superstar within 15 seconds of the first bell ;) If I remember, Eubank took the fight on 10 or 11 days notice or something silly.

Calzaghe's power decrease = hand and arm injuries that resticted him hitting the bag as hard as he could, and dieting like an Ephiopian to make 12 stone

He certainly hit much harder 10 years ago.

Joe says he only stayed at SMW in his early career (like 94-95) becos all the big names were there (Benn, Eubank, RJJ, Collins).. he says the plan was to move to lightheavy and cruiser.. amazing how he still makes the 12st after 14 yrs..

Eubank actually used to dry out and lose a stone in two or three days, then come in the ring at 178-180+..

Crew2 wrote:http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1 ... =yfp-t-405

Haha I remember that. I liked it when the guy asked Eubank if he drank and Eubank said something along the lines of 'No, but if I did I wouldn't tell you because I'm a role model' :)

There've been loads of docus on Eubank over the years, there was one that was screened in Feb 91 that actually started in the changing room following the Benn fight, you saw him greet the press the following morning looking as if he'd been run over a bulldozer with his tongue all fucked up and hunched over (bruised all over his body), the state he was in was terrible.

There was one called 'My Other Self' in 93, one called 'The Real Me' in 94, the Louis Theroux one and ofcourse At Home With The Eubanks. And Gladiator with Benn if that counts?

Greg Nicholas wrote:Joe says he only stayed at SMW in his early career (like 94-95) becos all the big names were there (Benn, Eubank, RJJ, Collins).. he says the plan was to move to lightheavy and cruiser.. amazing how he still makes the 12st after 14 yrs..

We should be grateful that he still made the weight and fought the big names...er...but hey, at least with SMW at its strongest, he will now face its biggest names...surely...