After two tours of duty as European champion and a shot at the WBA belt, Sebastian Sylvester clawed his way to a world title tonight at Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenberg, Germany.

The 29 year old local man, nicknamed "Hurrikan", started fast as expected against opponent Giovanni Lorenzo of New York but had difficulty navigating the distance Lorenzo maintained during the early rounds.

The American based visitor repeatedly picked off the German with sharp punches and seemed to be on the way to controlling the contest until Sylvester's pressure began to pay off. More...

Big show tonight at Neubrandenburg's Jahnsportforum with the vacant IBF middleweight belt and the European Union heavyweight strap on offer.

Ready to rip for Arthur Abraham's vacanted IBF crown are two-time European kingpin Sebastian "Hurrikan" Sylvester, 31-3 (15), and Giovanni Lorenzo, 27-1 (19).

Greifswald based Sylvester had a shot at the big time last November but failed to lift Felix Sturm's WBA trophy in a brave 12 round effort and currently holds the IBF International title.

Lorenzo makes the trip all the way from New York, having won an IBF title eliminator by knocking out Dionisio Miranda in two this past February after narrowly losing to Raul Marquez in 2008. More...

In what may be his last fight at middleweight, IBF champ Arthur Abraham clashed with tough challenger Mahir Oral last night in front of 7,000 fans at Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, Germany.

Oral, a former sparring partner of Abraham's, showed that he was well acquainted with the style of the champion in the early going, peppering Abraham with jabs and combinations that didn't seem to have much effect other than winning the rounds for Oral.

Abraham was slower than usual in warming up, perhaps conserving whatever energy he had left following his efforts to continue making 160 pounds.

But "King Arthur" awoke at the end of the fourth stanza to blitz the challenger to the floor with heavy artillery but he couldn't finish off Oral. More...

On a big night at the fights at Koenig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen last evening, Felix Sturm and Segiy Dzinziruk handled dangerous opponents and retained world titles.

Sturm, 36-0 (22), proved the superiority of his skills as he kept challenger Sebastian Sylvester at arm's length with the jab over the second half of the bout and managed to punish the European titlist when distance was closed as he cruised to the fifth defense of his WBA Middleweight title.

Sylvester, 29-3 (14), managed to get to Sturm early but couldn't keep up the high energy approach and fell behind, chasing the champion and eating Sturm's jab enroute to a 119-109, 118-110 twice loss.

WBO Light Middle titlist Dzinziruk, 36-0 (22), had trouble with the massive power shots of Colombian challenger Joel Julio, 34-2 (31), in the early going but the Ukrainian southpaw began to time his opponent and avoid the big punches in return to bring home the points decision 117-111 and 116-112 twice.

Argentine light welter slugger Marcos Rene Maidana, 25-0 (24) put out another opponent on the undercard, spearing Mexico's Silverio Ortiz, 19-12 (9), with a body shot, producing a second round KO.

It's a big night at the fights at the Koenig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen tonight as two world title fights and a massive Argentine puncher headed for the world stage are on tap.

Headlining bout is a massive German showdown between WBA Middleweight Champion Felix Sturm, 30-2-1 (13), defending against current European Champion Sebastian Sylvester, 29-2 (14).

Griefswald based Sylvester lost his first pro bout but then stormed to 21 straight wins and the European title before being stopped by undefeated Finn Amin Asikainen in 2006. Sylvester got back on the horse to win a brace of regional belts before regaining the European crown by stopping Asikainen just over a year since their initial contest.

Since that time the 28 year old "Hurrikan" has defended the Continental trophy three times, knocking out former world light middle and middleweight champion Javier Castillejo in the final round in April during a WBA title eliminator.

Sylvester will be giving up four inches in height to the nearly six foot tall Sturm but may face an even larger gulf to cross in terms of experience. Sturm has the WBO Middleweight titlist in 2003-2004, only losing the belt in controversial fashion to Oscar De La Hoya.

The 29 year old Sturm returned in 2006 to outbox slugger Maselino Masoe for the WBA title, only to lose it on a first defense when stopped in the 10th round by Castillejo. Sturm took a close decision to regain the title a year later in a rematch with the veteran Spaniard. More...

By Per Ake Persson

The EBU have declared Sinan Samil Sam as winner in the fight for the vacant European Heavyweight title against Paolo Vidoz on July 4. The fight was scored a draw but one of the judges - Frenchman Robin Dolpierre - first had the final round 10-9 for Sam, then crossed out the 9 and scored the round 10-10. More...

By Per Ake Persson

WBA Middle Champ Felix Sturm retained the title with an impressive display of slick, sharp boxing against American challenger Randy Griffin in the headliner of Universum´s show at the Gerry Weber Stadium, in Halle, Germany. More...

By Per Ake Persson

Sauerland Event have acted quickly to the news that WBA Heavyweight Champ Ruslan Chagaev is injured and are asking for either Chagaev to be stripped of the title or to have Valuev allowed to fight for an interim title.

This was the second postponement of the scheduled rematch between Chagaev and Valuev and considering the rumors around the champion, Sauerland are asking for an independent evalutation of Chagaev´s physical status. More...

By Per Ake Persson

British heavyweight Matt Skelton is out of the fight against Sinan Samil Sam for the vacant European title July 4 in Istanbul. Replacing Skelton is Italian veteran Paolo Vidoz. More...

Aside from the higher profile action we've covered on SaddoBoxing already, there were some important fights across the globe this Saturday.

Going alphabetically by county this time, we kick off things at The Supporter's Club in Cessnock, Australia where hometown hero Ben Crampton, 21-1-1 (10), bounced back from his defeat at the hands of "Dazzing" Darren Barker for the Commonwealth Middleweight crown last November by securing the vacant IBO Asia Pacific Super Middle belt with a second round KO of Thai battler Plaisakda Singwancha, 35-15 (29).

At the Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenberg, Germany, European Middleweight Champion Sebastian Sylvester, 29-2 (14), picked up the biggest win of his career by dramatically stopping former middleweight and light middle world champion Javier Castillejo, 62-8 (43), in the twelfth and final round. This may be the end of a long and proud career for the Spaniard, who was dominated by Sylvester from the sixth frame onward. More...