Sturm Wins Controversial Split Decision Over Macklin In Germany

For 12 rounds tonight at Cologne, Germany’s Lanxess Arena, WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm and challenger Matthew Macklin waged a slugfest that could have been fought in a coat closet.

The early rounds belonged to Macklin, who stayed on Sturm’s chest, whipping in torrid hook, uppercut and body shot combinations that the champion struggled to deal with.

Sturm countered well at times, landing some quality work but he was widely outworked by the challenger, who also showed a very good defense, slipping many of Sturm’s efforts.

By the fourth, Macklin slowed down and Sturm began to work his way into the fight, whipping in superb uppercuts and bracing single shots the following round.

The seventh saw Macklin re-emerge in a burst of energy, backing up Sturm behind creative combinations and hard body shots in particular that were clearly effecting the champion.

By the eighth, Macklin slowed down again but the challenger was still outworking Sturm, who was landing the cleaner, harder punches.

Sturm finally started boxing in the tenth, standing off and rattling Macklin with heavy shots but the challenger retaliated furiously each time he was nailed.

The eleventh saw back and forth action with no one able to take control. The boxers looked exhausted by the twelfth before Macklin went on the offensive one last time but Sturm answered back with his best surge of the bout, rocking the challenger in the final seconds.

Aside from Macklin’s early round dominance, it was a very difficult bout to score with many frames seemingly even, coupled with the challenger’s strong efforts during rounds that Sturm did well in.

In the end, Macklin was awarded one scorecard 115-113 while Sturm was awarded the remaining two by a margin of 116-112 for a split decision victory.

Sturm retains the WBA title for the 10th time, improving to 36-2-1 (15), while Macklin sees an 11 bout win streak end and the Englishman now stands at 28-3 (19).

Given the closeness of the fight and the rather wide margins of the two cards that Sturm won, there could be a mandatory rematch.