Boxing Opinion: Felix Sturm – Back On The Front Page

Three years ago, the little known and lightly regarded German Middleweight Champion Felix Sturm took the world by surprise with an evenly matched effort against Oscar De La Hoya for the young fighter’s WBO Middleweight title.

Even though Sturm, born Adnan Catic of Leverkusen, Germany, lost the title in a hotly contested decision, he had matched “the Golden Boy” jab for jab, hook for hook.

Many considered Sturm to have overshadowed De La Hoya throughout all twelve rounds, especially while in the center of the square circle. By losing such a dominate performance, Sturm had gained fame and notorioty on the night of June 5, 2004 in Las Vegas, Neveda and most fans at the MGM Grand did not approve of the decision.

Afterwards, many boxing pundits argued that the loss would most likely be Sturm’s one and only shining acheivement, as he would go back to Germany into obsucrity.

That couldn’t have been further from the truth.

While Sturm did return to Germany, he did not become last night’s news. Three months would pass and Felix Sturm went on to win the WBO Intercontinental Middleweight title in a spirited bout against Robert Frazier in Germany.

Proving that he was a true champion, three months later Sturm would meet, dominate, and devastate Hacine Cherifi with a blistering assault that left the French contender crumpled on the mat of the Estrel Convention Center in Berlin, Germany.

Sturm would again show his quality by fighting and knocking out stablemate Bert Schenk in two rounds and thus proving that there was much more to this young German middleweight than it appeared.

The middleweight division had been put on notice; this sacrificial lamb apparently had some teeth.

He would defend his WBO Intercontinental title a total of four times before facing Jorge Sendra in a WBA Middleweight elimantor bout. The fight went the distance and Sturm outboxed Sendra in a one sided contest via a unanimous decision.

Felix would then go on to match skill against strength in another twelve rounder against feared power puncher and reigning WBA Champion Maselino Masoe.

It was a rough and tough rumble but Sturm did come out on top and once again proved that he belonged at the top of the middleweight food chain.

Four months later, things would begin to unravel for Sturm, as he would be faced with adversity in and outside of the ring. Just prior to fighting veteran Javier Castillejo, Felix would be shaken by the death of his mother.

Going into the bout, Sturm was promising the fight of his career and for the first eight or nine rounds, he gave it but Castillejo, a former WBC and European 154 lb Champion, took Sturm’s WBA title by stopping the German in the tenth round.

Five months later, Felix would boost his confidence with a six round technical knockout win over lightly regarded Australian contender Gavin Topp. On the very same night, Sturm’s former conqueror Castillejo would lose a mandatory defense against Argentine Mariano Natalio Carrera by way of a controversial eleventh round technical knockout.

Shortly after the loss, Carrera was reportedly tested positive for Clenbuterol, commonly used to treat breathing disorders such as asthma, but it has recently been abused by atheletes from all walks of the field due to the after effects being similar to the stimulant ephedrine.

Carrera was suspended for six months by the WBA, and Castillejo regained his title, thus setting up a rematch with Sturm.

From the very first bell, it was apparent that Sturm was a different man than the one who fell to Castillejo’s uppercuts just nine months ago.

Sturm was too sharp, too determined, and far too skilled for Castillejo this go around. He continuously beat the Spaniard to the punch and controlled him with his footwork and jab all night long.

There were no real scares or dramatic moments as in the first match and Sturm appeared to have the put his demons to rest as he came back to form on April 28, 2007 in Oberhausen, Germany.

The crowd thought the very same thing as they rose to their feet cheering Sturm throughout the final seconds of the twelvth round. The judges ruled the fight in Sturm’s favor also by the margins of 116-112 twice over and 115-114, resulting in a career redeeming unanimous decision and regaining the WBA title.

While Castillejo should be credited for trying his best, it just wasn’t good enough and the gap in skills became apparent. Sturm’s defense was brilliant and his jab devastating.

Felix Sturm is currently the WBA Middleweight Champion and rightly so, but still he is lightly regarded due to the fact that he is a defensive minded fighter that rarely breaches the borders of Germany.

His skill, heart, and youth should be a foundation for him to build upon if he were to branch out from his homeland but one can understand his reluctance to ever leave Germany again based upon the Oscar debacle.

With the middleweight division shaping up to be the most talent rich branch of boxing, one wonders how Felix Sturm would fare if he were to take a spin around the globe instead of fighting solely in Germany.

The prospects of being matched up against the likes of champions and contenders such as Floridia’s defensive wizard Ronald “Winky” Wright, the IBF’s Armenian champ Arthur Abraham, WBC/WBO Champion Jermain Taylor, Colombian power puncher Edison Miranda, or even British Commonwealth veteran Howard Eastman become mouth watering, to say the least.

Personally, this writer and fan believes in Sturm and has nothing but respect for his abilities. The German gentleman who hails from Hamburg brings much to the table, but unless he carries his skill, integrity, and charm stateside for another showing the above prospects will be nothing more than wishful thinking in the eyes a handful of American boxing fans and scribes that hang on to the memory of yesterday’s news.

Here’s hoping that he steps up and makes headlines once again.