Felix Sturm

Felix Sturm battles Robert Stieglitz on 11/8 in Stuttgart, Germany

Felix Sturm battles Robert Stieglitz on 11/8 in Stuttgart, Germany

Former IBF/WBA/WBO middleweight champion Felix Sturm (39-4-2, 18 KOs) and former WBO 168 pound title holder Robert Stieglitz (47-4, 27 KOs) will share the ring on November 8th at the Porsche Arena, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

The fight is being talked about as being a WBO super middleweight eliminator bout. The winner would then get to face WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham. Stieglitz is no stranger to Abraham because he’s already fought him three times in the last 2 years, and if he beats Sturm, he could get a 4th fight against him.

One can only wonder how many times Abraham and Stieglitz will wind up facing each other before they both retire because a 4th fight is pretty much a given at this point.

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Robert Stieglitz vs. Felix Sturm on November 8th in WBO 168lb title eliminator

Robert Stieglitz vs. Felix Sturm on November 8th in WBO 168lb title eliminator

Former two time WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (47-4, 27 KOs) will be facing former IBF/WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm (39-4-2, 18 KOs) on November 8th in a WBO super middleweight title eliminator bout at the Porsche Arena, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

The winner of the Stiegltiz-Sturm fight will become the WBO mandatory challenger for WBO 168lb champion Arthur Abraham. For the #1 WBO Stieglitz this potentially gives him a chance to fight Abraham for the 4th time in just 3 years.

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Ten years ago today: Oscar De La Hoya scrapes past Felix Sturm in Las Vegas

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A decade ago today, Oscar De La Hoya, the number-one star and Box Office draw of the sport, fought a then largely unknown Felix Sturm in what was “The Golden Boy’s” first fight up at middleweight.

For De La Hoya, the fight, held at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas, was supposed to be a high-level “warm up” for an assault on world middleweight king Bernard Hopkins’ belts (B-Hop defeated Robert Allen on the same card that June night in 2004), but the fight turned out to be much more than that.

Challenging the 20-0 German for the WBO belt, De La Hoya came in looking overweight and sluggish and he came within a whisker of paying the price and blowing the Hopkins mega-match. Sturm may have been unknown, but he had behind him a superb amateur career and he unveiled his skills against the 36-3 superstar who, at age 31 was six years his senior. Sturm boxed behind his superb left jab, out-punched De La Hoya, marked him up around the eye and generally appeared to boss the fight.

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Felix Sturm vs. Sam Soliman 2 on May 31st in Germany

Felix Sturm vs. Sam Soliman 2 on May 31st in Germany

A rematch between IBF middleweight champion Felix Sturm (39-3-2, 18 KO’s) and #1 IBF Sam Soliman (43-11, 18 KO’s) will be taking place next month on May 31st at the König Palast, Krefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Soliman and Sturm previously fought back in February of last year with Soliman winning a 12 round unanimous decision that was later overturned and changed to a no contest after Soliman tested positive for a banned substance.

Soliman, 40, has fought once since then in beating Les Sherrington by a 9th round TKO last December in Australia. For his part, Sturm has had two easy stoppage wins over Predrag Radosevic and Darren Barker. The fight against Barker might have turned into a tough one for Sturm if not for Barker suffering a hip injury in the 2nd round that it impossible for him to fight.

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Macklin wants rematch against Felix Sturm

macklin444 Last Saturday, Ireland’s top-rated middleweight contender and world title challenger Matthew “Mack the Knife” Macklin (30-5, 20KO’s) once again put himself back into the title picture with an impressive 10-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated highly regarded prospect Lamar Russ. The bout against Russ came on HBO, the fourth consecutive bout for Macklin on their airwaves.

With the bout and some much needed rounds behind him, Macklin now has his sites set on once again challenging for a piece of the middleweight crown, and finally having the chance to exact his revenge on former foe Felix Sturm. Sturm, who earlier on Saturday stopped IBF middleweight champion Darren Barker in two rounds, won a highly, if not outright robbery decision over Macklin back in 2011.

“I punched Felix around the ring for 12 rounds in our fight in 2011, only to be robbed in what was described by many, including Lennox Lewis, Al Bernstein, and Andre Ward, as one of the worst, if not THE worst decisions they have ever seen.

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Dazzling Darren Barker fails to weather the Sturm; Post Fight Video Interviews

barker800Felix Sturm claims the IBF middleweight title with second round stoppage of Darren Barker

The UK’s Darren Barker, now (won 26 (KO 16) lost 2 [KO 2] drawn 0), was stopped by Germany’s Felix Sturm, (won 39 [KO 18], lost 3 KO 1 drawn 2), in two rounds of fast paced action that surprised both camps in Stuggart, Germany last night. The lead up for both fighters going into this fight could not have been more different, Sturm coming off two low key fights after losing to Daniel Geale, late in 2012, and Barker coming off a career best performance defeating Geale for the IBF Middleweight belt in August 2013. Both fighters surprised commentators by electing to trade from the off, Sturm getting the better of these and starting with a high tempo from the word go. In what was an entertaining first round, with both Barker and Sturm having success, it was ultimately the wrong strategy for Barker to employ against a revitalised and physically strong Sturm. Sure Barker was having success, but after two relatively heavy knockdowns, Sturm was landing the more telling blows. Barker, for some reason, neglected to utilise his upright boxing skills, dipping unusually low coming in and inviting Sturm to tee off clubbing shots – catching Barker on the top of his head.

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Sturm defeats Barker

barker674In a surprise upset, former WBA midleweight champion Felix Sturm (39-3-2, 18 KO’s) came out fast and knocked IBF middleweight champion Darren Barker (26-2, 16 KO’s) out in the 2nd round tonight at the Porsche Arena, in Stuttgart, Germany. Barker was knocked down twice in the 2nd round from clubbing right hands to the head from Sturm.

Barker was able to get back to his feet after the 2nd knockdown, but he was taking some big head shots that led to his corner choosing to have the fight stopped by throwing the towel in.

Barker reportedly dislocated his left hip in the fight. In watching it on replay, the injury may have occurred when he was staggered after the 1st knockdown. Barker almost lost his feet and he put a lot of weight on his left leg.

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Sturm thinks he’ll get rematch with Geale by end of the year

sturm676Former WBA/WBO middleweight champion Felix Sturm (38-3-2, 17 KO’s) thinks he’s one fight away from getting a rematch against IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale later on this year. Sturm, 34, easily defeated #4 IBF, Predrag Radosevic (27-1, 9 KO’s) last Saturday night by a 4th round TKO at the Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Sturm knocked Radosevic down three times with body shots in the fight. The fight, if you want to call it that, was stopped in the 4th round after Sturm knocked Radosevic twice in the round.

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Sam Soliman: In trouble because of a caffeine drink

Sturm_Soliman_2According to an Australian press report, middleweight contender Sam Soliman has allegedley admitted that he took the stimulant “oxilofrine” before his recent bout with former world champion Felix Sturm in February.

Journalist Ron Reed wrote in an article, which was published on 3/28/2013 in the Australian newspaper “Harald Sun” and later tweeted by Sam Soliman on his official Twitter account (@samkingsoliman), that “he [Soliman] has landed in trouble because he used a drink he bought from a suburban health food shop after being assured by the supplier and the manufacturer it did not contain a banned substance” and further that “private testing has confirmed it was a caffeine formula drink, similar to coffee, that Soliman purchased to help counter the effects of broken sleep during training.“

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Soliman beats Sturm, Kentikian defeats Jah

Sturm_Soliman_2By Jeff Sorby: Former WBA Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm (37-4-2, 16 KO’s) tasted defeat on Friday night in losing a surprising 12 round unanimous decision to 39-year-old Sam Soliman (43-11, 17 KO’s) in an IBF middleweight eliminator bout at the ISS Dome, in Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

The final judges’ scores were 116-111, 114-113 and 114-113. Sturm knocked Soliman down with a hard right hand in the 2nd round, and him in trouble late after almost knocking him down again. However, Sturm stopped throwing as many punches after the 2nd round and that caused the fight to get away from him.

Sturm was still landing the harder punches and tagging Soliman consistently with his jab, but he was letting Soliman out-work him from the 3rd round on. Sturm’ left eye began to swell up after the 5th, and he a lot of problems with Soliman’s unorthodox fighting style.

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