By Vladimir S: WBA Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm (37-2-2, 16 KO’s) has decided to side step a mandatory fight against the WBA regular middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in order to take an arguably much easier fighter against the lighter hitting IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale (27-1, 15 KO’s) on September 1st in a still to be determined venue in Germany.
The 33-year-old Sturm hasn’t been in a big hurry to get in the ring with the hard hitting Golovkin for obvious reasons. The Geale fight is a much safer bout for Sturm, because Geale is more of a boxer along the same lines as Sturm, but with even less power. Sturm was supposed to be fighting Golovkin by September 30th.
However, Sturm was given permission by the International Boxing Federation to step around the Golovkin fight to face Geale in the unification bout. Unification bouts usually come first with sanctioning bodies unfortunately. In this case it’s a fight that’s little more than a foxhole for Sturm, because it gives him the opportunity to avoid the Golovkin fight for a little while longer..
Indeed, this fight will allow Sturm to use up another six months or so, and after that Sturm will likely have fight an optional defense of his WBA title. What we could be looking at is perhaps a year and half before Sturm eventually faces Golovkin. Even then it might not happen if Sturm is able to fight another unification bout against one of the other champions.
It’ll be less convenient for Sturm after he beats Geale because the WBO champion Dmitriy Pirog is facing Golovkin on August 25th, and chances are high that Golovkin will win. Sturm probably won’t even try to fight the WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. because he’s too big and too risky. A 180 pound Chavez Jr. would be a lot of problems for Sturm, who isn’t a big middleweight.
Besides that, Chavez Jr. would never agree to fight Sturm in Germany, and its doubtful Sturm would want to travel to the United States or Mexico to fight Chavez Jr. As such, Sturm will almost have to fight Golovkin at that point. The only way I can see Sturm avoiding the Golovkin fight is if Sturm decides to vacate his WBA title and hold onto the IBF strap that he gets from the Geale fight.
I don’t see Geale beating Sturm. First of all, the fight will be held in Germany, and that means that Geale will likely have to really pound Sturm to ensure that he comes up with a win. I don’t see Geale as having that kind of offensive tools to put a beat down on Sturm. Geale is more of a pure boxer that likes to hop around the ring, landing shots and scurrying away to avoid getting hit. He’s not going to beat Sturm with that style, not in Germany. Maybe if the fight were held in Australia. Geale is going to lose this fight unless he suddenly becomes a power puncher over night.