In a fight that drew three million viewers on Sat1 in Germany and was held at the sold out Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany in front of 6.500 fans, Felix Sturm only got a draw for his efforts against Robert Stieglitz. While Sturm didn’t get the win, he did more than enough to revive his career and set himself up for future fights.
While Sturm was clearly upset with the decision, he stayed political and respectful when answering questions from the press after the fight.
“I thought it was a fantastic fight. I am not a judge, I am a fighter. All I know is that the fans saw a fantastic fight. I thought that I was ahead on the scorecards, but Stieglitz has my respect.”
The 35-year old fighter also touched on the subject about what is next for him.
“I want to fight [Arthur] Abraham. I think we are the two best fighters from Germany and the fans want to see us fight. But a rematch with Stieglitz would be great too. This was a great fight, I would love to do it again.”
WBO Super Middleweight Champion Arthur Abraham, who was ringside at the fight, has declared numerous times in the last few weeks that he wants to fight Sturm. The fight is expected to be one of the biggest fights of this century in Germany. Abraham also gave his opinion on the outcome of the fight.
“It was a great fight for the spectators. I thought Sturm won the fight.”
Another interesting observer at ringside was Gennady Golovkin. Sturm told reporters after the fight that besides fighting Abraham and rematching Stieglitz, he is also interested in facing the WBA Middleweight Champion.
When Sturm himself held the WBA middleweight title, he wanted no part of ‘Triple G.’ And given his other lucrative opportunities, it is very unlikely that he wants to fight him now. Golovkin, who was mobbed by fans asking for pictures after the fight, also didn’t take the words of Sturm to seriously.
“Of course I would like to fight Sturm or Stieglitz. But I think they should fight each other again. It was a great, great fight. I need to see it again. There should be a rematch, it was a close fight.”
In my opinion there are two possible scenarios next. Either Sturm and Stieglitz fight each other again. In that case Abraham fights Paul Smith again to take all the doubt away from their first fight two months ago. The winner of both fights will then meet each other later on.
Scenario two. The big fight between Sturm and Abraham will happen next. While he did not win, last Saturday’s performance from Sturm should be more than enough keep the super fight viable.
Personally, I think scenario two is the most likely. Abraham-Sturm is by far the most lucrative fight of the two. And whatever the outcome will be, Sturm-Stieglitz II will always be possible afterwards.
