In a crossroad fight, Felix Sturm and Robert Stieglitz will square off tomorrow in a twelve-round non-title fight at a catchweight limit of 166.5 pounds. The fight will massively impact the future of the two fighters.
Both fighters are coming off a big loss this year. Sturm lost for the second time to Sam Soliman (although the first loss was officially changed to a no-contest after Soliman failed a drugtest). Stieglitz lost in a rubber-match to Arthur Abraham.
While both fighters are on the same point in their careers tomorrow night, the path towards it has been completely different.
Stieglitz turned professional in 2001 with very little promise. The now 33-year old fighter lost to Alejandro Berrio and Librado Andrade early in his career. In 2009 he beat Karoly Balzsay to win the WBO super middleweight-title. He lost his title in 2012 to Arthur Abraham.
The biggest night in his career came in 2013. In the rematch, Stieglitz destroyed Abraham and stopped the former Super Six participant in the fourth round in a major upset.
Sturm’s career started completely different. After participating in the Olympics in 2000, he turned professional in 2001 as a highly touted prospect. In 2003 he already won his first title, the WBO middleweight-title. A year later he traveled to Las Vegas to fight Hall-of-Famer Oscar De La Hoya. The then 24-year old Sturm lost a highly controversial decision.
While he suffered his first loss, Sturm’s popularity only grew from the fight. He returned to Germany and won another version of the middleweight title, this time the WBA, in 2006.
But later that year came Sturm’s first real loss. In an exciting fight, the German fighter of Bosnian descent got stopped in the tenth round by Javier Castillejo. Nine months later, Sturm recaptured the title by defeating Castillejo in a rematch.
From then on, Sturm defended his WBA title twelve successful times in a period of six years. During this reign, against often questionable opposition, Sturm was very inconsistent. The now 35-year old fighter looked great in fights against Sebastian Zbik and Sebastian Sylvester. But he also had several off-nights, where he was saved by dubious scorecards. Against Matthew Macklin and in the first fight with Jamie Pittman, most observers felt that Sturm should have lost.
Ironically, Sturm’s reign ended with another questionable decision. In September 2012, Sturm lost a controversial split decision to Daniel Geale in a unification fight. Sturm decided to try to unify the titles against Geale, to prevent the WBA to force him to fight Gennady Golovkin. Golovkin was the WBA ‘regular’ Champion for the last two years of Sturm’s reign. But a fight between them never came to fruition.
A year later, Sturm managed to turn back the clock once again. The fighter who was born to the name of Adnan Catic, stopped Darren Barker in the second round to win the IBF version of the middleweight title. Barker hurt his knee badly during the first knockdown, which eventually forced his corner to throw in the title. Sturm immediately lost his title five months later to Soliman.
Can Felix Sturm turn back the clock another time to revive his career?
Given his age and his recent losses, we can assume that when Sturm doesn’t come through tomorrow night his career, at least at the elite level, will be over. On the other hand, if he is able to beat Stieglitz big fights are looming.
One big fight in particular. Arthur Abraham is currently the holder of the WBO super middleweight-title. The fighter, who beat Stieglitz in a rubber-match this year, is also near the end of his career and is looking for one final big fight.
Sturm and Abraham both held portions of the middleweight titles simultaneously in the second half of the last decade. But while often discussed, a unification bout between the two most popular German fighters never came off. Different promotors and TV-deals were to blame. It is safe to say that Sturm-Abraham is the Mayweather-Pacquiao of Germany.
But with the changing landscape in German boxing and both fighters looking for a final big payday, the super-fight seems more viable then ever. While both fighters are clearly not on the level of Andre Ward and Carl Froch, the two biggest fighters of the 168-pound division, the fight would be a massive event in Germany in which the two fighters are likely to split an eight-figure purse.
Fights with Mikkel Kessler and George Groves, who are both signed to German promotor Sauerland, would also be options if Sturm wins tomorrow.
Just like Sturm, a loss tomorrow would end Stieglitz’ career at the top level. However, a win for the fighter who was born in Russia would probably give him another shot at the WBO title-holder Abraham. While the fight wouldn’t be half as big as a possible fight between Sturm and Abraham, it would still be a pretty big event and another chance for Stieglitz to win a world title.
The fight, which is unfortunately completely overshadowed by the big fight between Sergey Kovalev and Bernard Hopkins, will take place tomorrow at 5PM EST at the Porche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany. Sturm-Stieglitz will be broadcasted live by Sat1.
