By Erik Schmidt: According to Fight News, trainer Freddie Roach will be training World Boxing Association middleweight champion Felix Sturm (33-2-1, 14 KO’s). Sturm, 30, recently departed from Universum, his promotional company, and also changed trainers. Roach will be training alongside Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan, two of Roach’s best fighters in his Wild Card gym, in Los Angeles, California. Sturm is a two time WBA middleweight champion.

Sturm has fought his entire career in Europe, facing mostly lesser known contenders and having little problems against most of them. Sturm was defeated by Spaniard Javier Castillejo in a 10th round stoppage in July 2006. Sturm avenged the defeat by beating Castillejo by a 12 round decision in April 2007. Since that time, Sturm has defended his WBA title seven times, beating Jamie Pittman, Randy Griffin, Sebastian Sylvester, Koji Sato and Khoren Gevor and fighting to a 12 round draw with Griffin in their first fight in October 2007.

Despite holding down the WBA middleweight title off and on for the past three years, Sturm hasn’t had anything close to a career defining fight. All the huge money fights have escaped Sturm, because he’s been matched against strictly contenders and not put in against fighters like middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik or Arthur Abraham, both of which would have given Sturm a good payday.

At 30, it’s hard to say how much of an effect that Roach will have on Sturm’s fighting style. Sturm already fights in a defensive manner, mainly jabbing, circling the ring and throwing sporadic right hands and left hooks. Roach changed Khan’s style recently to one that mimics Sturm’s fighting approach very closely. It’s questionable how much Roach can teach Sturm about fighting on the outside using his jab, because Sturm already has excellent boxing skills.

If anything, Roach, if he wants to have any effect on Sturm, will have to try and show him how to be more offensively oriented. Given that Sturm is rather a poor fighter on the inside, this would be an area that Roach needs to work on with him. He also should teach him to let his hands go a little more, as Sturm mainly jabs.

His jabbing will get the job done against most of the top contenders in the division, but when and if Sturm ever fights Pavlik, Sturm will have problems unless he’s able to fend Pavlik off. Jabs alone won’t do the job against Kelly. Roach may not be able to change Sturm all that much. Sturm has been a boxer for his entire eight year career and it’s doubtful that any messing around by Roach with his fighting style will do any real positive changes.

If Sturm was a puncher like Khan with a glass jaw, then I can see Roach having a strong effect on him by changing him into a boxer. However, Sturm is already boxer and trying to make him more offensive minded might cause him to get knocked out easier. Sturm was flattened by Castillejo in their fight in 2006 when Sturm tried to punch with him. Castillejo is a decent puncher, but far from the power of someone like Pavlik. I think Sturm is better off sticking with his old style. Hopefully, Roach doesn’t mess with it too much and make him more beatable.