By Matt Stein: WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm (33-2-1, 14 KO’s) will be fighting number #7 World Boxing Association contender Giovanni Lorenzo (29-2, 21 KO’s) on Saturday night at the Lanxess-Arena, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. This will be the first fight for Sturm in over 14 months, as he’s been out of action because of management squabbles with his old promoter Universum. But now that Sturm isn’t with them, the hope is that he’ll start facing some of the best fighters in the middleweight division with the time that he has left in his career.

Although Lorenzo is decent step up from who Sturm has been facing in the past, it’s not a big enough step to open the eyes of boxing fans and get their interest. Sturm should have chosen to fight WBA middleweight interim champion Gennady Golovkin or number #2 ranked Hassan N’Dam N’ Jikam. Those guys would have been huge tests for Sturm and he might not have passed them. Loenzo, 29, is a safer choice for Sturm because Lorenzo has already been beaten by the likes of Raul Marquez and Sebastian Sylvester. That alone must have been a strong reason for Sturm to select Lorenzo over arguably more dangerous opponents.

While Lorenzo can punch a little, his hand speed is slow, his stamina poor, his boxing skills fairly basic and his ability to adapt not good. This is the kind of opponent that Sturm should be able to beat using his jab alone. Lorenzo is going to have to figure out a way to get past Sturm’s powerful jab and get near enough to him to land his power shots. If he tries to fight Sturm on the outside then he has no chance because Sturm is simply a lot better than him.

This should be a fairly easy fight for Sturm unless he’s lost a lot of his abilities in the long time away from the ring. If he does beat Lorenzo, then Sturm needs to start taking on some of the better fighters. I don’t expect him to that, because he’s already talking about fighting a rematch against German Sylvester, who Sturm already beaten by a lopsided 12 round decision in 2008. Sturm will likely hold onto the WBA title until he’s forced by the WBA to fight either Golovkin or Jikam.

I see Sturm losing both of those fights and then he’ll be free to fight anyone he wants without criticism. But as far as this Saturday’s fight goes, Sturm should beat Lorenzo without any problems. Lorenzo is too basic, too stiff and too slow to beat a quality fighter like Sturm. Lorenzo has never beaten any top tier fighter during his career and I don’t expect him to now.