By Scott Gilfoid: Middleweight contender Andy Lee (27-1, 19 KO’s) could be the next challenger for WBA Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm (36-2-2, 15 KO’s) on April 13th in Germany.
Lee, #1 WBO, #3 WBA, #6 WBC, was supposed to be fighting on the March 17th undercard of the Sergio Martinez vs. Matthew Macklin fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden, but Lee pulled out of the card on Friday to look for a bigger fight. It’s still just a rumor at this stage that Lee will fight Sturm, but it makes sense. Sturm needs to pick out an opponent soon and Lee is now officially available for him to fight.
Sturm, who has held the WBA title since 2007, has struggled in his last two fights against Matthew Macklin and Martin Murray from the UK. Sturm beat Macklin by a questionable 12 round split decision in June of last year, and then Sturm fought to a controversial 12 round draw with Murray last December.
A lot of boxing fans thought Sturm should have lost both fights. I think Sturm fought well enough to deserve a win over Murray, and I agree with the decision that he beat Macklin. But Sturm does look to be either fading as a champion or having problems with some of the better talent that he’s been facing as of late.
Sturm’s 11 defenses have come mostly against weaker middleweight contenders and you have to admit that he’s now facing the best contenders in that time frame. It will be surprising if Sturm faces the slender 6’2” Lee, as this guy can really punch with both hands and is in my view a lot better than Macklin and Murray.
If Sturm does face Lee in April, I predict a knockout win for Lee. He’ll make a mess of Sturm’s face and likely knockout him out with one of his big right hooks. Sturm is a sucker for an uppercut and Lee has a devastaing uppercut in his arsenal that he could take Sturm to the cleaners with.
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