By Allan Fox: WBA World middleweight champion Felix Sturm (36-2-2, 15 KO’s) will be making his 12th defense of his World Boxing Association title on April 13th against former WBC middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik (30-1, 10 KO’s) at the Lanxess-Arena, in Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Sturm, 33, is starting to show wear in his game in his several fights and is very lucky indeed to still be the WBA champion after winning a questionable 12 round split decision over Matthew Macklin and fighting to a 12 round draw with Martin Murray. However, with those guys now out of Sturm’s hair, he’s decided to defend his title against #1 WBC, #5 WBA contender Zbik in an All-based fight.

Zbik, who at one time held the WBC belt after having the title given to him by the WBC after previous champion Sergio Martinez was stripped of the belt, lost his title in his first defense against the popular Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last June. Zbik remains ranked high by the WBC, but still hasn’t gotten a chance to try and avenge his loss to Chavez Jr. But getting a fight against the light hitting Sturm is the next best thing, to be sure.

Sturm is making a wise move by picking Zbik, because he gives him cover due to his high ranking by the WBC and he’s not much of a threat to beat him other than by outworking him. That’s a real danger, but not nearly as dangerous as it would be for Sturm to defend his title against #1 WBC contender Andy Lee. At this point Sturm would likely take a beating and get knocked out if he were to fight Lee. Some of the other top contenders like Grzegorz Proksa and Peter Quillin will also be very tough for Sturm. Also, if and when Sturm fights the regular WBA champion Gennady Golovkin, he’s going to be in trouble in that fight.