By Jason Kim: In a move that surely won’t be a popular one if he does it, WBA Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm (37-2-2, 16 KO’s) is expected to immediately vacate his World Boxing Association 160 pound title if he defeats IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale (27-1, 15 KO’s) tonight in their fight in Germany.

German news site bild.de is reporting that the 33-year-old Sturm will be giving up his WBA title in order to keep the IBF belt. By doing this, Sturm will be able to avoid a much tougher fight against the winner of tonight’s fight between WBA World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and Grzegorz Proksa.

The WBA ordered the winners of the Sturm vs. Geale and the Proksa vs. Golovkin fights to meet by December 31st of this year. Sturm would have problems against either Proksa or Golovkin because both guys have huge power and are incredibly difficult to fight.

Proksa has an unorthodox style of fighting and he punches at so many different angles with devastating power. Sturm would have to cover up in a turtle shell for 12 rounds to survive his bombs and it’s doubtful he’d make it the full 12. And with Golovkin, he hits so hard and is capable of taking you out with one shot. He’s now much more dangerous since his trainer Abel Sanchez has tinkered with his Eastern European fighting style by having him fight on the inside like famous Mexican fighters like Julio Cesar Chavez.

Golovkin has quickly adapted to the new style and is now right at home fighting on the inside where he’s incredibly dangerous. Sturm is only an average inside fighter, and he’d be lost against Golovkin if he took the fight in close. It would be like watching Chavez chopping down one of his opponents.

Sturm gains a lot by letting his WBA title go, because he can avoid Golovkin or Proksa and then just defend his IBF belt against whoever the IBF has ranked. As of now, the 15 they have ranked are pretty mediocre aside from Anthony Mundine and Jermain Taylor.