By Jim Dower: Former WBA Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm (37-3-2, 16 KO’s) goes at it against Sam Soliman (42-11, 17 KO’s) in an IBF middleweight title eliminator, and on the undercard former WIBF/WBA/WBO Female flyweight champion Susi Kentikian (29-2, 16 KO’s) will be facing WBA Female flyweight champion Carina Moreno (23-5, 6 KO’s) in a rematch to try and avenge her 10 round split decision loss to her on December 1st.
Sturm, 33, wants to quickly get another title shot against IBF champion Daniel Geale, who recently beat him last September in taking his WBA title.
Soliman, 39, is someone that a younger Sturm would have easily beaten but Sturm has lost a step through aging and ring wear recently, and he’s no longer winning any of his fights with ease. He’s struggling even against basic fighters like Ronald Hearns, and that tells you how far Sturm has slipped as a fighter.
Sturm still will have a big advantage against Soliman in that the fight will be taking place in Germany and it’s very hard to beat Sturm when he’s fighting at home. It’s going to take a really special performance from Soliman to win the fight.
Kentikian, 25, fought well enough to beat Moreno but she had to settle for a narrow loss. After winning a number of fights where she appeared to lose, Kentikian finally had the judges side with her opponent. The 5’1” Kentikian has lost her last two fights, as she was beaten by Melissa McMorrow by a 10 round majority decision in May of 2012. She had problems with the work rate, power and speed of McMorrow and it ended up costing her the fight.
Kentikian is still a very good fighter, but she’s run into a couple of opponents in her last two fights that she couldn’t beat with her usual brawling style. She’s going to have to learn to use a little more finesse if she wants to get back on the winning track because the competition has clearly caught up to her.