By Erik Schmidt: World Boxing Association middleweight champion Felix Sturm (32-2-1, 14 KOs) not surprisingly stopped a badly over-matched (14-1, 13 KOs) in the 7th round tonight at the KonigPalast, in Krefeld, Germany. Sturm, 29, jabbed Sato continuously, rarely getting hit. The referee, having seen enough of the one-way traffic, stepped in and halted the one-sided bout at 2:56 of the 7th round.
Felix Sturm
Sturm vs. Sato on April 25th
By Erik Schmidt: WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm (31-2-1, 13 KOs) makes his 6th defense of his title on April 25th against his WBA number #14th ranked challenger Koji Sato (14-0, 13 KOs) in a non-mandatory defense at the König Palast, Krefeld, in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Sturm, 30, following his custom to pick at the bottom of the top 15 field when choosing his non-mandatory opponents, has chosen the hard-punching but terribly inexperienced Sato with whom to fight on the 25th.
Sturm vs. Sato on April 25th
By Erik Schmidt: World Boxing Association middleweight champion Felix Sturm (31-2-1, 13 KOs) will be making a non-mandatory defense of his title on April 25th against WBA number #14th ranked middleweight Koji Sato (14-0, 13 KOs) at the KoenigPALAST, Krefeld, in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Sturm, 30, will be making his 6th defense of his WBA title against his mostly unknown, little heard of Japanese opponent Sato. Sturm, who competed for Germany in the 2000 Olympics, is following his usual pattern of fighting the bottom of the WBA when taking on a non-mandatory opponent, although it appears that he’s always fighting soft opponents.
Mundine To Face Sturm Next?
By Jim Dower: Now that middleweight contender Anthony Mundine (35-3, 23 KOs) has beaten fellow Australian Shannan Taylor, Mundine is next in line for a shot at World Boxing Association middleweight champion Felix Sturm (31-2-1, 13 KOs), who has until the end of October to fight Mundine or end up having his title taken away from him from the sanctioning body. That fight will probably take place unless Sturm opts for a big money fight against IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham, a fight which would be a huge fight in Germany considering that both fighters fight out of Germany.
Sturm Ducks Abraham
Universum Box-Promotion have turned down Team Sauerland´s 2.5 million-euro offer for a unification clash between IBF middleweight champion King Arthur Abraham and WBA title-holder Felix Sturm. “We will not pick up negotiations at the time being,” Klaus-Peter Kohl stated in a press release. “For us it was not a serious offer but an ultimatum.”
Latest Boxing News – Abraham-Sturm
By Erik Schmidt: World Boxing Association middleweight champion Felix Sturm came out on the attack in today’s Universum press release, saying he doesn’t see IBF middleweight champion as a competitor and not a class boxer like himself. Sturm also fired back at Abraham, who had said recently that he would fight Sturm for free, telling him to sign the contract if he wants to fight for free.
Sturm Decisions Sylvester In Dull Bout
By Erik Schmidt: In a battle between two jabbers on Saturday night, WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm (31-2-1, 13 KOs) won an excruciatingly dull 12-round unanimous decision over challenger Sebastian Sylvester (29-3, 14 KOs) at the Koenig Pilsener Arena, in Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. The final judges’ scores were 119-109, 118-110 and 118-110. Sylvester, 28, the number#1 contender in the WBA, seemed to play into Sturm’s style of fighting by trying to box with a boxer, and ended up getting badly out-jabbed by him and easily defeated.
In hindsight, Sylvester would have been better served if he had taken a closer look at Sturm’s bouts versus Randy Griffin and Javier Castillejo, both of whom used a high volume attack and inside fighting to give Sturm tremendous problems. Sylvester, though, chose to fight on the outside, trying to match Sturm jab for jab and coming up short. The fight might as well have been stopped in the first round, because Sylvester’s game plan was doomed for failure from the very beginning. At times in the past, he’s shown the ability to adapt to his opponent.
Felix Sturm Defeats Randy Griffin, Tajbert, Zbik and Boytsov Also Victorious
By Scott Gilfoid: In a fight much closer than the ultimate scores handed down, WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm squeaked by with a narrow, unimpressive 12-round unanimous decision over American Randy Griffin on Saturday night at the Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. I had the fight scored as a draw, with Sturm losing five out of the last six rounds of the fight after tiring out early. Though other people have called Sturm’s win as impressive, don’t believe, that is, unless you consider a fighter running, covering up, and getting out-punched for the last half of the fight, impressive. The final judges’ scores were a mixed bag – 116-112, 116-113 and 118-110. The last score was simply ridiculous. The fight should have been scored a draw.
Sturm looked good early on, I give him that. His jab was working well in the first two rounds, and he used it keep Griffin on the outside. Griffin seemed to be fighting a different type of fight this time around, not going after Sturm immediately like he did in the first fight. In hindsight, this tactic seemed like a mistake, because without Griffin putting a lot of pressure on Sturm, this allowed him to stand on the outside and throw his jab without any incoming fire to worry about.
Felix Sturm vs. Randy Griffin II on Saturday
By Chet Mills: I recently watched the first fight on YouTube between WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm (29-2-1, 13 KOs) and American Randy Griffin (24-1-3, 12 KOs), and it looked like a great fight. If the second fight is anything like the first bout, then the boxing fans are in store for an excellent fight. Griffin, 32, is a good fighter, who likes to throw lots of punches every round. He doesn’t have much power to speak of but he keeps his opponents busy on defense having to try and fend off his constant shots. In their previous fight, which turned out to be a 12-round draw, Griffin made Sturm mighty uncomfortable with his constant shots, not allowing Sturm to rest for an instant.
Though Griffin is ranked as the #1 challenger in the WBA, I’d place him around #14 or 15 overall in the middleweight division. There are just way better fighters than him in the division. He’s lucky right now, because he’s gotten his chance at fighting for the title before the other better middleweights, like Joe Green, John Duddy, Sebastian Sylvester, Sebastian Zbik, Anthony Mundine and Cory Spinks move in for the kill. I guess you could call it his 15 minutes of fame, although for him, it’s lasted a little longer than that due to his previous 12-round draw with Sturm late last year.
Felix Sturm vs. Randy Griffin: Can Randy Win a Decision in Germany?
By Scott Gilfoid: Randy Griffin (24-1-3, 12 KOs), the #1 challenger for the WBA middleweight title, has been forced to wait nine months since fighting to a controversial draw with WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm (29-2-1, 13 KOs), but on Saturday night at the Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Griffin will finally get his chance to correct the wrongs from last time out. The problem for Griffin, however, is that he’ll be once again forced to fight in Germany, in front of a hostile crowd and with circumstances that will likely be slanted once again in Sturm’s favor.
In their previous fight last year in October, it seemed abundantly clear who the winner was in the fight, as Griffin, 32, appeared to easily win the fight by a substantial margin. I, along with other writers from boxingnews24.com, saw Griffin winning by an eight rounds to four margin, and even with that scoring, we’d given Sturm an extra two rounds knowing that the judges would be likely giving him any close rounds.