Felix Sturm and Robert Stieglitz Fight to a Draw

Credit:  Photo  afp, tk//rix

Article by Simon Van Besouw –

Felix Sturm and Robert Stieglitz have fought each other to a draw tonight in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany. In one of the better fights of the year, all three judges saw a different outcome of the fight. The official scores were 115-113 Sturm, 115-113 Stieglitz and 114-114. ThaBoxingVoice.com scored the fight 116-113 in favor of Sturm.

Sturm started the fight sensationally. While the first round was close, he completely dominated the second and the third. Sturm was able to land dazzling combinations in the middle of the ring and even managed to stun Stieglitz on several occasions.

After taking a breather in the fourth, the first round ThaBoxingVoice.com gave to Stieglitz, Sturm picked up the pace again in the fifth. This time it were his uppercuts that were making the difference in the round.

The sixth round started where the fifth ended, with Sturm landing some terrific uppercuts. The 35-year German was also very successful with right hook counters, which he landed at will every time Stieglitz tried to rush in.

From the seventh round on, the fight started to turn around. Sturm wasn’t able to throw enough punches anymore to keep his opponent off him. Stieglitz, who was very busy throughout the fight, had more and more succes with his activity and was able to pin his opponent on the ropes multiple times.

Stieglitz continued his attacks in the eight and ninth round. However it was not really the case of Stieglitz doing anything different, it was once again Sturm who gave control of the fight away with his inactivity. While he was never in trouble, Sturm was walked in to the ropes where Stieglitz was able to land some good and hard shots.

In the tenth, Sturm was cut from an unintentional head but. Stieglitz went after his wounded prey and started a ferocious attack. Sturm, who was unable to stay away from Stieglitz punches, had no choice but the fight back.

A brawl broke out, which started half-way the tenth round and ended at the end of the eleventh. In a round with terrific back-and-forth action, both fighters were able to stun each other in the eleventh.

Sturm clearly took over the round in the last 30 seconds. With the crowd, who was clearly on the side of Sturm, going nuts, Sturm landed one great shot after another.

Both fighter were clearly tired at the start of the twelfth. Stieglitz, who seemed to be down on the scorecards, tried to knock Sturm out. But he was unsuccessful in his efforts. Sturm dominated the last two minutes and sealed the fight for most ringside observers.

But as earlier pointed out, the judges saw it differently.

Sturm was throughout his career notoriously known for getting controversial decision in his home-country. However, since leaving German promotor Universum and starting his own promotional company, he has not been able to get the nod in any close fight.

In the eyes of many, Sturm defeated Daniel Geale and Sam Soliman in their first encounter. But in both fights, the traveling fighter won the fight. Tonight, Sturm again didn’t get a decision in a fight where he probably should have gotten it.

Did Sturm piss off the boxing gods in Germany when he started his own promotional company?

On the undercard, Susi Kentikian successfully defended her WBA flyweight title in a competitive and entertaining fight. The 27-year old fighter from Germany won a unanimous decision victory over Naoka Fujioka.

The judges scored the fight 97-93, 97-94 and 96-94 in faver of Kentikian. ThaBoxingVoice.com had the fight even at 95-95.

Also on the undercard, German heavyweight Steffen Kretschmann scored a fourth round stoppage over David Gegeshidze.

http://thaboxingvoice.com/felix-sturm-and-robert-stieglitz-fight-to-a-draw/34985

Photo: Team SES / P. Gercke –

Super middleweight Robert Stieglitz, heavyweight Francesco Pianeta and SES head trainer Dirk Dzemski held a media day from their training camp at the ‘Strandhotel Fischland’ in Dierhagen, Germany. Journalists, photographers and TV crews enjoyed “Sturm-free” weather at the Baltic Sea resort.

Stieglitz (47-4, 27 KOs) will face Felix Sturm (39-4-2, 18 KOs) in a clash of former wornld champions on November 8 at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany. On the same card, Pianeta (30-1-1, 17 KOs) will take on Ivica Bacurin (18-6-1, 8 KOs).

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/stieglitz-pianeta-media-day-264834

By Terence Dooley –

Team Sauerland are on the move from German TV broadcaster ARD to Sat.1, a privately-owned German TV station that started life in 1984 and is also available on the HD platform.  They will broadcast up to eight shows a year, with the option of a couple of pay-per-view events, and are allowed to take the Sauerland shows to other countries.

Indeed, Sauerland recently promoted the George Groves-Christopher Rebrasse EBU Super middleweight title fight here in the U.K., which was shown on Sky TV thanks to the input of Eddie Hearn and Matchroom, and they stated that it will be the first of a few foreign soil showcases.

Sauerland have a growing British contingent, EBU title-holder Groves and former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price signed with them this year, as well as the likes of Mikkel Kessler and Arthur Abraham, the WBO super middleweight titlist, but they could be without the services of WBO cruiserweight king Marco Huck, who recently declared a desire to part company with Nisse and Kalle Sauerland’s company in order to seek a fight with Wladimir Klitschko.

They join German legend Felix Sturm on the channel. He faces Robert Stieglitz at a catchweight of 166.45lbs on November 8, with the winner set to meet Abraham, who defended his title again Paul Smith last month.  With Sauerland now on board, Sat.1 will aim to become a bigger player on the German boxing scene.  Former heavyweight title contender Axel Schluz will be part of their fight night broadcast team to provide heavyweight analysis.

http://www.boxingscene.com/sauerland-event-major-tv-agreement-with-sat1–82997

NEW YORK CITY – Held prisoner because of the boxing network war,  undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) middleweight champion Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (30-0, 22 KOs) is still searching for his career defining fight.

The 30-year-old Quillin, fighting out of Brooklyn, is the only top-rated 160-pounder aligned with Showtime.  The marquee-name middleweights, Sergio Martinez (WBC/Ring Magazine champion) and Gennady Golovkin (WBA), fight exclusively on rival HBO.

Quillin relishes the opportunity to fight any of the top rated middleweights, but he also understands the politics of boxing and the situation it has presently placed him in.  “It’s not up to me who I fight,” Quillin said.  “If the money is right, I’m up for fighting any of the top names, especially Martinez and Golovkin, but everybody’s aware of what’s going on behind the scenes (Showtime vs. HBO).  My job is to work hard and be ready.  I have the most powerful team in boxing (Golden Boy Promotions, adviser Al Haymon, co-managers John Seip and Jim McDevitt) and they get me the best available deals.  I’m not worried about who I’m fighting.  They come to me with my fights.”

Here’s how Quillin breaks down the top middleweights in the world, not listed in any particular order:

Sergio Martinez:  “He is the one everybody has as No. 1 in the middleweight division.  Martinez has fought some very exciting fights.  He’s a showman in the ring.”

Gennady Golovkin:  “A power puncher.  Golovkin brings power into the ring and gets a lot of knockouts.”

Darren Barker (IBF champion):  “He always puts his best foot forward and always tries as hard as possible.  Barker and I would bring a lot of fireworks into the ring.”

Daniel Geale:  “Another exciting fighter who bangs with the best.  It worked for a while against Barker.”

Felix Sturm:  “I haven’t seen too much of him.  I hope Sturm pursues more fights to make the middleweight division even tougher than it is right now.”

Martin Murray:  “He is determined and exciting.  I can’t take anything away from Murray.”

Peter Quillin:  “A very exciting guy always looking for new ways to win.  He has power, showmanship and a lot of smarts in the ring.”

Quillin recently overcame personal heartache in his second title defense victory, by 10th round technical knockout over a game Gabriel Rosado, who suffered a serious cut over his eye that resulted in the fight being halted on the advice of the ring doctor.  While he was in the middle of training camp in Los Angeles, Quillin’s wife, Allison, suffered a miscarriage five months into her pregnancy.  She was home in New York City.

“I struggled with it,” Quillin admitted.  “I was obligated to camp, 3000 miles away, and she had to go through it without me being there to comfort her.  We’re praying together and I’m working on being more compassionate.”

Quillin is already back in the gym, going through light workouts and yoga.  “I took a week off and bought my dream car (red Corvette Stingray),” he added.  “I get depressed when I’m not working out.  My wife goes to work and I’m all alone.  I need to be active to be productive, so I went right back into the gym.  My dad taught me how to clear my head. I’m staying ready and in shape, just in case the opportunity for my career defining fight comes along.”

http://www.boxingscene.com/quillin-on-martinez-golovkin-barker-geale-sturm–71390

Undefeated WBO middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog (19-0, 15KOs) is ready to face WBA king Felix Sturm (36-2-2, 15KOs) in any location – even in Sturm’s home of Germany. Pirog has been mentioned as possible opponent for Sturm on April 13th. Pirog is holding out hope that Sturm follows through with a possible fight, but he’s not sure if anything is going to actually happen with the ongoing rumors.

“Finally, [Sturm] has already started talking about a fight with me, although in the past he’s been silent on this subject. So, there is the possibility to organize a fight between us, although he had previously tried to ignore me. I hope this fight doesn’t just stay at the level of conversation, because I’m ready to act – even in Germany,” Pirog said. “If Sturm decides to fight me, I’m ready to sign the contract tomorrow. It’s important for me to have this fight happen.”

By Ruslan Chikov & Alexander Pavlov

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=48049

The WBO world middleweight champion, Dmitry Pirog (19-0, 15KOs) of Russia, has been trying to get a fight with WBA king Felix Sturm (36-2-2, 15KOs) of Germany. Pirog claims to have been chasing Sturm since 2010, when the Russian boxer shocked everyone by knocking out heavy favorite Daniel Jacobs in five rounds. In the opinion of Pirog, Sturm is more interested in making money and doesn’t care as much about furthering his craft as a boxer. The Russian champion was very disappointed with Sturm’s twelve round draw with the inexperienced Martin Murray from last Friday.

“We tried to negotiate with the Sturm immediately after my championship bout against Daniel Jacobs, but attempts to contact him have failed. It seems to me that Felix just runs from me. At the same time, constructive dialogue is possible with other top fighters in our division. Therefore, we agreed to a fight with the IBF titleholder Daniel Geale. Incidentally, the last performance of Sturm left me very unimpressed. In my opinion, the German is not progressing. It is likely, he became too interested in making money, and boxing, apparently, [has become a secondary] business to Sturm,” Pirog told FE.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=46932

WBO world middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog believes WBA champion Felix Sturm (36-2, 15KOs) will struggle when he finally meets hard hitter Gennady Golovkin (21-0, 18KOs). Sturm is the WBA’s “super champion” at 160-pounds, while Golovkin is the “regular champion” at 160. The WBA ordered Sturm to defend the title against Golovkin, the current mandatory challenger, but the sanctioning body has not forced the issue to make this fight happen.

Based on Sturm’s recent performances, a controversial split decision win over Matthew Macklin and a close twelve round draw with the far less experienced Martin Murray, Pirog feels the German boxer will have problems when he steps in the ring a heavy handed boxer like Golovkin.

“I think [Felix Sturm] has ceased to develop as a boxer. I’ve been able to form this opinion on the basis of his recent fights. If he is to meet Gennady Golovkin in the near future, I think that it’s going to be difficult for him,” Pirog said.

In a recent interview, Sturm praised Pirog and called him “the most difficult” fighter to beat at 160-pounds. Sturm feels Golovkin is “very overrated.”

By Gregory Stangrit, Allboxing.ru

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=46898