By Ian S Palmer
Felix Sturm of Germany will be taking on fellow countryman Robert Stieglitz this Saturday, November 8th in a 12-round super middleweight contest in Stuttgart. Sturm has been beaten in two of his last three outings, but he’s also a former four-time middleweight titleholder. Stieglitz is a former two-time champion who lost his super middleweight belt in March by dropping a close decision to former champ Arthur Abraham.
The 35-year-old Sturm climbs into the ring with a record of 39-4-2 with 18 Kos and one no decision. The 33-year-old Stieglitz, who was born in Russia and fights out of Germany, is 47-4 and has 27 Kos to his name. They’re both about 5-feet-11-inches tall and their pro experience is also on equal footing. Sturm has fought 351 pro rounds while Stieglitz has 362 rounds under his belt. Sturm los a 12-round unanimous decision to former champion Sam Soliman of Australia back in May and Stieglitz stopped Sergey Khomitsky in the 10th round in July in his last outing. Sturm also dropped a decision to Soliman last year, but it was ruled a no contest after Soliman failed a drug test.
Sturm generally fights as a middleweight, so he’s moving up for this bout. The last time he fought at the 168 lb limit was a good 10 years ago. So right off the bat, Sturm is already at a bit of a disadvantage even though this fight is set at a limit of 166.4 lbs. Both boxers have had consistent careers, but it looks like Sturm’s is winding down at a faster rate. Both boxers fight mainly in Europe against European opposition. However, Sturm did take on Oscar De La Hoya in America back in 2004. He put up a good fight, but lost a decision.
Sturm has a good jab, fights at a distance and has good, not great power. He’s often hard to hit and is quite intelligent in the ring with fine boxing skills. However, Father Time could be catching up to him. Stieglitz is more of an offensive boxer as he likes to press the action and would rather stop his opponent than box him. He’s got a little more power than Sturm, but also has the skills needed to win on points. He likes to go to the body as well as the head and wouldn’t mind turning this contest into a brawl.
Sturm can’t afford to be too economical with his punches as he needs to let his hands go to keep Stieglitz off of him. If he lets his opponent outhustle him then it’s going to be tough for him to win. He needs to make sure he follows upon his jab and doesn’t throw just one punch at a time. Stieglitz likes to initiate the action and he’s not too hard to find and hit when he gets within range.
Prediction
This would have been a great matchup a few years ago when they were both in their prime. It’s still a decent pairing now, and is a huge fight over in Germany. Stieglitz seems to have most of the advantages though, such as age, power, and recent form. It’s doubtful that Sturm has the power to stop him and since Sturm has a solid chin it’s unlikely he’ll be stopped either. Sturm needs to use his boxing skills and jab to pull out a victory, but it’s more likely that we’ll see Stieglitz’s hand raised in victory after taking a 12-round decision.
