Felix Sturm
Name: Felix Sturm
Alias: The Fighter
Birth Name: Adnan Catic
Hometown: Leverkusen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Birthplace: Leverkusen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 181cm
Reach: 185cm
Promoter: Record
Pro Boxer: Record
Amateur Boxer: Record
- Manager: Klaus-Peter Kohl ( - 2009), Roland Bebak (2010 - )
- Trainers: Michael Timm ( - 2009), Fritz Sdunek (2010 - 2014)
- Felix Sturm Gallery
Boxing Career
At the young age of eleven, Felix Sturm discovered his passion for the sport of boxing. Born in Leverkusen, Germany, he had success early on when he became the Junior European Champion in 1997. Three years later, the 21-years old amateur star represented Germany at the Olympic Games in Sydney and lost a razor thin decision to Bronze Medal winner and future Middleweight World Champion Jermain Taylor. Just a few months after the Olympic Games, Sturm decided to turn pro and won his professional debut on January 27, 2001.
At the end of his first year as a professional prize fighter – fighting under the banner of Universum Box-Promotion – Felix Sturm had a perfect record of 10-0. In 2003, Sturm seized the moment when he replaced his stable mate Bert Schenk on short notice to challenge WBO middleweight champion Hector Javier Velazco in Berlin, Germany. Boxing beautifully, Sturm took the decision and the WBO belt. A new champion was born.
In June 2004, Sturm took the next step and became an instant star when he faced boxing legend and multiple-time world champion Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas. Sturm lost his belt via U.D. in a close fight, but archived international recognition.
Sturm fought back and secured his second world title when he defeated hard-punching WBA champion Maselino Masoe in March 2006. The first title defense ended in disappointment as Sturm lost an upset TKO to the experienced Spaniard Javier Castillejo. Only nine months later, however, the German fighter clearly outpointed Castillejo in their rematch to capture his third middleweight crown.
In 2010, Sturm parted way with Universum Box-Promotion and founded Sturm Box-Promotion. Now promoting himself, he came back on September 4, 2010, along with his new trainer Fritz Sdunek, in Cologne, Germany, against the hard-hitting Giovanni Lorenzo to retain his WBA crown via a one-sided unanimous decision.
Sturm defeated journeyman Ronald Hearns by TKO in his next fight, before scoring a controversial decision win against Irishman Matthew Macklin in June 2011 a fight which most observers had Macklin winning. In December of that year, he fought to a draw with unbeaten Martin Murray.
In April 2012, he gave one of his career-best performances when he thoroughly dominated and stopped former world champion Sebastian Zbik in a domestic battle in front of 20.000 fans at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.
Five months later, he fought Australian IBF champion Daniel Geale in a WBA/IBF middleweight title unification in Oberhausen, Germany. After a intense battle over twelve rounds, two of the three judges scored the fight for Geale, making him the winner by split decision.
Eager to get a rematch, Sturm took on veteran Sam Soliman in an IBF title eliminator early in 2013. He lost a clear decision to Soliman which was later overturned to a No Contest when Soliman was found guilty of doping. The IBF set up another elimination bout for Sturm, this time with the journeyman Predrag Radosevic, the highest ranked contender by the IBF at that time. Sturm absolutely destroyed Radosevic in July 2013 in Dortmund, Germany, dropping him three times en route to a fourth round TKO win.
Now the mandatory challenger for the IBF, Sturm challenged Darren Barker from Great Britian, who defeated Geale in barnburner in Atlantic City in August 2013, in front of a packed house at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, on December 7, 2013. Barker got injured during the 2 round so Sturm captured the IBF world title and become Germany’s first and only four-time professional world boxing champion.
Felix Sturm has an professional record consisting of 39 wins with 18 of them by way of knockout, three defeats, two draws and one No Contest.
Career Factoids
- Has defeated 16 opponents (5 by KO) for the World Middleweight Title.
- Has a record of 16-5-2 (5 KOs) in World Title fights.
- Has a record of 9-5-1-1 (4 KOs) against current or former world champions.
- Won against Hector Javier Velazco, Hacine Cherifi, Bert Schenk, Maselino Masoe, Javier Castillejo, Sebastian Sylvester, Sebastian Zbik, Darren Barker, Fedor Chudinov.
- Lost against Oscar De La Hoya, Javier Castillejo, Daniel Geale, Sam Soliman, Fedor Chudinov.
- Drew against Robert Stieglitz.
- No Contest against Sam Soliman.
World Titles
- WBO World Middleweight Title (2003-2004)
- WBA World Middleweight Title (2006; 2007-2010)
- WBA Super World Middleweight Title (2010-2012)
- IBF World Middleweight Title (2013-2014)
- WBA Super World Super Middleweight Title (2016)
Regional & Minor Titles
Awards & Other Achievements
- German Fighter of the Year (2004)
- First and only professional fighter from Germany to win four world championships
- Named the "Comeback Fighter of the Year" in 2013 by the IBF
Olympic Results
2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia (Light Middleweight, representing Germany):
- Defeated Dilshod Yarbekov (Uzbekistan) 10-6
- Defeated Richard Rowles (Australia) RSCO-3
- Lost to Jermain Taylor (United States) 14-19
Amateur Highlights
1997 European Junior Championships in Birmingham, England (Gold Medalist at Light Middleweight):
- Defeated Andrew Larkins (England) 14-1
- Defeated Stefan Balint (Romania) 13-1
- Defeated Andrey Miruk (Belarus) 3-1
- Defeated Evgeny Kazantsev (Russia) 3-1
1997 German National Championships (Silver Medalist at Light Middleweight):
- Lost to Juergen Braehmer 8-19 (Final)
1998 German National Championships (Gold Medalist at Light Middleweight):
- Defeated Jorg Rosomkiewicz 17-13 (Final)
1999 German National Championships (Gold Medalist at Light Middleweight):
- Defeated Jorg Rosomkiewicz (Final)
1999 World Championships in Houston, United States (Light Middleweight):
- Defeated Andrey Tsurkan (Ukraine) 8-3
- Lost to Yermakhan Ibraimov (Kazakhstan) 4-5
2000 European Championships in Tampere, Finland (Gold Medalist at Light Middleweight):
- Defeated Karoly Balzsay (Hungary) 5-1
- Defeated Miroslaw Nowosada (Poland) 5-1
- Defeated Dmitri Usagin (Bulgaria) 5-0
- Defeated Andrei Mishin (Russia) 3-1
External Links
Official Web Site
Felix Sturm on Twitter
Felix Sturm on Facebook
Felix Sturm on Instagram
| Preceded by: Hector Javier Velazco |
WBO Middleweight Champion 2003 Sep 13 – 2004 Jun 5 |
Succeeded by: Oscar De La Hoya |
| Preceded by: Maselino Masoe Regular Champion |
WBA Middleweight Champion 2006 Mar 11 – 2006 Jul 15 Regular Champion |
Succeeded by: Javier Castillejo Regular Champion |
| Preceded by: Javier Castillejo Regular Champion |
WBA Middleweight Champion
2007 Apr 28 – 2010 Mar |
Succeeded by: Daniel Geale Super Champion |
| Succeeded by: Gennady Golovkin Regular Champion | ||
| Preceded by: Darren Barker |
IBF Middleweight Champion 2013 Dec 7 – 2014 May 31 |
Succeeded by: Sam Soliman |
| Preceded by: Fedor Chudinov Super Champion |
WBA Super Middleweight Champion 2016 Feb 20 – 2016 Oct 5 Super Champion Vacated |
Succeeded by: George Groves Super Champion |