FELIX STURM: TOO GOOD FOR HIS OWN GOOD

By Mike Leanardi

 


 


For most young fighters a great performance against a future Hall of Famer and one of the biggest draws in boxing history sounds like a dream come true. Not for Felix Sturm (23-1 11KO’s).

Not only did Sturm suffer an unfair decision in the afore mentioned fight, he has now been put on a pay-no-mind list. Why is this you might ask? Well Sturm was to be a stepping stone for Oscar de la Hoya in prelude to his mega dollar showdown with Bernard Hopkins last September. In the meantime Sturm had plans of his own; not only did he prove to be more than a tune-up, at least as far as I’m concerned, he bested Oscar de la Hoya that night. Unfortunately for Sturm, to make the big money fight with Hopkins, De la Hoya had to be in the blue corner and not Sturm. Because of this, Sturm was dealt his first loss via unanimous decision, all three judges scoring the bout 115-113 in favor of De la Hoya.

Because of his impressive performance against De la Hoya, Sturm has now been determined to be a dangerous fighter, in fact, too dangerous. Because Sturm is still a relative unknown in the United States and dangerous, no top-flight middleweight will face him. A fight with Sturm is viewed as a no-win situation, not only will he bring you nothing more than an average payday, if you defeat Sturm you defeated an unknown, and he is too difficult an opponent for anyone to ensure a victory against him. So the big names ignore him, they act as if he is not even there.

In the nine months since his “loss” to De la Hoya, Sturm has been hoping to get a call against a big name opponent in the United States to prove himself again, no such luck. Instead he has been forced to fight quality, but not world-class opponents, in his homeland of Germany, going 3-0 with 2 KO’s since the De la Hoya fight, while capturing and defending the lightly regarded WBO Intercontinental Middleweight championship in the process; with his most recent victory this past weekend against fellow German, Bert Schenk (36-2 23KO’s) via devastating second round knockout.

I am sure Felix will now go back to waiting, waiting to hear from the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Felix Trinidad, Winky Wright or Jermain Taylor. Unfortunately Felix, I think you will be waiting a long time. Who knows, maybe Howard Eastman will fight you.

3-6-20005

 

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