Felix Sturm - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Felix Sturm is a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

and current WBA

World Boxing Association

The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...

middleweight

Middleweight

Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...

Super champion of Bosniak descent. Sturm was born and raised in Leverkusen, Germany, but both of his parents were immigrants from Mostar

Mostar

Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

Professional career

On 27 January 2001, Sturm made his debut as a professional boxer facing Antonio Ribeiro

Antonio Ribeiro

António Ribeiro is a Portuguese-born Canadian soccer player currently playing for Montreal Impact in the North American Soccer League.-Montreal Impact:...

from Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

. Six months earlier he had qualified for the Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, but lost his fight to future middleweight champ Jermain Taylor

Jermain Taylor

Jermain Taylor is an American professional boxer and former undisputed middleweight champion. He made his professional boxing debut in 2001 and won his first 25 bouts, which included victories over former champions Raúl Márquez and William Joppy...

.

After 16 successful matches, Sturm won the WBO

World Boxing Organization

The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...

Inter-Continental middleweight title on 10 May 2003. On 13 September 2003, he replaced the injured Bert Schenk

Bert Schenk

Bert Schenk was a German boxer.-Professional career:Schenk turned pro in 1996 and won the WBO Middleweight Title...

in a WBO title bout against Argentinian Hectór Javier Velazco

Héctor Javier Velazco

Héctor Javier Velazco is an Argentine boxer. He was born in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires.-Professional career:Known as "El Artillero", Velazco turned pro in 1996 and defeated Andras Galfi on March 3rd 2003 for the vacant WBO interim middleweight title...

and won the match. Sturm defended the title against Rubén Varón Fernández from Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

On 5 June 2004 in Las Vegas

Las Vegas Strip

The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...

, Sturm faced Oscar De la Hoya

Oscar de la Hoya

Oscar De La Hoya is a retired American boxer of Mexican descent. Nicknamed "The Golden Boy", De La Hoya won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games shortly after graduating from Garfield High School. De La Hoya comes from a boxing family. His grandfather Vicente, father Joel Sr., and brother...

in a defense of his WBO middleweight championship. All three judges scored the fight 115-113 for de la Hoya, while Harold Lederman

Harold Lederman

Harold Lederman is a celebrated boxing judge and analyst. He began his career as a boxing judge in 1967 and joined the cast of HBO World Championship Boxing in 1986, where he has been ever since....

scored the fight 115-113 for Sturm. Compubox

Compubox

CompuBox is the name of a computerized punches scoring system run by two operators. CompuBox is used in boxing matches across the world.The system is based on a computer program, originally named FightStat, developed by Jon Gibbs in 1984-85 when Gibbs worked with Logan Hobson and Robert Canobbio at...

counted Sturm as landing 234 of 541 punches, while counting De La Hoya as landing 188 of 792. Sturm protested the decision with the Nevada Athletic Commission

Nevada Athletic Commission

The Nevada Athletic Commission regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers, mixed martial arts fighters, seconds, ring officials, managers, and matchmakers...

to no avail.

On 11 March 2006, Sturm defeated Maselino Masoe

Maselino Masoe

Maselino Francis Masoe is a Samoan boxer, who represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.- Amateur Highlights :...

for the WBA

World Boxing Association

middleweight title by a unanimous decision. Sturm then lost his title against former champion Javier Castillejo

Javier Castillejo

Francisco Javier Castillejo is a professional boxer from Spain. He is the former WBC light middleweight champion and former WBA middleweight champion. He has fought against stars Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Sturm, Fernando Vargas, Julio Cesar Vasquez, Michael Rask, and Mariano Natalio Carrera...

via TKO on 15 July 2006 but won it back on 28 April 2007 by a twelve round unanimous decision in Oberhausen.

Sturm became a three-time world champion after winning Castillejo in the rematch.

On November 2, 2008, Sturm retained his WBA middleweight title via unanimous decision (118-110, 118-110 and 119-109) over Sebastian Sylvester

Sebastian Sylvester

Sebastian Sylvester is a German boxer and former IBF middleweight champion. He is currently ranked as the fourth best middleweight by Ring Magazine....

. He improved to 31-2, with one draw, while Sylvester fell to 31-3.

On July 11, 2009 he defended his title against Khoren Gevor

Khoren Gevor

Khoren Gevor, born Khoren Gevorgyan is an Armenian-German middleweight boxer and former EBU Middleweight champion.-Biography:He was born on March 16, 1979, in Etchmiadzin, Armenia. Standing at 5'8 and fighting out of Hamburg, Germany. Khoren fought in 2007 against compatriot Athur Abraham and lost...

in Nuerburg, Germany

Germany

in 12 rounds.

After over a year of inactivity Sturm came back to defend his WBA title against Giovanni Lorenzo (boxer), with the winner becoming the WBA

World Boxing Association

"Super" champion. Sturm defeated Lorenzo by a twelve round unanimous decision with the judges giving a comfortable 117-111 twice and 118-111 on the scorecards.

On the 25th of June 2011 he defended his title against Matthew Macklin. Sturm won a controversial) SD with judges scoring the fight 116-112 116-112 113-115. Even Sturm's native German media called this a disgrace as the German television network had Macklin winning by four rounds

Amateur career

Highlights included:

1997 2nd place at Light Middleweight in German National Championships, losing to Jurgen Brahmer on points
1998 German National Light Middleweight champion, defeating Jorg Rosomkiewicz
1999 competed at the World Championships in Houston, United States; as a Light Middleweight. Results were:
- Defeated Andrei Tsurkan (Ukraine) points
- Lost to Yermakhan Ibraimov (Kazakhstan) points
1999 German National Light Middleweight champion, defeating Jorg Rosomkiewicz
2000 1st place at Light Middleweight at European Championships in Tampere, Finland. Results were:
- Defeated Karoly Balzsay (Hungary) points
- Defeated Miroslaw Nowosada (Poland) points
- Defeated Dmitri Usagin (Bulgaria) points
- Defeated Andrei Mishin (Russia) 3-1
Represented Germany at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Results were:
- Defeated Dilshod Yarbekov (Uzbekistan) points
- Defeated Richard Rowles (Australia) TKO 3
- Lost to Jermain Taylor (United States) points

Boxing record

Matthew Macklin

Matthew Macklin , known as "The Tipperary Tornado", is a British-Irish professional boxer who fights at middleweight or the divisions either side.He is the former Irish, British and European middleweight champion....

|Decision (Split)
|align="center"|12
|2011-06-25
|

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, Germany
|-
|Win
|35-2-1
|

Ronald Hearns

Ronald Hearns is an American professional boxer and the son of Thomas "Hitman" Hearns.Hearns fights at light middleweight.-Background:...

|TKO
|align="center"|7
|2011-02-19
|

Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

, Germany
|-
|Win
|34-2-1
|

Cologne

, Germany
|-
|Win
|33-2-1
|

Khoren Gevor

|Decision (Unanimous)
|align="center"|12
|2009-07-11
|

Nürburg

Nürburg is a town in the German district of Ahrweiler, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is also the name of the local castle, Burg Nürburg , which was built in the High Middle Ages. The town is best known for its 24 kilometer race track, the Nürburgring...

, Germany
|-
|Win
|32-2-1
|

Koji Sato
|TKO
|align="center"|7
|2009-04-25
|

Krefeld

Krefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine...

, Germany
|-
|Win
|31-2-1
|

Sebastian Sylvester

Sebastian Sylvester is a German boxer and former IBF middleweight champion. He is currently ranked as the fourth best middleweight by Ring Magazine....

|Decision (Unanimous)
|align="center"|12
|2008-11-01
|

Oberhausen

Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...

, Germany
|-
|Win
|30-2-1
|

Randy Griffin

Randy Griffin is a professional boxer. While best known as a middleweight, he began as a light heavyweight and worked his way down in weight class...

|Decision (Unanimous)
|align="center"|12
|2008-07-07
|

Halle

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt

Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...

, Germany
|-
|Win
|29-2-1
|

Jamie Pittman
|TKO
|align="center"|7
|2008-04-05
|

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

Randy Griffin

Randy Griffin is a professional boxer. While best known as a middleweight, he began as a light heavyweight and worked his way down in weight class...

|PTS
|align="center"|12
|2007-10-20
|

Halle

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt

Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...

, Germany
|-
|Win
|28-2
|

Stuttgart

, Germany
|-
|Win
|27-2
|

Javier Castillejo

|Decision (Unanimous)
|align="center"|12
|2007-04-28
|

Oberhausen

, Germany
|-
|Win
|26-2
|

Gavin Topp
|TKO
|align="center"|6
|2006-12-02
|

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany
|-
|Loss
|25-2
|

Javier Castillejo

|TKO
|align="center"|10
|2006-07-15
|

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Germany
|-
|Win
|25-1
|

Maselino Masoe

Maselino Francis Masoe is a Samoan boxer, who represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.- Amateur Highlights :...

|Decision (Unanimous)
|align="center"|12
|2006-03-11
|

Hamburg

, Germany
|-
|Win
|24-1
|

Pula, Croatia
|-
|Win
|23-1
|

Bert Schenk

Bert Schenk was a German boxer.-Professional career:Schenk turned pro in 1996 and won the WBO Middleweight Title...

|TKO
|align="center"|2
|2005-03-05
|

Leverkusen

Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf....

, Germany
|-
|Win
|22-1
|

Hacine Cherifi

Hacine "Billy" Cherifi is a former French boxer of Algerian origin.Cherifi, known as "Billy", began his pro career in 1989 and challenged for the WBC Super Middleweight Title in 1997 against Robin Reid, losing a split decision...

|KO
|align="center"|3
|2004-12-04
|

Berlin

, Germany
|-
|Win
|21-1
|

Leverkusen

Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf....

, Germany
|-
|Loss
|23-0
|

Oscar De La Hoya

Oscar de la Hoya

|Decision (Unanimous)
|align="center"|12
|2004-06-05
|

Las Vegas, USA
|-
|Win
|20-0
|

Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...

, Germany
|-
|Win
|19-0
|

Hector Javier Velazco

Héctor Javier Velazco

|Decision (Split)
|align="center"|12
|2003-09-13
|

Berlin

, Germany
|-
|Win
|18-0
|

Roberto Mario Vecchio
|TKO
|align="center"|5
|2003-07-12
|

Leverkusen

Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf....

, Germany
|-
|Win
|17-0
|

Stuttgart

, Germany
|-
|Win
|16-0
|

Hannover, Germany
|-
|Win
|15-0
|

Dortmund

Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....

, Germany
|-
|Win
|14-0
|

Anton Lascek
|TKO
|align="center"|3
|2002-10-05
|

Debrecen

Debrecen , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county.- Name :...

, Hungary
|-
|Win
|13-0
|

Terry Tock
|KO
|align="center"|1
|2002-09-14
|

Braunschweig

Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....

, Germany
|-
|Win
|12-0
|

Gyorgy Bugyik
|TKO
|align="center"|2
|2002-07-20
|

Dortmund

, Germany
|-
|Win
|11-0
|

Didier Nkuku Mupeko
|PTS
|align="center"|6
|2002-04-06
|

Hamburg

, Germany
|-
|Win
|10-0
|

Robert Davis
|PTS
|align="center"|6
|2001-12-15
|

Berlin

, Germany
|-
|Win
|9-0
|

Mario Lupp
|KO
|align="center"|1
|2001-11-24
|

Hamburg

, Germany
|-
|Win
|8-0
|

Francesco Pernice
|TKO
|align="center"|4
|2001-11-03
|

Lübeck

The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...

, Germany
|-
|Win
|7-0
|

Anthony Ivory
|PTS
|align="center"|6
|2001-09-29
|

Hamburg

, Germany
|-
|Win
|6-0
|

Mustapha Stini
|PTS
|align="center"|4
|2001-07-21
|

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

, Germany
|-
|Win
|5-0
|

Zdenek Zubko
|KO
|align="center"|2
|2001-06-16
|

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

, Hungary
|-
|Win
|4-0
|

Ramdane Kaouane
|TKO
|align="center"|1
|2001-05-05
|

Braunschweig

, Germany
|-
|Win
|3-0
|

Bendele Ilunga
|PTS
|align="center"|4
|2001-04-07
|

Hamburg

, Germany
|-
|Win
|2-0
|

Slavomir Dendis
|KO
|align="center"|1
|2001-02-24
|

Hamburg

, Germany
|-
|Win
|1-0
|

Antonio Ribeiro
|PTS
|align="center"|4
|2001-01-27
|

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Germany
|-
|}

Personal life

He is married to a woman named Jasmina. They have one son Mahir born on 24 October 2009.
Both of his parents immigranted from Mostar

Mostar

, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

to Germany.

External links

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