Former WBA and WBO world middleweight champion Felix Sturm of Germany steps back into the ring on Saturday, July 6 when he takes on the unbeaten Pedrag Radosevic of Montenegro in a 12-round bout in Dortmund.Sturm struggled the last time out against Australian Sam Soliman and dropped a decision to him in February. He’s now looking to get his career back on track and hopes to get one final shot at a world crown before his career is over.
However, there was something fishy about the Soliman fight and the result was later overturned and officially logged into the books as a no contest since the Australian failed a test for a banned substance.
Sturm still lost the fight in the ring though, and he was also beaten in his last bout prior to meeting Soliman as he dropped a close split decision to Daniel Geale, also of Australia. Geale is now the IBF Middleweight Champion.
The 34-year-old Sturm may have lost a step or two over the past year and it's starting to show in his performances. He’s basically in a must-win fight here with Radosevic if he wants to remain one of the world’s top middleweights.
He carries a record of 37-3-2 into the ring with 16 KOs. He turned pro back in 2001, with his other losses being a unanimous decision to Oscar De la Hoya in 2004 and a 10th round TKO at the hands of Javier Castillejo in 2006.
Radosevic has a perfect record of 27-0 along with 9 KOs, but he doesn’t have much in the way of power and he’s been fighting Grade B or below opponents since turning pro in 2004. In fact he’s never faced anybody who was ranked higher than 145 in the world.
There’s no arguing that he’s fast and strong. He’s also pretty good defensively and is at his best when throwing combinations. He needs to move in and out and stay out of range of Sturm’s jab to take the bout.
Sturm is quite accurate with his punches and relies on his jab, which is one of the best in the business. He’s also great defensively and is overall a very accomplished boxer. But like Radosevic, he doesn’t really pack much of a punch in his fists. He will have to rely on his boxing know-how to rack up the points against his 28-year old opponent.
Sturm is facing a tough task here. He’s the better overall boxer, but he’s in the twilight of his career at the moment. Radosevic could be a superb prospect, but he’s never been tested and is taking a huge step up in class.
Sturm realizes this is a make-or-break fight and he’s going to give it his all. He’s usually good under pressure and he needs to be the aggressor right from the opening bell.
If Sturm can pump out his jab all night long and keep Radosevic on his back foot, then he should be able to do enough to take this important bout by decision.
