Europe has long been a major arena of the middleweight division, and that tradition continues on June 25th as veteran 160 lbs champion Felix Sturm meets Anglo-Irish contender Matthew Macklin in Cologne, Germany. The clash pits the world’s #2 middleweight against the #9 ranked fighter, so there is a good possibility that the winner will enjoy an elevated profile and find themselves in a clash with divisional top dog and P4P ranker Sergio Martinez.
On the downside, it should be noted that this bout is another classic alphabet soup farce. Between 2009 and 2010, Sturm was sidelined and inactive for more than a year. Rather than strip Sturm or extend his time to meet a mandatory challenger, the WBA promoted him to “Super Champion.” Technically, Gennady Golovkin is the “regular” WBA Champion. Highlighting what a complete joke the WBA’s black belts are, the “Super” Championship was originally created for the purpose of allowing unified champions greater flexibility (while allowing the WBA to put two belts out there at the same time). This mess is analogous to the WBC making Sergio Martinez a “champion emeritus” so they can give Julio Chavez, Jr. a leg-up into a world championship. The fighters involved are not at fault, of course, but the result confuses the fans and renders the titles meaningless.
Matthew Macklin (28-2, 19 KOs)
5’10” tall, 72″ reach, 28 years old
Born in Birmingham, UK, but also of Irish nationality
“Mack the Knife” is a reasonably well-schooled boxer with a national-level amateur background, a solid fighter of the British mold who brings a good chin and a good punch to the table. His last loss was almost six years ago, and that fight saw Macklin as Irish Middleweight Champion drop down in weight to challenge for the British Light Middleweight crown. That bout was a barnburner and a contender for the Fight of the Year in the UK, but a drained Macklin was unable to keep up the pace and got knocked out in the 10th for his trouble. Macklin has stayed at 160 ever since, capturing the British and European middleweight titles. The only noteworthy name on his resume, however, is a thoroughly shopworn Yori Boy Campas.
Felix Sturm (35-2-1, 15 KOs)
5’11 1/2″ tall, 32 years old
German
Two-time WBA Middleweight Champion, former WBO Middleweight Champion
Felix Sturm is a classic example of a good European champion. His amateur background includes a trip to the 2000 Olympics, where he lost to Jermain Taylor on points. As a pro, he won the WBO Middleweight Title in 2003, only to lose it in a highly controversial fight less than a year later with Oscar de la Hoya, a fight many (including me) thought Sturm won. Sturm bounced back, capturing the WBA belt in 2006. He lost it later that year to Spanish contender Javier Castillejo, but won the rematch and the title back in 2007. Sturm has held the belt ever since, and if you discount the “Super” championship farce, he will be making the 10th defense of his third reign as middleweight champion. Along the way, Sturm has beaten Castillejo twice, crushed French contender Hasine Cherifi and whipped Sebastian Sylvester. Sturm is a well-schooled, experienced stand-up boxer with good skills, a stiff jab and plenty of physical strength. Unlike many stand-up European boxers, however, Sturm has good movement.
Sturm vs. Macklin Preview & Analysis
On paper, this match-up is a classic encounter between an aggressive, busy puncher and a skilled boxer, and some are banking on Macklin to win because the Birmingham fighter has a good punch and Sturm supposedly has a weak chin. The latter assertion is based entirely on Sturm being knocked out by Castillejo in their first encounter, which completely misunderstands what happened in that fight. Sturm was out-boxing Castillejo by a comfortable margin when Castillejo landed a highlight reel-quality left hook. Instead of clinching, Sturm fell back to the ropes and got caught by three uppercuts in a row. It was Sturm’s own fault, but no middleweight in the world could sustain such a succession of blows from Castillejo, so the result says nothing about Sturm’s chin.
Macklin’s sole hope of success is to be able to out-work and out-slug Sturm, because I haven’t seen anything to suggest he has the skills to out-box Sturm. He can’t make this a wrestling match, either, because I think Sturm is probably the stronger of the two and would ultimately push and shove Macklin into bad spots in a clinch. Basically, Macklin needs to keep a little space between himself and Sturm and throw punches in bunches. However, Sturm’s side to side movement and proficient jab will make closing the gap, working the angles or keeping that distance very difficult.
Sturm vs. Macklin Prediction
Macklin is good enough that I believe this fight might have its action-packed moments, but I feel the dominant theme of the night will be Sturm’s stick-and-move game. The German will win a points victory by a comfortable margin, and the Anglo-Irishman will go home with welts all over his face.
Prediction: Felix Sturm UD12
