Amateur career
Highlights included:
- 1997 2nd place at Light Middleweight in German National Championships, losing to Jürgen Brähmer 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
Professional career
On 27 January 2001, Sturm made his debut as a professional boxer facing Antonio Ribeiro from Angola. Six months earlier he had qualified for the Olympic Games in Sydney, but lost his fight to future middleweight champ Jermain Taylor.
After 16 successful matches, Sturm won the WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title on 10 May 2003. On 13 September 2003, he replaced the injured Bert Schenk in a WBO title bout against Argentinian Hectór Javier Velazco and won the match. Sturm defended the title against Rubén Varón Fernández from Spain.
On 5 June 2004 in Las Vegas, Sturm faced Oscar De La Hoya in a defense of his WBO middleweight championship. All three judges scored the fight 115-113 for De La Hoya, while Harold Lederman scored the fight 115-113 for Sturm. Compubox 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 to no avail.
On 11 March 2006, Sturm defeated Maselino Masoe for the WBA middleweight title by a unanimous decision. Sturm then lost his title against former champion Javier Castillejovia TKO on 15 July 2006 but won it back from Castillejo in a rematch on 28 April 2007 by a twelve round unanimous decision in Oberhausen, which he earned after defeating Gavin Topp by TKO in the sixth round.
Sturm became a three-time world champion after defeating Castillejo in the rematch.
He also fought Randy Griffin twice, drawing with him in their first fight and winning their second fight by unanimous decision.
On November 2, 2008, Sturm retained his WBA middleweight title via unanimous decision (118-110, 118-110 and 119-109) over Sebastian Sylvester. He improved to 31-2, with one draw, while Sylvester fell to 31-3.
After over a year of inactivity Sturm came back to defend his WBA title against Giovanni Lorenzo, with the winner becoming the WBA "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.
Sturm vs. Macklin
On the 25th of June 2011 he defended his title in the Lanxness Arena against Matthew Macklin of Ireland. Sturm got off to a slow start and absorbed many heavy blows in the first few rounds. Sturm came back strongly however and kept the fight competitive in the middle rounds. Macklin however closed strongly and the fight went to the cards. Sturm would win by a close split decision, something that was heavily criticized by the boxing media, who felt that Macklin had done enough to win the title.
Sturm vs. Murray
Sturm would finish 2011 by challenging British contender Martin Murray. This bout proved competitive with both men having their share of high moments. Sturm would go on to retain his title via a draw, a result that appeared fair to most.
In his latest fight on April 13, 2012, Sturm beat Sebastian Zbik via brutal TKO in the 9th round something WBC Champion Julio César Chávez, Jr. was not able to achieve.
Sturm vs. Geale
Sturm took on IBF Champion Daniel Geale in a fight that was arguably his toughest challenge since Oscar De La Hoya in 2004, on September 1, 2012, in Oberhausen, Germany. Geale's unorthodox swarming, inside and outside tactics frequently befuddled Sturm. Geale would defeat Sturm with a well deserved split-decision win.
Sturm vs. Soliman
Five months later, he returned in an IBF Eliminator to face longtime contender Sam Soliman, after a strong start & scoring a knockdown in round two, Sturm faded down the stretch, allowing Soliman to take advantage and win a close unanimous decision victory. However, Soliman failed a post fight drug test and the result was vacated.
Sturm set his sights on Montenegrin boxer Predrag Radošević in a non-title 12 round bout in his home nation of Germany. Sturm won by a fourth round TKO.
Sturm vs. Barker
On December 7, 2013, in Stuttgart, Sturm faced reigning IBF champion Darren Barker in a title fight. In the second round Sturm knocked down the champion with a shot that caused him to suffer a severe hip injury and after a second knockdown in the round Barker's corner threw in the towel to stop the contest, making Sturm a four-time world champion.
Sturm vs. Soliman II
Sturm' reign however would prove short-lived. Sturm's next fight was a rematch against former opponent Sam Soliman. Sturm was dominated in their match, throwing nearly three times fewer punches than Soliman, and losing a wide unanimous decision.
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