Felix Sturm

Felix Sturm
Sturm in 2012
Statistics
Real name	Adnan Ćatić
Nickname(s)	The Fighter
Weight(s)	Middleweight Super-middleweight
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Reach	185 cm (73 in)
Nationality	German Bosnian
Born	(1979-01-31) 31 January 1979 (age 42) Leverkusen, West Germany
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	51
Wins	42
Wins by KO	18
Losses	6
Draws	3
hide Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  Germany European Championships 2000 Tampere Light-middleweight

Adnan Ćatić (born 31 January 1979), better known as Felix Sturm, is a Bosnian-German professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO middleweight title from 2003 to 2004, the WBA middleweight title twice between 2006 and 2012, the IBF middleweight title from 2013 to 2014, and the WBA (Super) super-middleweight title in 2016. As an amateur, Sturm won a gold medal at the 2000 European Championships in the light-middleweight division.

Amateur highlights[]

• 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^[1]
• 1999 German National Light Middleweight champion, defeating Jorg Rosomkiewicz^[2]
• 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^[3]

He finished his amateur career with a record of 143 wins and 10 losses.^[4]

Professional career[]

Early years[]

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.^[5] Sturm defended the title against Rubén Varón Fernández from Spain.

Sturm vs. De La Hoya[]

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.^[6][7]

WBA champion[]

On 11 March 2006, Sturm defeated Maselino Masoe for the WBA middleweight title by a unanimous decision.^[8] Sturm then lost his title against former champion Javier Castillejo via TKO on 15 July 2006^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11]

On July 11, 2009 he defended his title against Khoren Gevor in Nuerburg, Germany in 12 rounds.

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.

After defeating top contenders Matthew Macklin and Sebastian Zbik he lost his WBA title to Australian Daniel Geale. Geale's IBF title was also on the line.^[12]

IBF champion[]

In 2013 he became Germany's first four-time world champion by defeating Darren Barker in Stuttgart. Barker was in no condition to continue after suffering a serious hip injury. Barker's IBF title was on the line. One month later the Englishman announced his retirement from boxing.^[13]

In mid 2014 Sturm lost his title against Sam Soliman via unanimous decision. Soliman won by official scores of 110-118 (twice) and 111–117.^{[citation needed]}

Super-middleweight[]

WBA (Super) champion[]

In 2016, Sturm defeated Fedor Chudinov by way decision, becoming a two-weight world champion. Later after the fight, the doping samples that were taken from Sturm before the fight were suddenly challenged, however, the sample documents were not complete, as the location, time of arrival was not documented. Due to this inaccuracy, Sturm was not stripped of his titles. He then relocated to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Doping allegations[]

He broke the silence two months later with a post which he shared via Instagram where he complained about being treated unfairly by the doping investigators. Sturm wrote that he was only informed two months after the first doping sample about the results and that he wasn't told why it took longer than usual (two weeks). After engaging a lawyer who requested all the required documents from the investigators he noticed that the last page was missing, "...where is written, when my sample arrived at the laboratory, who received it and who analysed the sample.", it was written in that social media post. He allegedly didn't get an answer after submitting further inquiries and was denied the right to let the b-sample be analysed by another laboratory. Sturm claimed that the WBA refrained from suspending him because of these irregularities.^[14]

Comeback[]

On 19 December, 2020, Sturm had his first fight since February 2016. Sturm dominated opponent Timo Rost throughout the fight and earned a unanimous decision victory, winning wide on all three scorecards. Two of the judges scored the fight 100-90 and one judge scored it 99-91.^[15]

Personal life[]

Sturm was born Adnan Ćatić in Leverkusen, Germany. His parents, Ćamil and Zahida, are ethnic Bosniaks who hail from Blagaj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, having emigrated to Germany in the 1970s. For marketing reasons, Ćatić started as a professional boxer under the stage name Felix Sturm. In addition to German citizenship, he also has Bosnian citizenship.

Professional boxing record[]

Professional record summary hide

51 fights	42 wins	6 losses
By knockout	18	1
By decision	24	5
Draws	3

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
51	Win	42–6–3	James Kraft	UD	10	19 Jun 2021	Universum Gym, Hamburg, Germany
50	Win	41–6–3	Timo Rost	UD	10	19 Dec 2020	Universum Gym, Hamburg, Germany
49	Win	40–6–3	Fedor Chudinov	MD	12	20 Feb 2016	König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany	Won WBA (Super) super-middleweight title
48	Loss	39–6–3	Fedor Chudinov	SD	12	9 May 2015	Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany	For WBA (Regular) super-middleweight title
47	Draw	39–5–3	Robert Stieglitz	SD	12	8 Nov 2014	Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart, Germany
46	Loss	39–5–2	Sam Soliman	UD	12	31 May 2014	König Palast, Krefeld, Germany	Lost IBF middleweight title
45	Win	39–4–2	Darren Barker	TKO	2 (12), 2:09	7 Dec 2013	Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart, Germany	Won IBF middleweight title
44	Win	38–4–2	Predrag Radošević	TKO	4 (12), 2:17	6 Jul 2013	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, Germany
43	Loss	37–4–2	Sam Soliman	UD	12	1 Feb 2013	ISS Dome, Düsseldorf, Germany
42	Loss	37–3–2	Daniel Geale	SD	12	1 Sep 2012	König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany	Lost WBA (Super) middleweight title; For IBF middleweight title
41	Win	37–2–2	Sebastian Zbik	RTD	9 (12), 3:00	13 Apr 2012	Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany	Retained WBA (Super) middleweight title
40	Draw	36–2–2	Martin Murray	SD	12	3 Dec 2011	SAP Arena, Mannheim, Germany	Retained WBA (Super) middleweight title
39	Win	36–2–1	Matthew Macklin	SD	12	25 Jun 2011	Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany	Retained WBA (Super) middleweight title
38	Win	35–2–1	Ronald Hearns	TKO	7 (12), 0:48	19 Feb 2011	Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart, Germany	Retained WBA (Super) middleweight title
37	Win	34–2–1	Giovanni Lorenzo	UD	12	4 Sep 2010	Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany	Retained WBA (Super) middleweight title
36	Win	33–2–1	Khoren Gevor	UD	12	11 Jul 2009	Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany	Retained WBA middleweight title
35	Win	32–2–1	Koji Sato	TKO	7 (12), 2:46	25 Apr 2009	König Palast, Krefeld, Germany	Retained WBA middleweight title
34	Win	31–2–1	Sebastian Sylvester	UD	12	1 Nov 2008	König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany	Retained WBA middleweight title
33	Win	30–2–1	Randy Griffin	UD	12	7 Jul 2008	Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle, Germany	Retained WBA middleweight title
32	Win	29–2–1	Jamie Pittman	TKO	7 (12), 0:36	5 Apr 2008	Burg-Wächter Castello, Düsseldorf, Germany	Retained WBA middleweight title
31	Draw	28–2–1	Randy Griffin	SD	12	20 Oct 2007	Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle, Germany	Retained WBA middleweight title
30	Win	28–2	Noé González Alcoba	UD	12	30 Jun 2007	Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart, Germany	Retained WBA middleweight title
29	Win	27–2	Javier Castillejo	UD	12	28 Apr 2007	König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany	Won WBA middleweight title
28	Win	26–2	Gavin Topp	TKO	6 (10), 1:08	2 Dec 2006	Estrel Hotel, Berlin, Germany
27	Loss	25–2	Javier Castillejo	TKO	10 (12), 2:47	15 Jul 2006	Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany	Lost WBA middleweight title
26	Win	25–1	Maselino Masoe	UD	12	11 Mar 2006	Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany	Won WBA middleweight title
25	Win	24–1	Jorge Sendra	UD	12	18 Jun 2005	Pula Arena, Pula, Croatia	Retained WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title
24	Win	23–1	Bert Schenk	TKO	2 (12), 2:01	5 Mar 2006	Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle, Leverkusen, Germany	Retained WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title
23	Win	22–1	Hacine Cherifi	KO	3 (8), 2:06	4 Dec 2004	Estrel Hotel, Berlin, Germany
22	Win	21–1	Robert Frazier	UD	12	18 Sep 2004	Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle, Leverkusen, Germany	Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title
21	Loss	20–1	Oscar De La Hoya	UD	12	5 Jun 2004	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US	Lost WBO middleweight title
20	Win	20–0	Ruben Varon	UD	12	20 Dec 2003	Ostseehalle, Kiel, Germany	Retained WBO middleweight title
19	Win	19–0	Héctor Javier Velazco	SD	12	13 Sep 2003	Estrel Hotel, Berlin, Germany	Won WBO middleweight title
18	Win	18–0	Roberto Mario Vecchio	TKO	5 (12)	12 Jul 2003	Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle, Leverkusen, Germany	Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title
17	Win	17–0	Tshepo Mashego	UD	10	10 May 2003	Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Stuttgart, Germany	Retained IBF Youth middleweight title
16	Win	16–0	Javier Alberto Mamani	UD	10	8 Mar 2003	Preussag Arena, Hanover, Germany	Won vacant IBF Youth middleweight title
15	Win	15–0	Lorant Szabo	UD	8	23 Nov 2002	Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany
14	Win	14–0	Anton Lascek	TKO	3 (8), 2:00	5 Oct 2002	Főnix Hall, Debrecen, Hungary
13	Win	13–0	Terry Tock	KO	1	14 Sep 2002	Volkswagen Halle, Braunschweig, Germany
12	Win	12–0	Gyorgy Bugyik	TKO	2 (6)	20 Jul 2002	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, Germany
11	Win	11–0	Didier Nkuku Mupeko	PTS	6	6 Apr 2002	Universum Gym, Hamburg, Germany
10	Win	10–0	Robert Davis	PTS	6	15 Dec 2001	Estrel Hotel, Berlin, Germany
9	Win	9–0	Mario Lupp	KO	1 (6)	24 Nov 2001	Universum Gym, Hamburg, Germany
8	Win	8–0	Francesco Pernice	TKO	4 (6)	3 Nov 2001	Hansehalle, Lübeck, Germany
7	Win	7–0	Anthony Ivory	PTS	6	29 Sep 2001	Universum Gym, Hamburg, Germany
6	Win	6–0	Mustapha Stini	PTS	4	21 Jul 2001	Tivoli Eissporthalle, Aachen, Germany
5	Win	5–0	Zdenek Zubko	KO	2 (6)	16 Jun 2001	Kisstadion, Budapest, Hungary
4	Win	4–0	Ramdane Kaouane	TKO	1 (4)	5 May 2001	Volkswagen Halle, Braunschweig, Germany
3	Win	3–0	Bendele Ilunga	PTS	4	7 Apr 2001	Universum Gym, Hamburg, Germany
2	Win	2–0	Slavomir Dendis	KO	1 (4)	24 Feb 2001	Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany
1	Win	1–0	Antonio Ribeiro	PTS	4	27 Jan 2001	Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, Munich, Germany

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Felix Sturm.

• Official website
• Boxing record for Felix Sturm from BoxRec
• Adnan Catic (Felix Sturm) profile at leverkusen.com (in German)
• Felix Sturm - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live

showSporting positions
Regional boxing titles
New title	IBF Youth middleweight champion 8 March 2003 – July 2003 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Domenico Spada
Vacant Title last held by András Gálfi	WBO Inter-Continental middleweight champion 12 July 2003 – 13 September 2003 Won world title	Vacant Title next held by Mariano Natalio Carrera
Vacant Title last held by Mariano Natalio Carrera	WBO Inter-Continental middleweight champion 18 September 2004 – December 2005 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Khoren Gevor
World boxing titles
Preceded by Héctor Javier Velazco	WBO middleweight champion 13 September 13, 2003 – 5 June 2004	Succeeded by Oscar De La Hoya
Preceded by Maselino Masoe	WBA middleweight champion Regular title 11 March 11, 2006 – July 15, 2006	Succeeded by Javier Castillejo
Preceded by Javier Castillejo	WBA middleweight champion 28 April 2007 – March 2010 Promoted	Succeeded by Gennady Golovkin as Regular champion; promoted from interim status
Vacant Title last held by Jermain Taylor as Undisputed champion; stripped	WBA middleweight champion Super title March 2010 – September 1, 2012	Succeeded by Daniel Geale
Preceded by Darren Barker	IBF middleweight champion 7 December 2013 – 31 May 2014	Succeeded by Sam Soliman
Preceded by Fedor Chudinov	WBA super-middleweight champion Super title 20 February 2016 – 5 October 2016 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by George Groves