By Jake Donovan

It was a successful comeback and self-promoted debut for Felix Sturm, who ended a 14-month hiatus Saturday evening with a convincing 12-round decision win over Giovanni Lorenzo at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany.

Scores were 117-111 (twice) and 118-111 for Sturm, who defended an alphabet middleweight title in a matchup of 2000 Olympic boxers. 

Lorenzo jumped out to a quick start, anxious to make an early impact on the scorecards. The New York-based Dominican was consistent with his jab, and also remembered to target the body, while Sturm remained behind a peek-a-boo guard and not offering much offense.

If Lorenzo had a plan beyond the first round, he certainly failed to show it. Sturm all but took over the fight from the second round on, applying more pressure with each passing round.

By the third round, Sturm had settled into a groove, with his jab and right hand enough to force Lorenzo to fight in reverse for most of the rest of the fight. Sturm remained economical with his attack, throwing in spots but effective when doing so, while Lorenzo was throwing in reactive mode and often catching nothing but air.

Sensing he was falling way behind, Lorenzo let his hands go at the start of the sixth. Sturm weathered the brief storm and immediately regained control, drawing a polite applause from the sizeable crowd on hand anytime he landed. Two heavy right hands late in the round slightly wobbled Lorenzo, but the bell rang before Sturm could inflict any further damage.

Lorenzo took a new approach in the seventh that proved to be effective – smothering Sturm’s punches before getting in his own shots and employing lateral movement to avoid any return fire. The tactic resulted in Sturm momentarily struggling to adjust as he failed to land anything of note for the first time since the opening round.

As was the case for much of the night, success would be short-lived for Lorenzo. Sturm came back strong in the eighth and ninth rounds, with his jab often enough to keep Lorenzo at bay and alter his punching range.

The championship rounds were not unlike Lorenzo’s previous trip to Deutschland – being outworked by the hometown fighter long enough to dig himself in a hole before waking up in the 12th and final round, long after the damage had already been done on the scorecards.

For what it’s worth, Lorenzo fought the final round like a man who didn’t want to go home empty. Sturm didn’t exactly play it safe, but did fight with less passion than in previous rounds while Lorenzo let his hands go in hopes that he’d land a home run.

Unfortunate of his late surge was the fact that he appeared to learn nothing from the Sylvester fight; it was what he didn’t do in nearly every round between the first and last that forced him to absorb the third loss in his past six fights as he falls to 29-3 (21KO).

Meanwhile, Sturm’s welcomed return the ring results in his extending his current unbeaten streak to four years and ten fights (9-0-1, 3KO over that stretch).

The three-time middleweight titlist improves overall to 34-2-1 (14KO), with the hope that his current status as a promotional free agent opens up opportunities to proceed against the best of the current middleweight crop.

Such wasn’t always the case while he toiled under the Universum banner. The biggest breakthrough in his career oddly enough came with his first loss, a controversial decision in his stateside debut against Oscar de la Hoya in 2004. He left Las Vegas without his title, but gained worldwide respect for his performance.

However, Universum failed to cash in the free lottery ticket, instead used the fight to milk his name against subpar competition while allowing politics to prevent the fighter from facing the more notable middleweights around the world.

A setback came in 2006, when he suffered a shocking stoppage loss against Javier Castillejo, though avenging the defeat just two fights later to ignite his third tour as an alphabet titlist, which is now more than three years and running.

As for Lorenzo, time and patience is beginning to run out in waiting for his potential to materialize. The former amateur standout came in with high expectations when turning pro shortly after serving as a member of the 2000 Dominican Olympic boxing squad. 

Nine years later, he remains without a career-defining win.

While the circumstances in which he received the title shot weren’t ideal (accepting the fight just over a month ago after Marco Antonio Rubio pulled out), the fact is that it’s yet another squandered opportunity in a career filled with disappointment.

There seemed to be a time where Sturm’s career was reaching a similar point. It wasn’t due to his failure to rise to the occasion, however, but his contention with complacency while bigger fights continued to be made around him.

With a massive changing of the guard at middleweight thanks to strong showings in title-winning efforts by Sergio Martinez and Dmitry Pirog in recent months, the division enjoys a much needed surge in notoriety and respectability.

Now that Sturm is a free agent, the onus rests on his shoulders to find a way to become a part of the mix.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com