By Per Ake Persson, at ringside
Hamburg, Germany - Felix Sturm won the WBA 160 lb title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Maselino Masoe. It was scored 117-111, 117-111 and 115-113. There were no knockdowns. Masoe was sharp early and stunned Sturm in the third but was outboxed in the middle rounds. Sturm coasted in the last two and was bood by the fans in the Color Line Arena for his running - his victory could not be disputed though but Felix better think about the entertainment factor if he is to make it all the way to superstardom.
WBA bantam champ Wladimir Sidorenko retained the title with a twelve round draw against slick Panamanian challenger Ricardo Cordoba. It was scored 114-114 on
two cards and an out of line 118-111 for Sidorenko. Cordoba, a southpaw, had the moves to beat Sidorenko but wasn´t strong enough to keep the champion away and
it was a close, entertaining fight all the way.
Ruslan Chagaev won the WBO and WBA I/C heavyweight titles with a majority decision over Vladimir Virchis after a fight that at times resembled a sparring session. These two are gymmates and apparently good friends as well - and it showed.
Middleweight Lion Mahir, a German with Turkish roots, got a close verdict over Armenian Arsen Khachatrian after eight heated rounds.
Polish lightweight Matt Zegan unanimously outscored Kenyan Geoffrey Munica over eight.
Heavyweight Volodia Lazebnik had big problems with Raymond Ochieng but stopped his opponent in the fifth.
Super middleweight Mario Veit walked into a big swing in the first from Latvian Jevgenijs Andrejevs but won clearly after eight rounds.