Upset City; Castillejo Stops Felix Sturm in 10

By Per Ake Persson, live at ringside for BoxingScene

Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Altona, Germany - Two-time jr. middleweight champion Javier Castillejo (61-6, 41 KOs) scored what might become the upset of the year when he snatched the WBA middleweight title by stopping once beaten Felix Sturm (25-2, 11 KOs) in the tenth round of their championship fight. The 38-year-old Castillejo becomes a three-time champion and brings his career back in full swing.

The fight started slow with Sturm using his boxing skills to easily keep Castillejo at bay. In the second round is when the trouble started as Castillejo caught Sturm with a left hook that hurt him badly and a few shots later Sturm was down on the mat. Sturm was able to beat the count and fought back to make it out of the round without being stopped.

Shakur vs Teofimo, Why Winning as the Underdog Is a BIG Deal Paulie & Algieri Break Down BIG FIGHT

In this episode, Paulie Malignaggi and Chris Algieri break down why winning as the underdog in a fight like this is such a big deal — not just for rankings, but for momentum, perception, and long-term stardom.

Saturday | Jan 31, 2026

The next couple of rounds saw Sturm keeping his distance and using his boxing skills to pile up the points. Castillejo would land a few shots, but Sturm would not allow him to follow up and quickly answered with his own shots.

In the tenth, Castillejo caught Sturm with a left hook against the ropes and he was once again badly hurt. Castillejo would not let Sturm off the hook this time as he jumped on him with three consecutive left-hand uppercuts to cause Sturm to slump into the ropes in very serious trouble as the referee jumped in to stop the fight.

It was revealed after the fight that Castillejo broke Sturm's jaw in the second round with the big left hook. Sturm was taken to the hospital following the end of the fight. It should be noted that Sturm was well ahead on the scorecards when Castillejo stopped him.

On the undercard

WBA bantamweight champion Wladimir Sidorenko (19-0, 6 KOs) scored a decision over Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym (24-1, 15 KOs) The scores were 120-108, 116-112 and 115-113.

In another upset, Vladimir Virchis (21-1, 18 KOs) won the European heavyweight title when he stopped Paolo Vidoz (21-3, 12 KOs) in the sixth round. A single right hand bomb from Virchis made it an early night for Vidoz.

Undefeated heavyweight Ruslan Chagaev (21-0-1, 22 KOs) stopped Michael Sprott (28-10) in eight rounds. Chagaev dropped Spott in the eight and followed up with several big shots as Sprott was against the ropes, prompting the referee to stop the fight.