Tweet
By Ronan Keenan (March 14, 2006)
February ’92. James Toney was looking to keep busy. With a rematch on the horizon against ‘The Body Snatcher’ Mike McCallum, the 1991 Fighter of the Year couldn’t afford to gather any rust.
So he decided to take a tune-up bout that could also serve as a fourth defense of his middleweight title. Dave Tiberi would be a perfect opponent.
This little known New Jersey native had an acceptable looking record of 22-3-3, but would clearly pose no threat having amassed only 7 knockouts.
After 12 rounds of forcing his foe to the ropes and pounding away at every square inch of his body, virtually every neutral onlooker assumed that Tiberi would be announced as the new champion.
Instead, Toney was awarded an inexplicable points victory that was instantly labeled a disgrace. The clamor for a rematch was forceful and Tiberi was expected to have another chance at the big time.
However, a disgusted Tiberi walked away from the sport and back into anonymity.
June ’04. Superstar Oscar De La Hoya hadn’t fought in nine months and had a mega showdown with middleweight king Bernard Hopkins scheduled for September. Thus, an interim bout was needed to get ‘The Golden Boy’ some activity, while also acting as a commercial for his explosive talents.
De La Hoya required a dance partner who could make the evening somewhat attractive for potential pay-per-view buyers.
Felix Sturm would be the ideal accomplice.
The German-based Bosnian was a nonentity as far as the American observers were concerned. But he was selected as the opponent due to the fact that he had an unbeaten record and a minor ‘world’ title. However, the most important factor as far as team De La Hoya was concerned was that in 20 fights he had scored just nine knockouts against soft opposition.
Thirty-six minutes of precision boxing later, many spectators were dismayed as Sturm was announced the loser.
After such an impressive performance, no end of observers called for Sturm to be given first shot at the Hopkins-De La Hoya victor. Nonetheless, nearly two years later Sturm still hasn’t come close to a sniff at a legitimate championship. Instead he has returned to relative obscurity in Germany.
Sound familiar? Is Felix Sturm set to become the Dave Tiberi of the 21st century?
Since his supposed ‘breakout’ fight against De La Hoya, Sturm has notched up five easy victories but become a forgotten man on the west side of the Atlantic. The features in the boxing magazines have disappeared, the internet interviews dried up.
His victory on the 11th of March against the near 40 year old Maselino Masoe garnered him a devalued portion of a world title, but a graduation fight against the likes of undisputed champ Jermain Taylor, Winky Wright or De La Hoya is unlikely to take place in the near future.
Even Sturm himself gives the impression that another night like that in June ’04 may not happen again.
“I hope that Oscar will have a rematch against me if I remain successful. That would naturally be super. But I no longer have that in my mind. [That night] is a beautiful memory,” lamented the 27-year-old.
The reasons for the big names in America not wanting to face Sturm are the same as those that have plagued many excellent European fighters. The risk for fighting someone of Sturm’s caliber is much greater than the reward.
The same affliction hampered the careers of fighters such as Sven Ottke, Dariusz Michalczewski, Henry Maske and up until recently Joe Calzaghe.
These fighters all possessed unblemished records and made countless defenses of portions of world titles but it will never be known how much an impact they would have had on boxing history had they come to America.
Understandably, the top fighters in the States have been reluctant to travel halfway around the world, but many of the top European fighters have always seemed too comfortable at home defending their titles against nondescript challengers.
They have all received heavy criticism for this in the American media, and the immediate indications are that Sturm may turn into a stay-at-home fighter too.
“I would love to experience a big fight again in the United States again, but I want to fight still in front of my fans in Germany”, said Sturm.
Another factor that may ultimately hamper his marketability is that Sturm appears to be a technically flawless fighter and is almost overly efficient. This is probably little surprise considering he is an economics graduate.
He shows no weakness in his game, apart from the fact that he can be accused of being excessively cautious instead of trying to score a stylish knockout. He is at times too reliant on his sharp jab, which may score points on the scorecards, but not with the fans.
This feature recently cast a downer on his unanimous decision win over Masoe.
With Sturm having a seemingly unassailable points lead entering the tenth round, he chose to back-pedal for the final nine minutes instead of trying to finish off his already battered opponent. Many in the 7,000 Hamburg crowd let Sturm know of their disapproval as their boos resonated around the arena.
“I can understand the spectators,” Sturm said. “But I had to be tactical against a fighter that can punch with great power. I'm not Mike Tyson, I'm a boxer.”
And a fine boxer at that. But that won’t have the American TV networks flying over to Germany to televise his next fight against another obscure opponent.
Therefore, if Sturm wants to experience the big Las Vegas nights again he must be willing to take a pay cut and leave the comfort zone to base himself in the US. Then he must simply perform as he has been, until he gets some media recognition and consequently a big fight.
Alternatively he can remain in Germany and follow in the footsteps of Sven Ottke & co, which, as far as American fans are concerned, are those of Dave Tiberi.
February ’92. James Toney was looking to keep busy. With a rematch on the horizon against ‘The Body Snatcher’ Mike McCallum, the 1991 Fighter of the Year couldn’t afford to gather any rust.
So he decided to take a tune-up bout that could also serve as a fourth defense of his middleweight title. Dave Tiberi would be a perfect opponent.
This little known New Jersey native had an acceptable looking record of 22-3-3, but would clearly pose no threat having amassed only 7 knockouts.
After 12 rounds of forcing his foe to the ropes and pounding away at every square inch of his body, virtually every neutral onlooker assumed that Tiberi would be announced as the new champion.
Instead, Toney was awarded an inexplicable points victory that was instantly labeled a disgrace. The clamor for a rematch was forceful and Tiberi was expected to have another chance at the big time.
However, a disgusted Tiberi walked away from the sport and back into anonymity.
June ’04. Superstar Oscar De La Hoya hadn’t fought in nine months and had a mega showdown with middleweight king Bernard Hopkins scheduled for September. Thus, an interim bout was needed to get ‘The Golden Boy’ some activity, while also acting as a commercial for his explosive talents.
De La Hoya required a dance partner who could make the evening somewhat attractive for potential pay-per-view buyers.
Felix Sturm would be the ideal accomplice.
The German-based Bosnian was a nonentity as far as the American observers were concerned. But he was selected as the opponent due to the fact that he had an unbeaten record and a minor ‘world’ title. However, the most important factor as far as team De La Hoya was concerned was that in 20 fights he had scored just nine knockouts against soft opposition.
Thirty-six minutes of precision boxing later, many spectators were dismayed as Sturm was announced the loser.
After such an impressive performance, no end of observers called for Sturm to be given first shot at the Hopkins-De La Hoya victor. Nonetheless, nearly two years later Sturm still hasn’t come close to a sniff at a legitimate championship. Instead he has returned to relative obscurity in Germany.
Sound familiar? Is Felix Sturm set to become the Dave Tiberi of the 21st century?
Since his supposed ‘breakout’ fight against De La Hoya, Sturm has notched up five easy victories but become a forgotten man on the west side of the Atlantic. The features in the boxing magazines have disappeared, the internet interviews dried up.
His victory on the 11th of March against the near 40 year old Maselino Masoe garnered him a devalued portion of a world title, but a graduation fight against the likes of undisputed champ Jermain Taylor, Winky Wright or De La Hoya is unlikely to take place in the near future.
Even Sturm himself gives the impression that another night like that in June ’04 may not happen again.
“I hope that Oscar will have a rematch against me if I remain successful. That would naturally be super. But I no longer have that in my mind. [That night] is a beautiful memory,” lamented the 27-year-old.
The reasons for the big names in America not wanting to face Sturm are the same as those that have plagued many excellent European fighters. The risk for fighting someone of Sturm’s caliber is much greater than the reward.
The same affliction hampered the careers of fighters such as Sven Ottke, Dariusz Michalczewski, Henry Maske and up until recently Joe Calzaghe.
These fighters all possessed unblemished records and made countless defenses of portions of world titles but it will never be known how much an impact they would have had on boxing history had they come to America.
Understandably, the top fighters in the States have been reluctant to travel halfway around the world, but many of the top European fighters have always seemed too comfortable at home defending their titles against nondescript challengers.
They have all received heavy criticism for this in the American media, and the immediate indications are that Sturm may turn into a stay-at-home fighter too.
“I would love to experience a big fight again in the United States again, but I want to fight still in front of my fans in Germany”, said Sturm.
Another factor that may ultimately hamper his marketability is that Sturm appears to be a technically flawless fighter and is almost overly efficient. This is probably little surprise considering he is an economics graduate.
He shows no weakness in his game, apart from the fact that he can be accused of being excessively cautious instead of trying to score a stylish knockout. He is at times too reliant on his sharp jab, which may score points on the scorecards, but not with the fans.
This feature recently cast a downer on his unanimous decision win over Masoe.
With Sturm having a seemingly unassailable points lead entering the tenth round, he chose to back-pedal for the final nine minutes instead of trying to finish off his already battered opponent. Many in the 7,000 Hamburg crowd let Sturm know of their disapproval as their boos resonated around the arena.
“I can understand the spectators,” Sturm said. “But I had to be tactical against a fighter that can punch with great power. I'm not Mike Tyson, I'm a boxer.”
And a fine boxer at that. But that won’t have the American TV networks flying over to Germany to televise his next fight against another obscure opponent.
Therefore, if Sturm wants to experience the big Las Vegas nights again he must be willing to take a pay cut and leave the comfort zone to base himself in the US. Then he must simply perform as he has been, until he gets some media recognition and consequently a big fight.
Alternatively he can remain in Germany and follow in the footsteps of Sven Ottke & co, which, as far as American fans are concerned, are those of Dave Tiberi.
Comment