By Per Ake Persson

Former IBF and EBU middleweight champ Sebastian Sylvester has announced his retirement. Sylvester goes out at 34-5-1. He began his pro career in 2002 with a first round knockout loss but went ahead with his career, first with Wiking Box Team and later signed with Sauerland Event.

An upset loss to Amin Asikainen in an EBU title fight in 2006 seemed to set the limit on how far Sebastian could go but again he showed what hard work and dedication can do for a fighter, who was not a natural, but rather a solid pro out of the East German school.

Sylvester regained the EBU title and won the IBF crown in 2009 with a points win over Giovanni Lorenzo. He lost the IBF title to Daniel Geale and was stopped against Grzegorz Proksa in what proved to be his last fight.

Sylvester is still a part of the Sauerland team and will also become a trainer.