Felix Sturm vs. Daniel Geale WBA / IBF Unification Fight
By: Barry Lindenman
In a fight that lived up to its hype, particularly overseas, IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale became a multiple world title holder when he captured the WBA middleweight championship by split decision over former titleholder Felix Sturm. The official scores from the three officials at ringside were as follows: Dave Parris 116-112; Stanley Christodoulou 116-112; Eugene Grant 112-116.
Déjà vu all over again for Daniel Geale. Just as he did in 2011 in capturing the IBF middleweight title from Sebastian Sylvester, he traveled all the way from Australia to Germany to win a world title via split decision. In a fight in which both fighters had their moments, Geale’s more aggressive style and greater punch output as enough to win in the eyes of at least two of the three judges sitting at ringside.
From the outset, it was clear that despite Sturm’s more effective jab, Daniel Geale would not be intimidated by either Felix Sturm or the German crowd. Not only was the fight close in terms of the judge’s scores, but most of the rounds were close as well (i.e. difficult to score). By the 6th round, it became clear that because of the pace of the action and the boxers’ fighting styles that the outcome of this fight would be left in the hands of the judges. Both fighters slowed down noticeably in the second half of the fight and even the German crowd was uncharacteristically quiet as the outcome of the fight was clearly in doubt. Sturm’s usual tight defense began to unravel in the 9th round as he began to hold his gloves noticeably lower than normal. Sensing the urgency, both fighters began to pick up the pace of the fight in the championship rounds as both fighters (and the German crowd) became alive in the 11th and 12th rounds. The fight ended with its best round as the crowd was treated to nonstop action from both fighters as the final bell rang and the outcome still undetermined.
Geale’s record improves to 28 (15 KO’s) – 1- 0, while Sturm’s record falls to 37 (16 KO’s) – 3 – 2. Another big unification fight may lie ahead for Daniel Geale as the new IBF/WBA middleweight champion awaits the outcome of the Sergio Martinez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. WBC middleweight fight on September 15th.
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