The comeback of Felix Sturm Falls Short at 43, is Defeated by Istvan Szili
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Dortmund, Germany (April 1st, 2022)– Former World Middleweight and Super Middleweight champion Felix ‘The Fighter’ Sturm, veteran of 23 world championship bouts, fell short at age 43 after 21 months of inactivity, losing a 12 round majority decision to Istvan Szili, age 39, who retained the International Boxing Organization Inter-Continental Super Middleweight title at Westfallenhalle, Dortmund, Germany, on Sunday, March 26, 2022.
Sturm, 42-6-3 with 18 knockouts, Leverkusen, Germany, missed drawing by one round on one scorecard to Szili, 26-2-2 with 16 knockouts, a Hungarian fighting out of Basel, Switzerland. Scoring went 114-114 a draw, 1and 15-113, 116-111 for Szili.
Szili attacked, and fought the bout dirty. Sturm, behind on points, and fighting most of the bout with a broken nose, and bloody left eye, got hit too much to win this bout on points. Sturm managed to wobble Szili in the eighth round, but was outpunched and outboxed by an opponent he would have easily defeated in his prime years ago. Inactivity hurt Sturm, like it has so many other fighters during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Scoring appeared neutral and fair despite Sturm fighting in front of a partisan hometown crowd of thousands, and the outcome was not in doubt. This was a winnable bout. Sturm has gotten old, and perhaps has hit the end of the road against world class opponents. Perhaps a third and final rubber match with his nemesis, Sam Soliman, age 48, who won a bout recently, would be a great way in Germany for both men to end their championship careers in 2023. At present, it appears both Sturm and Soliman are not quite ready to retire.
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