Felix Sturm Vs. Javier Castillejo - the Overlooked Middleweight Championship

The end of the year has produced a pair of thrilling middleweight championship fights. In September, Kelly Pavlik scored a spectacular upset against Jermain Taylor for the World Middleweight (160lbs) Championship, winning the WBC and WBO titles. November saw the world's longest reigning champion, "the Pride of Wales" Joe Calzaghe, become the undisputed, undefeated World Super Middleweight (168lbs) Champion by out-boxing the hard-hitting Dane, Mikkel Kessler. All this hoopla in the middleweights has overshadowed a brewing situation, packed with history and drama, and which could hit the ring before the end of the year: Felix Sturm vs. Javier Castillejo III.

The Lynx

Javier Castillejo, "El Lince de Parla" or "the Lynx of Parla," is a solid veteran and Spanish contender, albeit with a checkered career. Starting as a Light Middleweight (154lbs), he made his first shot at a world title in 1993, in a losing bid against Argentine Julio Cesar Vasquez. After a string of wins, he met Laurent Boudani of France for a European title two and a half years later, suffering an ignominious knockout defeat. Boudani won the rematch by unanimous decision a year later. It was not a bright beginning for a top tier fighter, but Castillejo did what a professional fighter does after a loss: he went back to the gym and kept campaigning.

His next chance came in 1999, when the hard-fighting American journeyman Keith Mullings came to Spain to defend his WBC Light Middleweight title. Castillejo won by a narrow majority decision. He defended his title five times, included a bout against American contender Tony Marshall.

Next was the 2001 fight with Oscar de la Hoya, and his first real exposure in America. "The Lynx" was viewed as merely a stepping stone for "The Golden Boy," and in a sense he was. The great de la Hoya befuddled Castillejo with his superior hand speed, and handily out-boxed him to a clear decision victory. Castillejo picked himself up from the loss, dusted himself off, and went back to work, earning a non-title bout against Fernando Vargas in 2005, dropping that decision.

Enter Felix Sturm

A German of Bosnian ancestry (his original name is Adnan Catic), Sturm won the 2000 European Amateur Championship, and went to the Sydney Olympics, losing his third fight there to future champion Jermain Taylor. He turned pro, capturing the WBO title in 2003.

Sturm came to the attention of an American audience in the same way Castillejo did: in a 2004 fight with Oscar de la Hoya. He was also viewed as a stepping stone, in this case to de la Hoya's meeting with then World Middleweight Champion Bernard Hopkins. However, de la Hoya looked flabby that night, and was visibly too small to compete as a middleweight. Sturm, on the other hand, put on an impressive show with his stiff jab and smashing right uppercut. De la Hoya was barely able to eek out a win, and only by carrying the final round in a dramatic rally. Some ringside observers thought Sturm had won the fight.

Sturm returned to capture the WBA title in 2006, and his first defense was to be against Javier Castillejo

Sturm Meets the Lynx

Castillejo, 38 and moving up in weight, was looked at as merely a "name" opponent for Strum. He was old, had campaigned in at Light Middleweight for almost his entire career, and had lost more big fights than he had won, but he was a former world champion and had a name. For a 27 year old lion like Sturm, he must have seemed like meat on the table.

The fight was, in fact, playing up to it's billing. Sturm was on his way to a well-earned, clean decision victory. Moving side to side, he piled up the points with his punishing jab. However, Castillejo didn't quit. He kept the pressure on Sturm, and whenever the German champion stopped, Castillejo was right there landing left hooks and uppercuts on the inside. In the later rounds, Sturm was clearly tiring and his jaw was swollen. Castillejo finally caught Sturm with a solid left hook that caused him to collapse against the ropes, followed by three head-snapping left uppercuts. The aged veteran had knocked out the younger, bigger lion, and left the ring with the WBA title around his waist.

Castillejo's next outing was more controversial. 14 years after his first title shot, he lost by 11^th round TKO to another Argentine, Mariano Carrera. However, Carrera later tested positive for steroids. The fight was declared a no-contest. "The Lynx" got his title back. He then met Felix Sturm in a rematch, this time losing the title by unanimous decision. Castillejo followed a now intimately familiar pattern: he went back to the gym and got ready for the next fight.

That turned out to be a rematch with Carrera, and Castillejo got his revenge on November 13th, knocking out the Argentine in six rounds. That fight was an eliminator for another try at Sturm and the WBA title. Sturm and Castillejo, now 1-1, will meet in a rubber match. All that needs to be settled is who gets paid what, and then it is a matter of picking the date and signing on the dotted line.

Fighters like Felix Sturm and Javier Castillejo, although roughly a decade apart in age, represent the true bread and butter of boxing: earnest men who work hard and establish their careers on the virtues of staying power, not flashy promotion. Neither man is a world-beating talent. Both are the sort that would headline on fight card in any major city, and appear on broadcast TV or ESPN from time to time. They make up the nuts and bolts of the sport, and to have two men like them facing each other for a world title is a throwback to the golden days of the sport, when contenders of their caliber would fight each other frequently to make a living. It is a solid middleweight match-up, and will make for a good night of boxing.