A good bit of common sense. Not sure why anyone would consider Cotto or Canelo in this debate, in my view catchweight fights do not entitle you to enter a debate about great middleweights, you need to actually have middleweight fights to do that. Anyway my list, off the top of the head and based on a mixture of accomplishments and the eye test. 1. Hopkins 2. GGG 3. Maravilla 4. Pavlik 5. Abraham 6. Taylor 7. Sturm 8. Jacobs 9. Saunders 10. Pirog Could accept GGG or Maravilla as #1 given that a fair part of Hopkins reign was in the 90s, but as his most significant wins were post-00 have stuck with him. Sturm could have been higher based on longevity but loses marks for never being recognised top dog or really trying to be. Jacobs lost to Pirog but was young and exceeds him on overall accomplishments. Pirog is there mainly based on what could have been. Honourables: Winky, Trinidad, Joppy, Geale, JCC jr, Quillin
Sturms losses came when he was old...and those guys that did beat him barely squeaked past him, old and worn as he was. He had many fine attributes...not least an all time great jab....
The Soliman and Geale losses were probably when he was a bit past his best, but he was prime when he lost to Castillejo and prime when he drew with Griffin, neither of who where exceptional. He was 32 when he had the controversial win over Macklin and the draw with Murray, so was arguably prime or close to it then as well. Suffice to say he had a number of draws and losses and controversial wins against opponents who didn't stand out from the crop of middleweights around then. He also lacks a signature win, what was his best win? I look at his resume and I see nobody of note. Sturm was world class but he wasn't much better than a lot of world class middleweights around at that time and he of course ducked his mandatory in Golovkin. Why didn't he fight any of the other top middleweights around then in AA, Pavlik, Taylor and Wright.
He didn't need to fight them. The old risk reward thing again. He got burned agsinst Oscar which made him rich-averse and he had a nice little earner going in Germany. And of course there's the Sturm jab! What a jab he had! This content is protected
Hopkins Golovkin Martinez Those 4 stand out above the rest for me 1 & 2 could be reversed as GGG is still active & way above the rest
Felix Sturm was a top 5 middleweight for over 13 years! And a 5 time world champion! He was a proven , consistent, world class boxer who had a great career. He beat a long list of top 10 (at the time )middleweights! His longetivity at the top was amazing.
i expect so. If he wins, it will be one of the best wins of the year, and his best career win. Taking an elite scalp has proved elusive. He'll be taking one later than joe calzaghe, and he left it till his last title fight! by elite i mean "small group of ones who beat all but elites", not top 20 or another dumbazz definition of elite.
Negative. Sturm wasn't the only guy of the time who had a padded out career. He was no different to DM , Sven Ottke , Marco Hock , Zolt Erdei , , Johnny Nelson , Stevenson etc..