Golovkin, Martinez and the big paydays after he's looking for ...

Sturm may have refused to fight outside Germany because of the robbery against De La Hoya.

 

:good
exactly

and at the end of the day it all comes back to the same problem that will continue to haunt boxing, but please some fighters and promoters....

a fragmented sport that polices itself
the federations make their own rules and rankings, and the casual fan doesn't know any better because he's never had to question the legitimacy of a 'world champion' tag in any other sport

take a look at Floyd - bigger than the federations, doesn't need a belt, and he's started a public poll so that when he feels like taking a ****, he can pick and choose who's next - all while continuing to be the highest paid sportsman on the planet by a long, long way

 

sturm took the Oscar fight because he got paid like royalty
apart from that, I find it to be poetic justice that a guy like sturm, who never stepped up against a top MW and milked his countrymen simply to get rich, arguably got 'robbed' chasing the one thing he desired most - $$$

 

No, it doesn't. But that's not what it's about for him.
The "romantic" side of boxing in him died when he got blatantly robbed by DLH and nobody did chit about it, despite filing protests etc.
He decided for himself that he will never fight in the USA again after that experience, can you blame him?

And believe me, german fans don't feel like they're being taken advantage of at all. They appreciate Sturm for what he does, boxing is more like a social experience here, the event is much more important and central than the sport itself.
Adnan is a good looking, well spoken guy that people can identify with, that is much more important here than athletic skills or resume.

And by the way, situations like the Sturm-DLH or the Schulz-Foreman fights are what turned people of from the US-fighting scene, the impression here is quite similar to what you guys are thinking about us actually.
"Don't go to America, you will get robbed."

The last time I remember that people at my workplace who were not boxing-fans talked about international boxing was before the Lewis - Holyfield I fight. People were really excited about this, boxing was still big, american stars were household names.
After that fight I never heard anyone talk about a big international boxing-event again.

Since then we prefer to life in our own little bubble where Sturm is the Middleweight king, robberies tend to go our way, Stieglitz - Abraham III is the event of the year, and Wlad Klitschko is the best thing since sliced bread, and people like it that way.