German Boxing Champ Felix Sturm Tests Positive for Steroids
Longtime German world boxing champion Felix Sturm surprised himself and his fans after announcing that he tested positive for a type of anabolic steroid after his super middleweight title match victory against Fedor Chudinov last Feb. 20.
The 37-year old was tested and revealed to have the steroid Hydro-XY Stanozolol in his A sample, which was obtained right after his majority decision win. According to AFP, the German super middleweight champ is facing a two-year ban should the B sample come back with a positive result. And because he's already at the twilight of his career, there's a good chance this is the end of the line for him.
He however vehemently denies doing anything wrong, saying that he never cheated his entire career. "I'll definitely have the B sample opened," he said. "I have had my blood and urine tested hundreds of times. Nothing has ever been found. I have an absolutely clear conscience," the boxer added.
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Aside from the possibility of getting banned, he also might be stripped off his WBA super middleweight belt. It could have been a statement win for him, if not for the drug testing issue. Chudinov came in to the fight as a highly touted and undefeated prospect. Sturm was able to convince two of the judges in the fight while the last one saw it as a draw. And if ever B sample comes back positive, it means he also will have to take back a record he supposedly achieved by beating Chudinov, where he became the very first German to become a world boxing champion five times.
Sturm rose to boxing prominence in 2004 when he face then Mexican-American great Oscar De La Hoya in a fight where his WBO middleweight championship was on the line. Although Compubox, renowned boxing commentator Harold Lederman, and a good part of the crowd thought he won convincingly, the three judges saw it the other way, giving the close unanimous decision win to De La Hoya with identical scores of 115-113. He then went on to win four more titles after that fight.
