Columnist Dean Juipe: Sturm, Allen just might provide some competition

Dean Juipe

Friday, June 4, 2004 | 9:36 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

The wild card is Felix Sturm. Is he a chump or a man who is about to change the face of boxing?

Sturm is fighting Oscar De La Hoya on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in one half of a middleweight doubleheader that is designed to lead to an even bigger fight in September between De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins. But for the Sept. 18 date to be activated, De La Hoya must defeat Sturm and Hopkins must get past Robert Allen.

The win-to-advance concept has been ridiculed in some quarters as a promotional sleight of hand, as if fans were obliged to buy tickets to Saturday's card in order to be eligible for tickets for the September show. But I've found the piggyback approach to be attractive thus far and believe both De La Hoya and Hopkins will be sufficiently challenged Saturday, if not defeated as promoter Bob Arum predicted would happen to one or the other in this space earlier in the week.

Allen, for sure, is not going to go easily. He has fought Hopkins twice and was leading him on the judges' cards of a fight that was ruled a no-contest in 1998 when referee Mills Lane got tangled up with the fighters during a fourth-round clench and Hopkins was injured.

Allen is an ex-Marine with a chip on his shoulder. He may or may not have the skills to defeat Hopkins, but he sure as heck is going to try and he's not a bad bet at a plus 800 for those willing to put a little money on the underdog.

Sturm is an even greater underdog at a plus 1000, yet the increased odds represent an increased risk. No one -- and I mean no one, at least in America -- can say for sure what he'll bring into the ring.

"You've got to see the tapes of this guy," more than one Top Rank staffer has said of Sturm, the tapes of his fights being the only visual evidence of his achievements to date. Based in Germany and fighting exclusively in central Europe, Sturm has built a record of 20-0 without having faced even a hint of recognizable talent.

He has beaten every (Zdenek) Zubko, (Lorant) Szabo and (Gyorgi) Bugyik in sight. No one named Slavomir (Dandis), Didier (Mupeko) or Tshepo (Mashego) has gotten the better of him.

But what does it mean? And might it be significant that Sturm has but nine knockout victories when not only his opponents' names but the sites of their fights -- Braunschweig, Aachen, Debrecen and Leverkusen among them -- appear as if they need to be descrambled?

And how much faith can you have in a man who has changed his name? Felix Sturm is, by his birth records, actually Adnan Catic, and he made the moniker switch because he liked the cartoon cat.

For what it's worth, Cassius Clay had a greater incentive when he became Muhammad Ali.

Yet Sturm is either the perfect foil for De La Hoya's first fight at 160 pounds or a hidden gem waiting to be uncovered. He did, after all, win 113 of 122 amateur fights, compete in the 2000 Olympic Games and earn a split in two bouts against a legitimate rising star in Jermain Taylor before turning pro.

He's also catching De La Hoya at what may be an opportune time. Once 31-0, De La Hoya has since lost three of his eight most recent fights, gotten married and admitted to swelling to a walking-around weight of 174 pounds.

He's also talking about retirement and is running a profitable business (Golden Boy Promotions) that could lessen his resolve in the ring.

It's difficult to picture Sturm beating De La Hoya, but this is a fight at Sturm's natural weight and one in which the elements are, theoretically, in place for an upset.

At the very least I think he'll serve his purpose and give De La Hoya a feel for what it's like to fight as a middleweight.

Unlike some in the media, I expect it to be an interesting night.