Sam Soliman vs Felix Sturm Preview May 31
Sam Soliman of Australia will head back to Germany on Saturday, May 31 when he takes on hometown hero and IBF Middleweight Champion Felix Sturm in a rematch of their controversial 2013 bout. Soliman was originally credited with a unanimous decision victory in their first encounter in Germany in February of last year, but the IBF overruled the decision and changed it to a no-contest after Soliman failed his drug test following the fight. This fight will take place at the at Konig Palast in Krefeld, Germany.
Sturm will enter the ring with an impressive mark of 39-3-2 along with 18 Kos. He’s fought twice since the Soliman outing and has beaten Predrag Radosevic and Darren Barker, both by early stoppages. He took the IBF title from Barker of Britain back in December 7 when he finished him off in the second round. Barker’s corner men alleged that their fighter had aggravated a hip injury and put a halt to the proceedings. Barker has not retired from boxing for the time being.
Soliman is a hard-working type of boxer who carries a record of 43-11 around with him with 18 of his wins coming by way of KO. He’s had two previous shots at a world title belt, but fell short in both of them. He lost to fellow countryman Anthony Mundine in a pair of super middleweight title bouts. He had to serve a nine-month ban for failing the drug test and returned to the ring last December when he beat Les Sherrington by a ninth-round stoppage.
Soliman’s now 40 years old and he’s fought a lot of top fighters during his career. He’s always put in a good effort, but usually comes up short, until he met the 35-year-old Sturm last year. Soliman surprised fans since he easily outworked the German and deserved the win, but perhaps the banned substance in his system was the reason why. But Soliman fights aggressively and throws a lot of punches while Sturm takes a more relaxed approach to boxing. If Soliman can do the same here then he’ll prove last year’s fight wasn’t a fluke.
But now Sturm knows what to expect and he’s likely going to adapt to Soliman’s style and should perform better this time around. Sturm has more power than Soliman and he could attempt to go for a KO rather than another 12 grueling rounds with him. He staggered Soliman in the first bout, but didn’t have enough to finish him. The longer this fight goes the better it looks for Soliman.
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Prediction
As usual we have another tough bout to predict. Soliman is very active and workmanlike in the ring, but can be stopped. He’s five years older than Sturm, but may have more left in the tank. However, it’s impossible to know how the banned substance affected their first fight. Sturm is a better overall boxer and he should be able to figure out Soliman’s somewhat awkward style to take a close decision or late stoppage win.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.eu has the latest odds on all of the big fights with a Soliman win being listed at +310 and a Sturm victory at -1400. Visit 5Dimes.eu to see up to date odds and to bet on this fight. You should also check out our recent boxing betting predictions to see how we’ve done.
Felix Sturm betting • Sam Soliman betting