COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Felix Sturm retained his WBA middleweight title with a contentious split-decision win over Irish challenger Matthew Macklin in the Lanxess Arena on Saturday.
Two judges awarded it 116-112 in favor of the defending champion fighting in his hometown, while the other scored 115-113 to Macklin after a thrilling fight.
Sturm (36-2-1) successfully defended his title for the 10th time since losing it to and winning it back from Javier Castillejo in 2006-07.
Macklin (28-2), a former Irish, British and European middleweight champion, had the better of the early rounds but Sturm used his experience and greater accuracy to fight his way back and convince the judges.
