Among European countries, professional boxing is most developed in Germany. German boxing clubs are constantly recruiting the most talented and promising fighters from all over the old world into their ranks. One of them is the talented middleweight Robert Stieglitz, a boxer from Magdeburg. His name is not very well known overseas, he practically does not fight in the American rings, but has a good rating in prestigious boxing organizations.
Sergey who became Robert
Robert Stieglitz was born in Yeysk, in the Krasnodar region. Then he was called Sergey, he will take the pseudonym Robert later after moving to Germany, so as not to stand out among the native Germans. The boy’s parents for some time left the Krasnodar Territory and moved to work in the Kemerovo region.
Sergey at that time was taken to a sports school. From the age of six he played football, then he successfully engaged in Greco-Roman wrestling, but at the age of ten he returned with his parents to Yeysk.
There was no wrestling section in the small town, and Robert Stieglitz engaged in karate. Then, on the advice of friends, he decided to try himself in boxing and achieved great success. The coach of the Youth Sports School, which he visited, warmly recalls an assiduous little German, working out tirelessly in training.
In the end, a promising fighter was noticed in his historical homeland, and the famous club Universum offered him a contract.
On the way to titles
He made his debut in the professional arena Stieglitz Robert in 2001. The young boxer was gradually led to fights with serious rivals. A year later, he had the opportunity to take his first title. He did not wait long and defeated the Belarusian Sergey Karanevich, becoming the youth world light heavyweight champion.
After some time, Robert Stieglitz went down to the second middle category in order to have a greater advantage in the power of blows over his opponents.
In 2004, he managed to confirm the title of youth world champion in this division. A few years later, Robert Stieglitz got a chance at an adult IBF belt. To do this, he had to defeat Alejandro Berrio, whom he had already defeated in 2005. However, in the second confrontation, everything turned out not so smoothly. Already in the third round, Robert Stieglitz twice visited the floor, and soon the referee stopped the fight, determining a technical knockout.
In 2008, a German boxer fought in the United States.
However, in the rivals he got a strong Mexican boxer Librado Andrade. Being practically the master of the ring, the Mexican completely owned the initiative in the duel. In the eighth round, Andrade caught Stieglitz in the opposite direction and threw him to the ropes with the strongest right cross. Robert tried to defend himself, but the Mexican began ruthlessly killing him, throwing hooks and uppercuts with hurricane speed. The referee stopped the beating and awarded the victory to Andrade.
First adult title
Returning to Europe, Robert Stieglitz began to gradually restore his reputation, shaken after the defeat. In a stubborn battle, having defeated the undefeated Lukasz Vilashek, he entered the championship duel for the title of world champion according to the WBO.
The rival of the German was the strong Hungarian Karol Balzai, and the fight was supposed to take place in the champion's hometown - Budapest. The fight was not easy, but Stieglitz managed to beat the opponent and took his first adult title.
Confrontation with Abraham
After this victory, Robert managed to carry out four successful defenses of his belt. The most serious opponent was another ethnic German from the former USSR - Eduard Gutknecht. He had no defeats in his assets, was technical, quick. However, Robert Stieglitz took advantage of the power and defended the title in a duel against a teammate from Universum.
After that, a series of confrontations with Arthur Abraham began in the boxer's career. An Armenian with a German passport took the world title from Stieglitz in 2012. A year later, Robert seriously prepared for the rematch and in the fourth round destroyed his opponent.
But the restless Arthur Abraham still got his way and in the third match of this confrontation he returned the belt back.
Robert Stieglitz is still fighting in Germany. Having lost his belt, he managed to win the European title by defeating the French boxer Mehdi Amar. He is married and has an Oscar son.