Sergey Shtikhlits (born 20 June 1981), best known as Robert Stieglitz, is a German former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 2001 to 2017. He held the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

super-middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

title twice between 2009 and 2014, and the

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

light-heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

title from 2016 to 2017.

Early life

Stieglitz is part of the

German diaspora The German diaspora (, ) consists of German people and their descendants who live outside of Germany. The term is used in particular to refer to the aspects of migration of German speakers from Central Europe to different countries around the ...

that exists in Russia, and his original surname of Shtikhlits is a

Russified Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

version of the German surname Stieglitz, which he now uses. He himself has said that, even when living in Russia, he always felt foreign and he felt German. Stieglitz went to live in Germany as soon as he got the chance.

Amateur career

Stieglitz had an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

record of 80 wins and 10 losses.

Professional career

After accumulating a record of 31-1, Stieglitz then suffered his second loss to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Librado Andrade Librado Andrade Ornelas (born September 2, 1978) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2013, and challenged three times for a super middleweight world title between 2007 and 2009. His brother Enrique Ornelas is also a ...

in eight rounds at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, Cabazon, California in an IBF

title eliminator. Stieglitz won the vacant WBC International super-middleweight title on December 9, 2008 in

Sölden Sölden () is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. Geography At c. , it is the largest municipality in the country. The population of 3,449 (as of 2003) is outnumbered by tourists, of which 15,000 can be accommodated. Wit ...

(

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

) to previously unbeaten Lukas Wilaschek.

WBO super-middleweight champion

Stieglitz vacated the WBC International on 22 June 2009, to fight Karoly Balzsay for the

super-middleweight title. At the end of round ten, as a groggy and beaten Balzsay barely wobbled back to his corner, Balzsay's trainer Fritz Sdinek called for help and Balzsay was quickly taken from the ring to the hospital on a stretcher with his neck in a neck brace. Stieglitz recorded a fifth-round technical knockout of Ruben Eduardo Acosta to retain his WBO super-middleweight title. The fight was stopped at 1:48 to give Stieglitz the victory in his first defense. On April 17, 2010, he successfully defended his title in Magdeburg against Eduard Gutknecht. Stieglitz retained his title with a hard-fought unanimous decision over his Mexican challenger Enrique Ornelas, Andrade's younger brother, at the Freiberger Arena in Dresden. It was a slow start of both fights and little less action but Stieglitz started this fight in style in the second round. The German champion progressed the fight with his sharp jab to give Ornelas some trouble but the Mexican also landed some precise and dangerous shots towards Stieglitz. He then made successful defenses against Khoren Gevor and Henry Weber. Stieglitz was supposed to face former three-time titleholder

Mikkel Kessler Mikkel Kessler (born 1 March 1979) is a Danish former professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2013. He held multiple super-middleweight world championships, including the World Boxing Association (WBA) title (Super and Regular versions) th ...

in his hometown of

Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øres ...

to defend his 168-pound belt on April 14, 2012 but Kessler pulled out due to injury. Instead, he defended the title with a unanimous decision win over Nader Hamdan on May 5, 2012.

Stieglitz vs. Arthur Abraham trilogy

Stieglitz then lost the WBO super-middleweight title to

Arthur Abraham Avetik Abrahamyan (; born 20 February 1980), best known as Arthur Abraham, is an Armenian-German former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the International Bo ...

on August 25, 2012. He would rebound with a win over Michal Nieroda on January 26, 2013 before avenging his loss to Abraham and regaining the WBO super-middleweight title with a fourth-round knockout on March 23, 2013. His first defense in his second reign as WBO super-middleweight champion was a tenth-round TKO win over Yuzo Kiyota on July 13, 2013. The result was originally announced as a Technical Decision win for Stieglitz, but was changed to a TKO after the Bund Deutscher Berufsboxer examined the ending of the fight and concluded that Stieglitz did not accidentally headbutt Kiyota. The change was approved by the WBO. His second defense in his second reign as WBO Champion was against Isaac Ekpo on October 19, 2013. Stieglitz won via unanimous decision. A rubber match with

took place on March 1, 2014, with the WBO super-middleweight title on the line once again. Stieglitz lost the bout via split decision.

Retirement

On 23 May 2017 he announced his retirement from professional boxing with a record of 50 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws. The retirement was injury-related, due to the various operations on his left hand and a shoulder injury which had not fully healed.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stieglitz, Robert 1981 births Living people People from Yeysk World super-middleweight boxing champions World Boxing Organization champions German male boxers Light-heavyweight boxers European Boxing Union champions 21st-century German sportsmen