Ex-boxing champ ‘sent to prison’ for tax evasion and doping charges

Former two-weight world champion Felix Sturm has reportedly been placed behind bars. The German boxer is currently facing two years and four months in prison for tax evasion and violation of anti-doping laws.

Public prosecutor Stephanie Beller, responsible for economic criminal matters at the Cologne public prosecutor’s office, told the German newspaper BILD: “I can confirm that the person has been in open custody since February 28. The verdict at that time was: Two years and four months for tax evasion and violation of the anti-doping law.”

The same publication claims Sturm has been imprisoned at the JVA Euskirchen open prison for a week now. Sturm was arrested in Cologne back in April 2019 for tax evasion in the amount of £890,000 (€1m) and was then placed in custody for eight months. After handing in his passports and posting bail he was allowed to leave prison but has since been locked up again.

Back in 2015, Germany’s parliament passed a law that foresees jail terms and stiff fines for top athletes, coaches and managers who use or acquire banned performance-enhancing drugs. Sturm sued his way out of his contract with former promoter Universum Box promotion in 2009. The 44-year-old then allegedly pocketed undeclared funds from 13 “self-promoted”.

In addition to the allegations of tax evasion, Sturm is said to have doped with the banned drug stanozolol ahead of his WBA (super) super-middleweight title fight with Fedor Chudinov in February 2016. Sturm won the fight after previously losing their inaugural encounter nine months earlier.

Speaking at the time, Sturm denied ever knowingly ingesting the banned substance but was banned from boxing for two years. “At first I was shocked,” Sturm told German news agency SID. “This is all very strange, mainly that it took eight weeks until I was told the results. Germany’s professional boxers’ association was not informed of the positive test either, just me and my fitness trainer.”

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During the course of a 21-year stint in the paid ranks, Sturm picked up multiple world titles at middleweight and super-middleweight. The Leverkusen-born fighter is well known among UK boxing fans for his battles with Brits Darren Barker, Martin Murray and Matthew Macklin.

Following his second fight with Chudinov and the proceeding doping ban, Sturm didn’t box for four years before returning in 2020. After beating previously undefeated prospects Timo Rost and James Kraft he fell to defeat against Hungaria’s Istvan Szili before rebounding in his most recent fight with a win over Sukru Altay last month.

Sturm’s real name is Adnan Catic. For marketing reasons, he fights under the stage name Felix Sturm. In addition to his German citizenship, he also has a Bosnian passport with his parents being ethnic Bosniaks.

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