Stein, 33, entered the fight looking for the biggest victory of his career and immediately applied pressure from the opening bell.
Stein established his game plan early, moving forward behind a busy jab and steady body attack. Rather than giving Sturm room to box, he stayed within punching range and forced the 47-year-old to work throughout the fight.
Sturm had moments when his experience showed. He slipped shots, picked off Stein with counters, and landed enough clean punches to keep many of the rounds close. As the fight wore on, however, he struggled to match Stein’s output over the full three minutes.
Stein never stopped pressing. He continued to throw in combination, targeted the body, and finished exchanges with enough activity to edge many of the close rounds on the scorecards.
Neither fighter was able to pull away over the 10 rounds. There were no knockdowns, and neither man appeared close to being stopped as the bout headed to the judges.
After the final bell, the judges returned split scorecards. Two officials favored Stein, 95-94 and 96-95, while the third scored the bout 96-93 for Sturm, giving Stein the split-decision victory.
The win improved Stein to 21-2-1 (11 KOs) and gave him the biggest victory of his career, defeating a former five-time world champion after entering the bout off a split-decision loss in his previous outing.
The defeat dropped Sturm to 45-7-3 (20 KOs) and ended a professional career that spanned more than 25 years. During that run, he won world titles across multiple reigns and became one of Germany’s most recognizable boxing champions.
After the decision was announced, the crowd gave Sturm a standing ovation as he left the ring for the final time.
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