Sturm beats Zbik to defend WBA belt

Felix Sturm retained the WBA middleweight title on Friday night after fellow German Sebastian Zbik retired before the 10th round at the Lanxess Arena. Zbik made the better start but appeared to tire midway through the bout, as the defending champion looked fresher despite taking some heavy blows. Sturm had Zbik clearly troubled at the end of the ninth round, with American referee Raul Caiz Sr. asking the challenger if he could continue. Though the 30-year-old Zbik insisted that he could, his corner felt otherwise and Caiz ended the fight before the next round could start. The 33-year-old Sturm successfully defended his title for the 12th time and improved his record to 37-2-2 with 16 knockouts. Zbik drops to 30-2 (10 KOs).