Former world champion boxer Felix Sturm, real name Adnan Catic, has been sentenced to three years in jail for tax evasion and assault.
Stum appeared in court wearing a mask as the ex-middle and super-middleweight ruler was sent back to prison.
The 41-year-old was originally arrested in April 2019. He spent eight months locked up until bail was granted for 300,000 EUR.
After just over four months on the outside, Sturm was handed an even longer spell behind bars. It came after Sturm failed to declare one million Euros in taxes.
Cologne Regional Court handed down the punishment, which could have been a lot worse if earnings for 2014 and 2015 were upheld.
The original bill was for almost six million Euros until those two years were dismissed from the charges. Only 2008 until 2013 was accounted for during proceedings, with 2011 and 2012 also acquitted.
In a further twist, Sturm was also convicted of violating the anti-doping law for trips to an Austrian doping lab during his career.
The judge ruled Sturm ‘deliberately assaulted himself’, compounding his misery.
Sturm’s fight against Fedor Chudinov in February 2016 was mentioned as the Leverkusen native tested positive for stanozolol.
A suspended sentence of almost two years passed down in 2012 was the catalyst to a long stretch. This situation ultimately ends any comeback plans Sturm had.
Arthur Abraham, another retired German, was rumored to be considering a battle with Sturm before the coronavirus outbreak hit.
Those plans are now firmly off as Sturm looks set to spend at least the next eighteen months contemplating his crimes.
FELIX STURM – THE CHAMPION
In his last Instagram post before sentencing, Sturm was not expecting a jail sentence.
He said: “Office! Three out of five (world championships). Still room for more titles.”
During his career, Sturm won the WBO crown at 160 in 2003 before losing out to Oscar De La Hoya in his only overseas fight outside Europe.
Sturm would then regain a version of the world championship four more times if including the Chudinov victory.
His career may now be over.