Why did Catic change his name to Felix Sturm again??

[WhataRock]

Ive been told this but I cant remember.

It sounds more German I guess, but what was the reason behind it.

[matt_maxx]

The Germans wanted to make his name more palatable to native speakers. I believe STURM, translates into something like a forcefull storm or blitzkrieg.

However, I may be incorrect!

Yes, Sturm is the German word for storm. Even someone who doesnt speak English at all can see its only one letter what makes the difference. To come up with BLITZKRIEG regarding this topic leads me to the conclusion Robson is acting here with bad intention or plain dumb.

[bumdujour]

Ive been told this but I cant remember.

It sounds more German I guess, but what was the reason behind it.

they want to make the public believe that he is ethnic german.

[Darien]

He was born in Germany, he's always lived there, he speaks German as his mothertongue, he competed at the olympics under the German flag, he considers himself to be German, so I see no problem with him changing his name into something more "German-sounding".

[NBT]

They were trying to make him more marketable because his boxing style and personality wouldn't appeal to the public. But if you see and hear him, it's obvious he isn't German. Although he grew up in Germany he still speaks with an accent.

[Tom_Tocca]

They were trying to make him more marketable because his boxing style and personality wouldn't appeal to the public. But if you see and hear him, it's obvious he isn't German. Although he grew up in Germany he still speaks with an accent.

That's the way they speak in NRW... :deal

[unitas]

He was born in Germany, he's always lived there, he speaks German as his mothertongue, he competed at the olympics under the German flag, he considers himself to be German, so I see no problem with him changing his name into something more "German-sounding".

bottom line is: he is ethnic bosnian.

its a real easy equasion: boxingtalent, as any talent, is in your blood, your genes.

now that means that where your genes are from is the country which can rightfully claim you as your own.
cause it is that genepool that has spawned the talent.

in sturms case that is bosnia.

now if he was ethnically half german, we could argue like with graciano rocchigiani being half italian.

and as for sturm saying that he considers himself german.........i don´t put much weight into such an argument.

after all, what else should he say?? if he would say he is bosnian, this would decrease his earning potential!!!
so of course he says he is german.

[PolishPummler]

Arthur Abraham also changed his name.

It's all lame.

At least DM had some pride!

[NBT]

I know plenty Germans who speak with that accent, i´m from Bavaria and speak German with an accent also. Am i not German?
Get yourself a dictionary and check the difference between dialect and accent.

[NBT]

Well, I wonder who it is who doesn't get it. Get yourself a dictionary and check the difference between dialect and accent, trust me. I know what I speak of, do you?

[PolishPummler]

You don´t get what i mean, right? When i speak Bavarian i speak Bavarian, when i speak German i have a Bavarian accent, even now after three years people here know where i´m from just from that.
And Tom Tocca is right Sturm speaks the dialect which is spoken in Nordrhein-Westfalen. So, he has an accent just like me.

@Polish_Pummler: Yeah, that´s why DM fought under German flag for a large part of his career ;) I don´t blame these guys, they do what is necessary to make as much money they can. and imo they deserve is.

I never seen him embrace that flag once!


His handlers however were the ones waving it!

[sean]

i do not see the problem.

the american presendential candidate at the last election ( kerry ) found out his family had changed his name.

lots of families do it to fit in better to there new country.

[Grabonator]

That's the way they speak in NRW... :deal

:huh :huh :huh .....ehm no! I know it cause im also from NRW. Sturm is just speaking like someone comming from another country or at least like someone whos parents come from another country and i bet the first language he learned was not german.

[Darien]

bottom line is: he is ethnic bosnian.

its a real easy equasion: boxingtalent, as any talent, is in your blood, your genes.

now that means that where your genes are from is the country which can rightfully claim you as your own.
cause it is that genepool that has spawned the talent.

in sturms case that is bosnia.

now if he was ethnically half german, we could argue like with graciano rocchigiani being half italian.

and as for sturm saying that he considers himself german.........i don´t put much weight into such an argument.

after all, what else should he say?? if he would say he is bosnian, this would decrease his earning potential!!!
so of course he says he is german.
If genes decide which country can rightfully claim a person than Croatia, Austria and Germany could claim me apart from Hungary of course. But I'm Hungarian, I was born here I speak Hungarian and I consider myself to be Hungarian. And you say boxing talent is in genes. That's true in a way but those genes aren't exclusive characteristics of any nation. He could very well be just as talented if he was ethnic German, Irish, Norwegan or whatever. On the other hand talen means shit in itself, it's training that makes you a boxer. And he was trained by German trainers in Germany. By the way, are you Bosnian?

[chliJs]

ali doesn't have american genes.
also, he didn't even want his regular name anymore.
he completely shitted on the us in some political issues.

what does that make him, according to some people's logic here?
and why is he still american while sturm doesn't get your oh so important permission to be german?

this discussion is a fucking joke. he's german, also, if he wants to be considered bosnian, he's bosnian, too. who cares?

i'm from nrw and i can assure you that he's talking common slang depending on who are your friends and what else influenced you. this is not limited to immigrants, it's more a thing of lower educated people, which immigrants mostly are - sad but true.

i didn't quite get the graciano rocchigiani point someone made here. he's german, one of his parents is italian. so what? i know he sometimes pronounces his italian heritage, so i would consider him both, also. it would be a shame to deny him either nationality (especially the german one).

in one sentence: arguing over a boxer's nationality in a case like sturm's is pure homosexuality. if you're bosnian, feel proud of him being bosnian, if you're german, be happy he's representing germany in the ring.. who cares anyway?

maybe he's osman.. byzantine.. who knows.. but certainly he's no german.

[NBT]

I now very good what i speak of. Okay again for you step by step.
"I break together". :lol:
Normally i speak Bavarian, a German dialect, but since i´m not living in Bavaria but in Berlin i have to speak German. But when i speak German i still have a Bavarian accent. Got it now?
Sorry if I have to repeat myself, get yourself a proper dictionary.

[Rick G]

I am german and I really can not understand these stupid name changes. In Germany we have so many people from the East who keep their original names and are fully integrated in our community, so we are used to spell their names. What the heck is wrong with Catic, Abrahamyan, Hucic?

The procedure to change the name is really ridiculous: In Germany you have to be an artist to carry a "Künstlername". So they all had to paint a picture or something like that to be accepted as "artists".

Changing the family name dishonours your ancestors, your roots. There is no need to give up your roots in a modern society like Germany. Be proud of where you come from!

[chliJs]

what are you talking about? having your name changed from something too complicated (this does not count for catic and names like that, but i know some cases in person) doesn't have anything to do with an artist's name, does it?
also, i think everybody can carry an artist's name without delivering any kind of artificial background, painting a picture or doing other weird stuff. like when you get your identity card updated you can just fill in your "künstlername" if you want to.

[Rick G]

Situation in Germany:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]_in_Deutschland

[boxexpert]

marketing reasons. a german name simply sales better

[Rick G]

From boxen.com: "Als Abraham seinen roten Pass mit dem Adler beim Bezirksamt Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Empfang nahm, stand nur sein Geburtsname Avetik Abrahamyan in dem Dokument. In Deutschland kennt man den Mittelgewichtler mit dem weltweit härtesten Punch jedoch nur unter seinem Künstlernamen Arthur Abraham, und den wollte er natürlich auch gern in seinem Pass zu stehen haben.
Um den allerdings amtlich bestätigt zu bekommen, muss man auch den Nachweis erbringen, dass man ein Künstler ist. Was einst bei Fußball-Profi Andreas Neuendorf von Hertha BSC gelang, der sich als Maler verdingen musste, um unter seinem Spitznamen "Zecke" auflaufen zu dürfen, wollte nun auch Abraham schaffen. Also nahm sich der Sauerland-Boxer Papier und Stift und begann zu malen. Durchaus ansehenswert, das Werk, das schließlich auf dem Schreibtisch des Bezirksamtes lag. (...) Die deutschen Behörden haben das Bild des Boxers als Kunstwerk anerkannt – der Champion darf nun offiziell den Künstlernamen Arthur Abraham führen, der auch in seinen deutschen Pass eingetragen wird."

Here you can see the Arthurs painting:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[FROST]

Well, Abrahams painting is not that impressive to put it in a nice way... he better stays with boxing.