Tag Archives: Marco “Captain” Huck
Marco “Captain” Huck and Ola Afolabi Brawl to a Thrilling Draw
By Johnny Walker
In a thrilling brawl that often resembled a real-life Rocky movie, WBO cruiserweight champion Marco “Captain” Huck and Ola Afolabi beat each other to a standstill majority draw today in Erfurt, Germany. Huck retains his WBO cruiserweight title.
Afolabi started off by boxing very well, reeling off the first three rounds with a nice mix of jabs and body punches. By round three, Huck’s nose was bloodied.
Huck (r) fought valiantly against Afolabi.
After that, Huck started finding his way into the fight, scoring with his trademark flurries and slowly turning the tide in his favor.
Afolabi showed a granite chin in this fight: Huck scored with a monster uppercut in round six that stunned the British fighter, but Afolabi shook it off. In round seven, Huck rocked Afolabi with a huge right hand, but again the Brit fighter survived and even cut Huck’s left eye.
Huck punished Afolabi in round eight with uppercuts, left hooks and right crosses, and in round nine, a wild flurry from Huck had the Brit barely hanging on, and perhaps saved by the bell to end the round.
Amazingly, Afolabi came back in the tenth round and had Huck backing up as he went on the attack.
The fighters traded hard blows in the eleventh, and by the final frame, both men were on the verge of exhaustion. The bout now resembled a Rocky movie, as both wilted boxers stood and delivered bombs to each other’s faces. Again, Afolabi appeared hurt and ready to go, but somehow he held on and this exciting bout came to an end.
The finals scores were 114-114 twice, and 115-113 for Huck, a majority draw. Boxing Insider scored the fight 116-112 for Huck.
The next question for the exciting Huck (34-2-1, 25 KOs), who appeared to defeat WBA regular heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin in his last fight only to lose by a majority decision, is whether to continue to ply his trade as a cruiserweight, or move up to heavyweight for good.
Afolabi’s (19-2-4, 9 KOs) stock also now rises, and a trilogy with Huck may be in the offing if the latter decides to stay at cruiser.
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Captain Huck to Remain Sailing in Cruiserweight Waters…For Now
By Johnny Walker
Marco Huck (r) will stay a cruiserweight for now
After Marco “Captain” Huck (pronounced “Hook”) of Germany (34-2, 25 KOs) battered WBA “regular” heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin around the ring a few weeks ago and was deprived of what seemed to many observers to be a clear victory, it was thought the WBO cruiserweight champion would continue to sail his ship in the choppy waters of boxing’s heavyweight divison.
However, due to pressure from his promoter Wilfried Sauerland, the Captain will for the time being return to cruiserweight, and face Ola Afolabi (19-2-3, 9 KOs).
We believe that defending his WBO Cruiserweight Title is the best thing for Marco to do,” Wilfried Sauerland said in a press release. “At the age of 27 he is still very young for a boxer. He can always move up to heavyweight later.”
Huck himself had wanted to remain at heavyweight, and who can blame him?
Many “experts” thought Huck would get blown out, knocked cold by Povetkin, but instead it was the lethargic Russian who came within a hair of getting stopped, as the Captain bashed hard right hands into his face over and over again in the second half of their bout.
“I would have loved to remain at heavyweight but my team convinced me to stay at cruiserweight for the time being,” Huck says.
“That´s fine for me. I am happy to continue my domination and keep destroying opponents. I will start with Afolabi. He is a dangerous fighter but he has no chance against me.”
Afolabi is no pushover, and here’s hoping that Marco Huck can get himself motivated for this matchup, having already defeated the British fighter by a UD back in 2009.
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Alexander Povetkin Defends WBA Title in Questionable Majority Decision over Marco Huck
By Johnny Walker
WBA “regular” heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin was awarded a majority decision win in Stuttgart, Germany, today after being battered around the ring by WBO cruiserweight king Marco “Captain” Huck for the second half of a thrilling heavyweight title fight.
The judges’ final tallies were 114-114, 116-113, and 116-112, but the scores could have easily been reversed.
Boxing Insider’s heavyweight division scribes had it scored in favor of Huck, 117-113 (JW) and 116-114 (PA).
Both fighters came out wary, Huck taking the opening round with some hard left jabs and a trademark flurry that got Povetkin’s attention. Povetkin came roaring back in round two, landing some hard hooks to Huck’s torso, and continued attacking in round three, scoring with a big uppercut and some nice three-punch combinations. It seemed that Povetkin might now be taking over the fight with his heavyweight power.
Huck, however, turned the tide once again in this seesaw affair in round four, leaving Povetkin on shaky legs–for the first of many times–with another flurry of punches. Povetkin now started what would be a continual pattern of bending forward and ducking down low to avoid Huck’s onslaught, leaving the German with nowhere to punch except the back of the Russian’s head. Huck now got the first of what would be numerous warnings from the invasive referee Luis Pabon, who had a negative impact on this fight with his one-sided approach. Not once would Povetkin be reprimanded for his tactics.
Povetkin was already starting to tire in round five, and Huck smartly started to throw uppercuts to try to catch the champion in the act of bending forward. Huck was also still landing some clean, hard jabs that were taking the steam out of Povetkin’s attack. Povetkin rallied in a close round six, landing some thudding body shots on the challenger, but Huck came back at the end of the round with three hard right hands.
Round seven seemed to this writer a pivotal one in the fight. Huck rocked Povetkin with a hard left, and the Russian again tried to bend low. Huck, however, kept pressing and flurried Povetkin, who now was staggering around the ring in a daze, almost going to the mat. Huck ran out of time, or he might have been able to finish Povetkin off then and there.
Round eight saw Huck start off with three stiff left jabs, but Povetkin, now clearly winded, connected with a hard straight right at the end of the round. Povetkin was breathing hard through his mouth in round nine as Huck stepped on the gas, landing an assortment of uppercuts, overhand rights and stiff left jabs. This pattern continued through rounds ten and eleven, as Povetkin looked as if he might collapse from utter exhaustion. Both fighters traded hard shots after the bell in the penultimate round.
Povetkin valiantly tried to rally and save his title in the final round, backing up the challenger with a flurry of punches. Now suffering from a couple of facial cuts and contusions, Huck nevertheless again rallied to land a succession of hard, flush right hands that had Povetkin reeling around the ring: if nothing else, the Russian demonstrated a great chin in this fight. Huck crashed a final huge right hand into Povetkin’s face at the bell, and it seemed that there would be a new WBA “regular” heavyweight champion.
Somewhat perplexingly, though, the judges disagreed, handing the majority decision to the champion. But to paraphrase HBO boxing commentator Jim Lampley, it would be fair in this case to say that while Povetkin (24-0, 16 KOs), won the fight, the brave challenger Marco “Captain” Huck (34-2, 25 KOs) won the event.
A rematch is definitely in order here.
