Marco Huck to stay at Cruiser and have rematch with Afolabi

Marco Huck had a decision to make: Remain at heavyweight after an impressive but controversial loss in his debut in the weight class or return to cruiserweight to continue to defend his world title.

Under deadline pressure, Huck made the call on Thursday, electing to return to cruiserweight.

Germany's Huck moved up to heavyweight on Feb. 25 to challenge titlist Alexander Povetkin of Russia and gave him all kinds of problems. He staggered him multiple times and landed his overhand right nearly at will. However, the judges awarded Povetkin a majority decision that many believed Huck rightfully deserved.

After the fight, Huck (34-2, 25 KOs) had 10 days to inform the WBO about his intentions regarding his title. He got a brief extension and after talking with promoter Wilfried Sauerland, trainer Ulli Wegner and Chris Meyer and Hagen Doering of Sauerland Event, Huck made the decision to continue at cruiserweight, where he has made eight title defenses since winning the belt in 2009.

Huck's next fight will come against interim titleholder Ola Afolabi, who knocked out Valery Brudov in the fifth round to claim the vacant interim belt on last Saturday's Wladimir Klitschko-Jean-Marc Mormeck undercard. Had Huck stayed at heavyweight, Afolabi would have become the full titlist.

"I would have loved to remain at heavyweight but my team convinced me to stay at cruiserweight for the time being," Huck said. "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."

In Huck's first title defense in December 2009, he narrowly outpointed Afolabi (19-2-3, 9 KOs), who has won all five of his fights since.

A Povetkin-Huck rematch remains a possibility down the road. Povetkin is next due to face former champion Hasim Rahman in a mandatory title defense. Sauerland said that means the earliest date for a potential Povetkin-Huck rematch would not be until the fall, which means Huck could face Afolabi, 31, and then return to heavyweight.

"We believe that defending his WBO cruiserweight title is the best thing for Marco to do," Sauerland said. "At the age of 27 he is still very young for a boxer. He can always move up to heavyweight later."

Sauerland said he is in talks with Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, which promotes Afolabi, about a fight with Huck.

hardcorebee24 wrote:What a pussy.

captainanddew wrote:

hardcorebee24 wrote:What a pussy.

he isn't a pussy. Sauerland tells you that you can go down, get a nice payday, fight your mandatory that you have beaten before, and then after Povetkin beats Rahman, you can have your rematch.


It isn't as if Huck is old and fighting scrubs. He has plenty of time left.

I too would like to see Huck vs Hernandez, but I think he is going back to HW very soon for a return shot against Povetkin.

We all know Povetkin won't face a Klitschko soon, so a Huck rematch makes sense late 2012.

gomez1012 wrote:Huck vs Adamek

captainanddew wrote:

hardcorebee24 wrote:What a pussy.

he isn't a pussy. Sauerland tells you that you can go down, get a nice payday, fight your mandatory that you have beaten before, and then after Povetkin beats Rahman, you can have your rematch.


It isn't as if Huck is old and fighting scrubs. He has plenty of time left.

I too would like to see Huck vs Hernandez, but I think he is going back to HW very soon for a return shot against Povetkin.

We all know Povetkin won't face a Klitschko soon, so a Huck rematch makes sense late 2012.

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

gomez1012 wrote:Huck vs Adamek

Didn't you hear......Adamek wasn't himself against Vitali and wants another crack

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:wants another paycheck!

gomez1012 wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:wants another paycheck!

What's sad is, he'll probably get a fight with Wlad. He just has to do what Arreola is doing. Fight bums and wait.

Dan Rafael
(1:26 PM)


I was critical of that decision beforehand. I thought it was horrible that Ring dropped Huck just because he was going to fight a heavyweight fight. Boxing is littered with examples of guys taking a fight in a division above and then returning. But he had been ranked No. 1 and never ever should have been dropped until after the outcome of the fight and his decision on what he wanted to do. Instead, Ring played like a sanctioning body because it was so anxious to fill a title since No.2 and 3 were fighting (Hernandez and Cunningham). It was a short sited decision and I cannot be any harsher in my view of it. Just dumbfounded by it. Bad job. And now they are stuck with a so-called cruiserweight champion when the longtime No. 1 guy is still in the weight class. The cruiser title it handed out has zero credibility to me

dmar5143 wrote:i saw that article the other day and fat dan is 100 percent correct.

GrantZilla wrote:No win. People complain about all The Ring vacancies, then complain when they fill them. Cunningham already beat Huck. Had Huck got the decision he deserved against Povetkin, he wouldn't be coming back to Cruiser.

People complained that the Ring didn't make Margs-Mosley for the belt because Williams was still in the rankings at Welter, even though Williams had moved up to Jr Middle.

If The Ring did not make Cunningham-Hernandez for the belt because of Huck, and Huck won against Povetkin and was going to stay at HW, people would be bitching.

GrantZilla wrote:Yeah. Guys like Hauser ect have stated The Ring's criteria for Ring champs is unrealistic in todays boxing, and why there are so many vacancies. Sadily, it's true.

It's almost impossible to get # 1 and # 2 fighter to actually get into the damn ring and fight. Last year I posted on how things were setting up to get atleast 4 vacancies filled. Only one happened at Super Middle.

People complained that Bradley-Alexander was not for The Ring belt, because Khan was in the mix. Bradley was suppose to fight Khan after the Alexander fight, but how'd that work out?

Gamboa-Lopez were # 1 and # 2 last year, and we know what happened to Lopez. Now it's Gamboa and John at # 1 and # 2. Which means, vacancy at Feather will never be filled. John will never fight Gamboa. He'll rather fight cans in Indonesia

GrantZilla wrote:No win. People complain about all The Ring vacancies, then complain when they fill them. Cunningham already beat Huck. Had Huck got the decision he deserved against Povetkin, he wouldn't be coming back to Cruiser.

People complained that the Ring didn't make Margs-Mosley for the belt because Williams was still in the rankings at Welter, even though Williams had moved up to Jr Middle.

If The Ring did not make Cunningham-Hernandez for the belt because of Huck, and Huck won against Povetkin and was going to stay at HW, people would be bitching.

SlickMoney wrote:On another note will they drop Floyd from the 147 rankings for taking a fight at 154?