By Ian S Palmer
WBO Cruiserweight Champion Marco Huck of Serbia will be taking on unbeaten Krzystof Glowacki of Poland this Friday, August 14th in a 12-round bout at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. This is another Premier Boxing Champions production and it can be seen live in the U.S. and Canada on Spike TV. Huck has spent his career fighting out of Germany and this will be his first appearance in the U.S. He’s been a titleholder for close to seven years and his only loss as a cruiserweight came to American Steve Cunningham back in 2008 via 12th-round stoppage. However, he also lost in a foray into the heavyweight division when Alexander Povetkin beat him by majority decision in 2012. This will be his first fight in a year.
The 30-year-old Huck enters the ring with a mark of 38-2-1 with 28 Kos while the 29-year-old Glowacki is perfect at 24-0 and has 15 Kos to his name. Glowacki lacks in experience, but has beaten a couple of decent opponents in Nuri Seferi and Thierry Karl. There’s a lot at stake for Huck in this fight as he’s defending his title for the 14th time and has a 20-fight winning streak on the line as a cruiserweight. If he’s successful on Friday, Huck will hold the cruiserweight record for title defenses, which he currently shares with Britain’s Johnny Nelson. Huck stands 6-feet-2-inches tall and has a 77-inch reach. He turned pro in 2004, has fought 293 rounds and has a knockout ratio of 63 per cent.
Glowacki is a southpaw who stands 6-feet tall with an unlisted reach. He has 128 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2008 and also has a 63 per cent knockout ratio. Like Huck, Glowacki has been fighting exclusively in Europe against mainly European opposition. He has good power and a solid chin and should be able to give Huck a decent run for his money. However, he needs to be prepared for Huck’s volume punching ability. The champion is aggressive, likes to attack and move forward and throws caution to the wind, making him a fan-friendly boxer.
Huck doesn’t really care too much about the finer points of boxing as he’s always looking to end things before giving the judges the chance to tabulate their scorecards. However, he needs to be careful that he doesn’t walk into one of Glowacki’s power shots. This bout could produce some fireworks and it may turn into a brawl. If it does, then each fighter’s chin is going to be one of the deciding factors. Huck wants to impress the American fans, but he can’t afford to get reckless while doing so.
Prediction
This is a good matchup between a pair of fine European boxers. It’ll give them both a chance to show North American fans what they’re made of and has the potential for being an exciting fight. We have a world champion trying to set a division record against an undefeated opponent and this makes it tough to call. If Huck’s chin is as tough as it usually is though, fans should look for him to take an exciting fight via a close decision or late stoppage to set a new cruiserweight mark of 14 successful defences.
