By Ian S Palmer
Marco Huck of Serbia and Ola Afolabi of Britain will be meeting in the ring for the third time this weekend when they square off against each other in Berlin, Germany on Saturday June 8. Huck will once again be putting his WBO Cruiserweight title on the line. The champion will enter the ring with a record of 35-2-1 with 25 Kos while Afolabi has a mark of 19-2-4 with nine Kos.
The 28-year-old Huck has been beaten by Alexander Povetkin of Russia last February in an exciting decision and by American Steve Cunningham in 2007. Huck has good hand speed and an excellent jab, but his greatest asset could be his amazing chin. He’s not the most fluid and flexible boxer around and Afolabi exposed this in their last meeting in May of 2012, which was a majority draw. Huck is most effective when he fights on the inside and uses his aggression.
The 33-year-old Afolabi has better boxing skills. He moves around the ring with ease and has pretty fast hands. He’s not really a powerful puncher, but shouldn’t be underestimated in that department though as he’s got a decent right hand. He’s lost just once in his last 21 contests and this was a decision to Huck in their first meeting in 2009. He’s won five and drawn once since that loss.
Afolabi has shown that he’s a good boxer, but he just can’t get over the hump when it comes to beating Huck. He built up a big lead in their last fight, but Huck came back strong in the second half of the bout to earn the draw. Huck will be attempting to defend his crown for the 11th time and is hoping to beat Afolabi decisively this time around.
It’s obvious that the challenger needs to do something differently to pull out a win over Huck, but it’s unlikely he’ll be able to stop the champion. He’s going to have to rely on his boxing skills and will need to make sure he doesn’t take his foot of the gas at all and allow Huck back into the fight.
Prediction
Huck can’t take Afolabi too lightly. He knows how tough the challenger can be and will need to make sure he’s focused. Huck isn’t what you’d call a refined boxer, but he doesn’t pretend to be. He usually outworks and outlands his opponents and that’s why he’s been so successful so far in his career. He’s physically and mentally strong and that has come in handy against Afolabi in their first two fights.
Huck has been fighting out of Germany since turning pro and will have the hometown crowd behind him. Some fans feel he received the benefit of the doubt when it came to the scorecards in the first two bouts with Afolabi and that could happen again unless the challenger clearly outboxes him. Look for Huck to assert himself more this time around and take another unanimous decision or stop Afolabi in the late rounds.
