WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck 27-1 (20) tonight outpointed interim champion
Ola Afolabi 14-2-3 (6) at Arena, Ludwigsburg, Germany. This writer found the fight
to be a compelling battle but not a classic.
In the first round, Olafabi used a jab and move style against Huck who seemed quite cautious. However Huck showed his game plan early, which was to box on the retreat and rely on powerful but brief flurries to make this fight a nightmare (in my opinion) to score. Several times in the first few rounds Huck landed big punches which were roared on by the crowd but these punches seemed better than they were simply because of Olafabi’s poor balance. So the pattern of the fight developed with Olafabi doing good work in patches and Huck looking to throw big punches.
Olafabi worked a lot harder tonight than he did in his fight with Enzo Macaranelli but still retreated to the ropes too often when Huck worked. The German crowd were also treated to Olafabi’s normal showboating routines of shaking the shoulders, Ali shuffles and smiling whenever Huck landed. After 4 rounds this writer had Huck winning clearly but in the 5th Olafabi landed a good punch which seemed to stun Huck and in the 6th Huck was already starting to breath heavily although he threw lots of punches in the last few seconds to probably win the round.
Halfway through the fight it looked like Alofabi could possibly come through and win the fight but he either couldn’t or wouldn’t give that final 10% that was needed. Huck for his part, willed himself forward and threw so many punches in the final 20 seconds of each round that it often made the difference in close rounds. The 7th probably belonged to Olafabi although Huck did land one huge punch which forced Olafabi into his clowning routine. The 8th and 9th rounds were tough to score with Olafabi working well but Huck seemingly imposing his will at important times.
There seemed to be a deliberate head butt from Olafabi in the 10th but neither Huck nor the referee seemed to hardly notice and although both landed good punches I thought Olafabi had done enough and Huck looked very tired. Both the 11th and 12th were close rounds although the crowd went wild in the 11th when Huck landed a good combination which caused Olafabi to lose his balance, although he wasn’t hurt.
So after 12 rounds it seemed a close fight and I was surprised when I tallied my scorecard that I had Huck ahead by the wide margin of 116-112. The official judges were in similar agreement and scored the bout 115-113 twice and 116-112, all for Huck.
So Huck goes on to bigger and better things, but there does seem to be a little vulnerability about him. As for where Alofabi goes, I really don’t know but I still feel after watching this bout (on high quality web stream) that he could’ve won this bout but wasn’t prepared to give his absolute all. Maybe I am being a bit harsh but it just seemed Alofabi could have delivered that bit more.
On the undercard unbeaten heavyweight prospect Alexander Povetkin 18-0 (13) returned to the ring for the first time in 8 months and for the first time under new trainer Teddy Atlas. Povetkin took on American Leo Nolan 27-2 (10)
Povetkin still looked a bit heavy for his frame at 230 lbs but was always a step above the outclassed Nolan. Povetkin forced Nolan into the ropes several times in the first 2 rounds and unloaded punches but looked in no hurry to end the fight.
Povertkin came out with more serious intentions in the third round and with less than a minute to go, dropped Nolan quite heavily. Nolan got up gamely at 7 but was soon manoeuvred back to the ropes. Povetkin finished the job with a cracking right uppercut, left hook combination which dropped Nolan against the ropes. Nolan’s corner man tried to enter the ring to signal the end but the referee ushered him away before completing the count. Povetkin looked a little more patient than in previous bouts but it is difficult to gauge from this contest as to whether he has improved much under Atlas.
By JIMMY LAST (EDITOR)
