Marco Huck interested in Wilder and Klitschko when he moves up to heavyweight

By Boxing News - 08/12/2015 - Comments

Image: Marco Huck interested in Wilder and Klitschko when he moves up to heavyweightPhoto credit: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment) By Scott Gilfoid: WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (38-2-1, 26 KOs) has his sights set on some big game when he eventually moves up to the heavyweight division in the near future. Huck says he wants to fight WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) and IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs).

Huck, 30, sees those two as guys he’d be very interested in fighting. Huck also has unfinished business with former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin, who beat him by a narrow 12 round majority decision in 2012. However, the 6’2” Povetkin is a short heavyweight, and the things that Huck was able to get away with in fighting Povetkin at close range aren’t things that he’d be able to do against the much taller Wilder and Klitschko.

With them, Huck would have to be content with trying to land shots when they miss their own punches and come within punching range. Even then, Huck would only have a fraction of a second to get a shot off before they grab him in a clinch.

“When I eventually go back up to heavyweight I want to fight the top guys right away. Maybe I’ll go fight Deontay Wilder, that is definitely an interesting option,” Huck said.

It’s nice that Huck wants to go after the 6’7” Deontay in his first fight at heavyweight, but that’s not how it works. It might have worked that way for Huck when he fought Povetkin in 2012, but that was because he was fighting a European based heavyweight with a promoter who saw it as worthwhile to fight him in Europe. Wilder fights in the United States, and his adviser Al Haymon might not see it as worthwhile to fight an ex-cruiserweight who the casual boxing fans in America have no clue about. Huck might have to actually work his way up the food chain to where he becomes Wilder’s No.1 WBC mandatory challenger before he’s given a shot at his WBC because there’s not going to be any freebies for Huck when it comes to him getting a shot at Wilder.

“When I go back up eventually I don’t want to fight any bums,” said Huck via RingTV.com. “I want to fight the big guys right away. I’ve been mentioning Klitschko for a number of years now. So far he’s dodged the bullet. Maybe I’ll go up and fight Deontay Wilder, he’s also an interesting option. Sleeping time,” said Huck of Wilder.

Huck needs to realize that it works both ways. Yeah, he could maybe KO Deontay if he landed the perfect shot, but that works for anyone in boxing. If you land the perfect shot, you’ll score a knockout. But at the same token, if Wilder lands one of his right hand bombs, he’s going to KO Huck. With Wilder’s superior punching power, hand speed, size, left hook, and athleticism, it would be in Wilder’s favor to be the guy that lands the huge punch in their fight. Huck hasn’t fought a big heavyweight yet with huge power. Huck’s only experience at heavyweight was against a small heavyweight in 225lb Povetkin. He’s not a huge puncher by any means. Povetkin throws with moderate power and he gets most of his knockouts by landing an accumulation of blows against mostly shorter heavyweights.

Huck will be fighting this Friday night on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN against No.1 WBO Krzysztof Glowacki (24-0, 15 KOs) in a 12 round bout at the Prudential Center, inn Newark, New Jersey. The Huck-Glowacki fight will be on the undercard of the heavyweight fight between two aging heavyweights in Antonio Tarver and Steve Cunningham. Honestly, those are the guys that Huck needs to target when he eventually moves up to the heavyweight division in the future, as long as he doesn’t take too long in moving up.

Tarver is 46-years-old and Cunningham 39. Obviously, Huck can’t wait another 5 years to make his move to the heavyweight division because then Tarver will be 51 and Cunningham 44, and it won’t even be sporting at that time for them to fight.

There’s really not much for Huck to do at cruiserweight, and it’s surprising he’s stayed in the division all this time. Huck should have stayed at heavyweight after losing to Povetkin, because he fought well enough in that fight to carve out a good living fighting guys like Klitchko. Huck would have done well by this point, and likely made more money than he’s made as the WBO cruiserweight champion.



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