By Erik Schmidt: Cruiserweight contender Marco Huck (24-1, 19 KOs) successfully defended his EBU (European) cruiserweight title tonight with a 3rd round TKO of Belgian challenger Geoffrey Battelo (18-1, 15 KOs) at the Erdgas Arena, in Riesa, Sachsen, Germany. Huck, 24, knocked Battelo down with a right uppercut in the 3rd round just as Battelo was trying to land a right uppercut of his own.
After Battelo got up, Huck finished him off with a left hook to the head. Referee Guido Cavalleri stepped in and stopped the fight at 2:57 with Battelo looking badly hurt and still standing, leaning against the ropes.
Huck, ranked #3 in the IBF, and #6 in both the WBA and WBC, fought with much more patience than he typically fights, even seeming passive at times in the fight. However, as the fight moved out of the 1st round, Huck periodically attacked Battelo wildly, missing more often than not but landing enough to get the better of Battelo.
For his part, Battelo was the aggressor throughout the fight but he lacked power and his boxing skills were very basic, often repetitive as he attacked with jabs and left-right combinations in the same pattern every time out.
The 1st round was very close, with Battelo, 29, controlling much of the round with his jabs and occasional right hands. Huck mostly backed up and tried to block Battelo’s shots and didn’t do anything until near the end of the round when Huck suddenly came rushing forward and threw a flurry of wild, clubbing punches. Most missed, but was able to get a couple of right hands through Battelo’s guard.
As always, Huck looked amateurish and nothing like a top level fighter as he wildly came rushing forward. However, Huck’s style of fighting, a product of him being a former Taekwondo World Champion, was effective against Battelo.
At least Huck wasn’t making the same mistake that he always does in his fights where he retreats to the ropes every time he’s attacked and covers up like a glorified sparring partner. This time, Huck seemed to catch himself each time he was attacked and would instinctively back up to the ropes but would have the presence of mind to get immediately off the ropes to avoid taking punishment.
In the 2nd round, Battelo continued with his jabbing. He tried to throw power shots but missed with most of his attempts because he was badly telegraphing his shots by throwing them too early. Huck showed some nifty moves by hitting Battelo a couple of times in the round while retreating backwards.
In the last seconds of the round, Huck came charging forward in his typical out of control style and landed good left hand followed by a couple of misses and then another left hand followed by a right. It wasn’t pretty but more than enough for him to win the round.
In the 3rd round, Huck resorted to some rough stuff at the start of the round, wrestling Battelo out of position and then nailing him with right hands. Huck began throwing a lot of punches, attacking Battelo wildly with flurries, missing most of the shots but connecting with one or two of the ten or so thrown. His form looked nothing short of terrible, but against the limited Battelo, it was effective.
Near the end of the round, Huck and Battelo both threw right uppercuts at the same time with Huck’s getting there first, hurting Battelo badly and sending him to the canvas. He staggered to his feet seconds later, falling back against the ropes and needing to lean on them for support as the referee checked him over.
Once the fight was allowed to continue, Huck came forward and threw a flurry of shots, missing two of them but connecting with two left hands to the head. The referee, perhaps not liking the way that Huck’s second left hook snapped Battelo’s head back, stopped the fight at 2:57 of the round.