By Dave Lahr: Fresh off his impressive 12-round unanimous decision victory over Victor Emilio Ramirez last Saturday night in Germany, the new World Boxing Organization cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (26-1, 20 KO’s) will be fighting the WBO interim cruiserweight title holder Ola Afolabi (14-1, 6 KO’s) on December 5th, at a still unknown location in Germany.
Huck, 24, looked very good in defeating Ramirez, taking his best shots and answering back with powerful shots of his own. Huck fought a disciplined fight using movement and strategic clinching to foil the pressure oriented Ramirez. However, Huck wasn’t in the least afraid to mix it up with Ramirez at any time and stood his ground often, firing big right hands and uppercuts at Ramirez.
Huck kept his composure in the early rounds when Ramirez was at his strongest as he rushed Huck again and again, trying to land big hooks. Most of the time, Huck was able to get out of the way of Ramirez’s big power shots. But he was also hit with them quite a few times, as well. Huck took them well without getting hurt or knocked down.
Afolabi, 29, has been sitting idle for the past five months since pulling off something of an upset in an 9th round TKO win over former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Macarinelli in March.
Afolabi was kind of a hidden gem at the time of the fight, as few boxing fans had heard much about him until he pulled off this win. Afolabi had beaten American prospect Eric Fields last year in a 10th round TKO in April, but beyond that, nothing that Afolabi had done in his seven year pro career suggested that he would beat Macarinelli.
However, Afolabi took advantage of Enzo’s weak chin by hurting him first in the 3rd round with a big right hand, and then knocking Macarinelli out in the 9th round with a big right hand. In between those rounds, Afolabi did very little, mostly resting on the ropes and throwing an occasional pot shot.
Afolabi’s career, like his ring activity, has been conducted at a slow leisurely pace since he turned pro in 2002. Afolabi was defeated by Allan Green in a one-sided four round decision in March 2003. After that, Afolabi stayed busy until 2006, and then took three years off from boxing before coming back in 2008 with a win over Fields.
If Huck and Afolabi were to fight right now, I would give the nod to Huck. He’s not a weak chinned fighter like Macarinelli and is much more rugged than him. Huck is the type of fighter that could stand in front of Afolabi and outwork him without having to worry about his chin giving out on him the way that Macarinelli did.
Afolabi would have a chance if he could limit Huck’s work rate somehow by clinching or moving, However, Afolabi has never been much of a mover in any of his fights and he typically doesn’t do a lot of clinching.
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