By Jason Kim: WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (32-1, 23 KO’s) has decided to pick off one of the low lying cruiserweight contenders when he faces the number #15 ranked WBO contender Hugo Hernan Garay (34-5, 18 KO’s) next month on July 16th at the Olympia-Eissportzentrum, in Munich, Germany.

Huck, 26, hasn’t been in any great hurry to fight a rematch with number #1 WBO contender Denis Lebedev after winning a very, very controversial 12 round split decision over Lebedev last year in December, a fight that took place in Huck’s adopted country of Germany. Huck appeared to lose that fight in my eyes by a 9 rounds to 3 score.

In his last fight, Huck took on the little known contender Ran Nakash and beat him by a 12 round unanimous decision last April. It was hoped that Huck would then step it up and fight Lebedev again. But in picking the bottom ranked Garay to fight, it looks like Huck is opting to milk his World Boxing Organization title for a while before he has no other choice but to fight Lebedev or else get stripped of his title.

Garay, 30, has lost two out of his last four fights with one of them being a 1st round knockout loss to Chris Henry. How a recent record like that qualifies Garay for a title shot is beyond me. This isn’t the kind of opponent that Huck should be fighting. If he’s not eager to face Lebedev again, Huck should at the minimum be facing a guy that’s winning more than losing as of late. Alexander Frenkel, an unbeaten knockout puncher, would be a great fight or Lateef Kayode. Garay did beat Jurgen Braehmer three years ago by a 12 round decision. However, Garay was beaten by Gabriel Campillo in his next fight in 2009, followed by a knockout loss to Henry. In his last two bouts, Garay has beaten 2nd tier fighters Marcelo Leandro Da Silva and Martin David Islas.

I would have liked Huck-Garay three years ago before Garay started getting beaten on a regular basis, but there’s not point in this fight happening now. Garay is no longer relevant and this is little more than a milk job for Huck.