By Sean McDaniel: WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (32-1, 23 KO’s) isn’t taking any chances that he might get beat by taking on the lowest rank contender possible Hugo Garay (34-5, 18 KO’s) on July 16th at the Olympia-Eissportzentrum in Munich, Germany. Garay, 30, is ranked at no. 15 by the World Boxing Organization, making him a fringe contender for Huck’s optional defense.

This isn’t exactly a dangerous fight for Huck, as Garay has lost two out of his last four fights and was stopped in the 1st round last year by Chris Henry. However, Huck is incredibly lucky to still be the WBO champion after winning a very, very questionable 12 round split decision while fighting at home in Germany against number #1 challenger Denis Lebedev last year in December. Very few people saw Huck winning that fight, even German boxing fans. Huck opted not to clear up the controversy and instead moved on and fought contender Ran Nakash in his last fight, winning by a 12 round decision in April.

Huck is now facing Argentinian Garay, who previously held the World Boxing Association (WBA) light heavyweight title from 2008 to 2009, losing the title to Gabriel Campillo by a 12 round decision in June 2009. Garay was knocked out in the 1st round in his next fight against Henry in March 2010. Since then, Garay has moved up in weight to the cruiserweight division and defeated to obscure fighters Marcelo Leandro Da Silva and Martin David Islas in his last two fights.

Huck is considered to be the best fighter in the cruiserweight division by a lot of boxing fans, although it’s difficult to see him as the best fighter when you look at his bout against Lebedev. I had Lebedev winning that fight by 9 rounds to 3. Huck didn’t throw enough punches and was nailed all night long.

Huck should beat Garay without any problems. I can’t see him knocking him out, because Garay can usually take a good shot when he’s not weight drained.