By Jim Dower: After waiting for 2 1/2 years to get another shot against WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (34-2, 25 KO’s), challenger WBO interim cruiserweight champ Ola Afolabi (19-2-3, 9 KO’s) will finally be getting his rematch next month on May 5th at the Messhalle, in Erfurt, Germany. This an important fight for the 32-year-old Afolabi, because if he loses this one, it may take another two or more years for Afolabi to get another chance.

The May 5th card in Erfurt is loaded with quality fights from top to bottom. In addition to the Huck-Afolabi rematch, there will also be WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz defending his title against #3 WBO George Groves, and as well as huge heavyweight contenders Alexander Dimitrenko facing Kubrat Pulev. Those are three good fights and it should be interesting to see who win those fights.

Afolabi has really improved since losing a 12 round unanimous decision to Huck in December 2009. With Afolabi doing a lot of sparring with IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, Afolabi is much more polished compared to the fighter he was in 2009 when he lost to Huck. Afolabi has really developed his jab and he throws it a lot to control his opponents. He’s throwing much more combinations compared to then and not just looking for one big shot. Afolabi also doesn’t have the bad habit of clowning around and fighting with his back against the ropes, which is something he liked to do and it cost him in the Huck fight in 2009.

Afolabi has won his last five bouts since the Huck defeat. Recently, Afolabi defeated cruiserweight contender Valery Brudov by a 5th round stoppage to capture the interim WBO cruiserweight title last month on March 3rd.

Huck, 27, moved up in weight to battle for the WBA heavyweight title against champion Alexander Povetkin last February. A lot of boxing fans thought Huck should have won the fight, but it’s a debatable topic. Povetkin, who looked out of shape, really worked Huck over towards the end of the fight and was the aggressor through. Huck didn’t help himself by throwing a lot of rabbit punches in the fight and not using his left hand much. He fought like someone who had never developed his left at all, and that obviously didn’t help because he telegraphed everything he threw.