Last seen losing via tenth-round TKO to Oleksandr Usyk in the cruiserweight WBSS tournament, former long-reigning WBO 200 pound champ Marco Huck says he is not finished and that he can be expected to be back in the ring next year – possibly up at heavyweight.
Speaking with German newspaper BILD, 32 year old Huck said moving up to heavyweight is “an option.”
“Yeah,” he said on the subject of moving up to the heavyweight division.”That is an option. After the career of Wladimir Klitschko [ended] there is much movement in the royal division of the sport of boxing. I’ll be back in the ring next year. I do not want to stop [my career] because of a loss to Usyk.”
Fans may recall the time Huck, 40-5-1(27) tried his hand up at heavyweight – when he challenged defending WBA heavyweight champ Alexander Povetkin in February of 2012. One exciting 12 round slugfest later, Huck was a loser via majority decision. Still, “Kapn’ Huck” acquitted himself well, even appearing to be deserving of the win in the eyes of some fans.
That was a long time ago now though – and ten tough fights ago. Huck is still young enough on paper at age 32, but he has engaged in a number of hard, hard fights and it’s unclear how much he has left to offer. Huck may feel he was somewhat weight drained against Usyk and that he needs a change, a fresh approach, but all the wear and tear he has endured will not go away.
Huck, an exciting, heart of his sleeve warrior of the highest order, would no doubt be able to find fights as a heavyweight, but at just 6’2 he would be giving away too much against the bigger heavyweights. A return fight between Huck and Povetin would in all probability sell, but Huck needs at least one tune-up win as a heavyweight first.
Huck may also need a good, long rest before he fights again. Since the August 2015 KO loss at the hands of Krzysztof Glowacki (yet another war involving Huck), the former WBO boss has fought four times: winning two and losing two; so that’s four tough fights in less than two years. Huck now has ideas of testing his heart, his mettle and his chin against heavyweights, but this could be a step too far for even as courageous a warrior as the man who first became a world champ way back in the summer of 2009.