Exclusive Interview by James Slater – Marco Huck, the current WBO cruiserweight champion, faces interim WBO belt holder Ola Afolabi on December 5th, in what will be his first defence of the belt he won by out-pointing Victor Emilio Ramirez back in August. The exciting fighter known as “Kapt’n” Huck could have a tough fight against Afolabi.
Formerly of London, England and now based in California where he trains at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym (under Roach assistant Juan Carlos Martinez for the Huck fight as Freddie will be working Amir Khan’s corner Vs. Dmitriy Salita) – the loose-limbed Afolabi, at 29 the older man by four years, is definitely a clever and cute fighter who has even been compared to the great James Toney.
Having learnt his trade by sparring with such talents as the elder of the two Klitschko brothers, Michael Moorer and Toney himself, the 14-1-3(6) Afolabi sure has picked up some tricks – as he showed when he flattened Enzo Maccarinelli in his big win in March of this year, a 9th-round stoppage..
Huck, 26-1(20) says, however, that the man known as “Kryptonite” is nothing special to him – and after some of the quite amazing things he’s been through in the ring, Huck can be excused for failing to feel in any way intimidated. This is a fighter, after all, who suffered a broken jaw in his May 2008 fight with Slovakian, Frantisek Kasanic, only to hang in there and eventually stop his man in the 9th-round. A mere four months later, Huck fought again and won the European title!
Quick with a laugh as I spoke to him over the phone recently (through his interpreter Frank Bleydorn) the hard man told me he had been having quite a holiday since his August, title-winning victory over Argentina’s Ramirez.
“I began training for the Ola Afolabi fight a little late, but everything is going well and is on schedule now,” Huck informed me. “I was so happy at winning the WBO world title in the summer, I had a very long holiday afterwards (laughs).”
Training as always in the Max Schmeling gym in Berlin, as well as at another gym in Kienbaum, also in Berlin, Huck has been sparring “some young Russian fighters,” (he was unable to recall their names). But how will he approach Ola? Will we see the explosive, devil-may-care Huck, or the more controlled boxer who out-scored Ramirez?
“I will make this fight a big night and a very good fight for the public,” Huck said. “Afolabi is nothing too special to me. You can believe in me (laughs). It’s not really for me to say how good another fighter other than myself is – I know I am good. As to whether or not this will be a tough fight; we will only know for sure in the ring.”
The fight is a most meaningful one in the 200-pound ranks. Marco doesn’t go as far as to say the winner will be recognised as the best cruiserweight in the world though.
“I’m a very good cruiserweight. But I need to do more to show that I am the very best – I must win this fight and then win more fights to be able to make that claim. But of course, I do feel I will win this fight and then go on to achieve much more. I have to win.”
Huck obviously wants to keep hold of the belt he won in August (and win the other versions of the cruiserweight belts – as he spoke about later in the interview). Winning his prize meant so much to him – even to the extent that he had trouble giving me an adequately worded description of how much.
“My life has changed in so many ways since becoming a world champion. My time has come now. I can’t really express in words how much the August win meant and means to me. I have worked so hard to get where I am. My main goal now is to show to the world that I am a great fighter – a great boxer and a great fighter. I believe I will be at the top for a while. I’m a young man, of course, and I’m here to stay.”
Huck says he feels his style would go down well in America. Not yet having fought outside of Europe, with all but two of his fights taking place in his adopted home of Germany, the 25-year-old says he plans to do so post-Afolabi.
“I think I have a special style – a style the American fans will like. I look forward to fighting there. Not only that, but I think to be a true world champion you must fight all over the world. This is a big fight, and it will pave the way for even bigger fights for me.”
Barring the win over Enzo, there isn’t too much fight footage available of Afolabi (as Ola prefers it, that way rivals know next to nothing about his style). How does Huck know for sure he will be able to cope with his rival’s style and approach and win on December 5th? Has he tracked down some rare tape of Ola?
“To tell you the truth, I have only seen a little of him on You Tube. But that is not a problem. He had better make sure he watches tapes of me. He needs to be the one doing his homework. He has never fought a fighter like me! But anyway, my trainer has been watching Afolabi, and he will tell me how to approach the fight.”
So has trainer Ulli Wegner managed to get hold of some hitherto unseen footage of the interim champ?
“He has seen enough,” is all Huck would say on the matter.
Top-ranked and unbeaten American, B.J Flores, another fighter who has helped make today’s cruiserweight division an appealing one for the fans, has expressed much interest in facing the winner of Huck-Afolabi – even to the extent that he says he plans to be ringside in Germany on December 5th. Would Huck like to face the 30-year-old at a later date?
Once again showing his sense of humour, Huck gives me a quick answer.
“B.J who?,” Huck says while laughing out loud for what seems like the umpteenth time.
“No, I’m just joking. Yes, I’ve heard of him. If he wants some, yes, he can come over and fight me – but he will pick up nothing but a loss.”
A KO over Afolabi – a fighter who has never been down, much less stopped – would be some statement. A notion that has not escaped Huck.
“Of course I want a KO. I always want one whenever I fight! It’s always good scoring a knock out – good for me and good for the fans.”
Asking Marco if he wants to clean up and unify the 200-pound division, I get another quick and straightforward reply.
“Of course, isn’t that every fighter’s goal?”
Now that Tomasz Adamek is campaigning at heavyweight (for the time being at least) could Marco Huck be a fighter who is about to do that which he says every fighters aspires to do, and unify his weight class? If he gets past Afolabi he might get his chance to try.