By Michael Collins: When the Alexander Povetkin (23-0, 16 KO’s) vs. Marco Huck (34-1, 25 KO’s) fight was first signed, few boxing fans gave the 27-year-old Huck a shot at beating the former 2004 heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Povetkin.
After all, Povetkin is a natural heavyweight and has a much more extensive background in the sport compared to Huck, who is someone that was developed by his promoters from next to nothing into a world champion. If you were look at the backgrounds of the two fighters, you’d just naturally assume that Huck is going to be out of his class next month when he faces WBA heavyweight champion Povetkin on February 25th at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany.
Povetkin, however, is considered a paper champion by a lot of boxing fans and he seems to have seen his best days in the past. It’s hard to say what’s happened to him. Some fans think it’s his trainer Teddy Atlas that’s slowed him down, while others see Povetkin as starting to age and slow down. Whatever it is, he doesn’t look as he was back in 2006 and 2007. He’s not as aggressive and looks a slower. Povetkin never was a big puncher to begin with, and that’s perhaps one of the reasons he’s never been matched against one of the Klitschko brothers. He’s had a fight offered to him by IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko but decided not to take the fight.
Huck is kind of primitive fighter but he can really punch, and will likely still possess his punching power when he moves up in weight from the cruiserweight division to face Povetkin. Coming up from the cruiserweight division, Huck will have more speed than Povetkin to along with his better power. The only thing that Huck will need to beat Povetkin is a good work rate. If he can throw enough punches, he’ll win this fight. That’s what I expect him to do by beating Povetkin and then moving on to face one of the Klitschko brothers in 2012.