Marco Huck (33-1, 24 KOs) defended his WBO Cruiserweight Title in dramatic fashion on Saturday night, knocking out tough challenger Hugo Hernan Garay (34-6, 18 KOs) after ten action-filled rounds. It was a spectacular encounter from the first bell on, with Huck flattening his opponent with a big right in the first round. Garay seemed unimpressed and kept coming at Huck. Both fighters landed hard combinations to body and head in almost every round, but the pace remained high as the brutal battle continued. Huck used his power to counter Garay´s aggressive combinations, with both man landing. The champion took over in the late rounds when his hooks, uppercuts und body punches wore Garay down. In the tenth, the 26-year-old German landed a series of brutal punches to knock Garay down and out. “This was a great win for me,” Huck said. “It was the first time my future wife and my mother were ringside, so I really wanted to impress them. Garay was extremely tough, he just kept coming at me. But I wanted to please my family and my great fans. I was too strong for Garay but I have to give him credit – he was a very, very tough opponent. Now I will get married as world champion. What more can you ask for.”
Garay was disappointed he could not take home the belt after a great fight. “I did not see his last punch coming,” he said. “I thought I could beat him but he is a great champion with a lot of power. I will come back from this defeat.”
Huck´s coach Ulli Wegner praised his fighter for a “strong performance.” He stated: “There was so much pressure on Marco this time out and I am proud that he found a way to deal with it. It does not happen too often but I´m quite happy with his performance. Now he can have a great wedding.”
Hall-of-Fame Promoter Wilfried Sauerland lauded Huck´s spectacular style. “Whenever Marco steps through the ropes the fans are treated to entertaining and explosive fight,” he said. “He clinched a spectacular win and once again proved his worth. He is fun to watch and his power is amazing. He has great things ahead – he is still very young.”
In the co-featured main event, Eduard Gutknecht (22-1, 9 KOs) made a first defence of his European Light Heavyweight Title with a clear points victory over Lorenzo di Giacomo (41-5, 18 KOs). Gutknecht was ahead 120-105, 119-107 and 119-107 after 12 rounds. Up-and-coming middleweight sensation Dominik Britsch (24-0, 9 KOs) also clinched the vacant IBF Intercontinental Middleweight Title with a ninth-round TKO victory over Ryan Davis (23-9, 3 KOs). A powerful combination sent the American down for the referee to stop the contest, which had been dominated by Britsch. Heavyweight hopeful Kubrat Pulev (13-0, 6 KOs) continued his march up the rankings with a clear points victory over Maksym Pediura (13-2, 11 KOs).
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
