It is official! The fight between WBO Titlist Marco Huck (35-2-1, 25 KOs) and interim champion Ola Afolabi (19-2-4, 9 KOs) is going to be staged on June 8 in Berlin, Germany at the Max-Schmeling-Halle. “I’m glad that we have finally arrived at this point. I will be fighting in my backyard,” said an excited Huck ahead of the highly anticipated championship clash.
The first time the pair have met inside the ring was back in December of 2009 in Ludwigsburg, Germany. Back then, the prodigy of Coach Ulli Wegner won a hard fought battle after twelve rounds by unanimous decision with scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112 to his name. After Huck’s brief spell as a heavyweight in a world title fight against WBA King Alexander Povetkin and with Afolabi recapturing the interim title, they met once again on May 5 of last year. The rematch in Erfurt, Germany again went the whole distance and the bout ended in a majority draw (114-114, 114-114 and 115-113), resulting in Afolabi keeping his WBO mandatory position.
Originally, Don King won the purse bid to Huck vs. Afolabi III, but the right to host the fight was handed down by the WBO to Sauerland Event. King failed to finalize necessary details within a set period. Hence Team Sauerland, the second highest bidder during February´s purse bid will now put on the show instead.
Sauerland Event’s Managing Director Chris Meyer: “After that was all set, we quickly came to an agreement with Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, who is looking after the interests of Afolabi. The fight will take place in Berlin on June 8.”
WBO Cruiserweight Champion Marco Huck is excited about fighting in his home city of Berlin. “Ola Afolabi is a tough nut to crack. However, he won’t be causing me that much trouble again. I will prove who is the best in Berlin,” promised the 28-year-old.
Tickets for the big fight night at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin, Germany are available from May 3 onwards. Tickets can be purchased at www.eventim.de and www.boxen.com.
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.
