Marco Huck

Marco Huck
Huck in 2008
Born	Muamer Hukić (1984-11-11) 11 November 1984 (age 39) Ugao, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	German
Other names	Käpt'n ("Captain")
Statistics
Weight(s)	Cruiserweight Heavyweight
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Reach	195 cm (77 in)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	50
Wins	43
Wins by KO	28
Losses	5
Draws	1
No contests	1

Muamer Hukić (born 11 November 1984), best known as Marco Huck, is a Bosniak German professional boxer.^[1] He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2009 to 2015, and is the joint-longest reigning cruiserweight world champion of all time, having made thirteen consecutive successful defenses, a division record shared with Johnny Nelson. Huck also held the IBO cruiserweight title from 2016 to 2017, the European cruiserweight title from 2008 to 2009, and has challenged once for the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title in 2012.

Huck is an ethnic Bosniak, born in Serbia, who moved to Germany with his family when he was eight years old, and has since become a naturalized citizen.^[2][3]

Huck started Taekwondo and Kickboxing at the age of ten. As an amateur kickboxer, he won a gold medal at the W.A.K.O European championships in 2002 and 2003.

Amateur Kickboxing

• 2003 W.A.K.O. World Championships 2003 in Paris, France −86 kg (Full-Contact)
• 2002 W.A.K.O. European Championships in Jesolo, Italy −86 kg (Full-Contact)

Huck decided to switch to boxing, having participated in the sport since he was 15.^[4]

Huck has notable victories over opponents such as Michael Simms, Claudio Rîșco, Pietro Aurino and Vadim Tokarev. Before challenging for his first world title, Huck gained a record of 19 wins with no losses.

Huck challenged Steve Cunningham on 29 December 2007 for his first world title, the IBF Cruiserweight title. After eleven hard fought and exhausting rounds, the twelfth begun; Cunningham was landing hard shots as Huck kept moving forward. Following a rough clinch between the two, Cunningham landed a vicious straight right counter, the fighters clinched and Huck fell. Once he was back on his feet, Huck walked back against the ropes signalling that the shot had hurt him and Cunningham went straight in for the attack. For the remainder of the round, Cunningham chased his German counterpart across the ring hitting him with a barrage of hard shots which ended when Huck's corner threw in the towel and ended the beating.^[5]

Huck won the EBU (European) cruiserweight title in September 2008 after defeating Jean Marc Monrose via a 12th round stoppage win.^[6] Huck made three successful defences defeating Fabio Tuiach, Geoffrey Battelo and Vitaliy Rusal, with all coming inside the distance.

On 29 August 2009, Huck challenged Argentine boxer Victor Emilio Ramírez for his WBO cruiserweight title at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany. On fight night, Huck went the 12 round distance and claimed the WBO title on unanimous decision. The judges score it 116–111, 116–111, and 115–112 in favour of Huck.^[7]

Huck went on to make 8 successful defenses of the title from December 2009 up until October 2011. Notable opponents he defeated included unanimous decisions over Ran Nakash and Ola Afolabi, the latter who he went on to fight a further three times, TKO wins over Matt Godfrey and Brian Minto and a split decision win over future unified world champion Denis Lebedev.

After a string of defenses, Huck challenged Alexander Povetkin for the WBA heavyweight title. In December 2011, a deal was reached for Povetkin to make his second defence against Huck on 25 February 2012 at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. Huck made the challenge in the post fight press conference of Povetkin's win over Cedric Boswell. It was noted that Huck would not vacate his WBO title, until after the fight, where he would assess the situation.^[8] Huck stated if he was to win the title, he would likely remain at heavyweight to challenge one of the Klitschko brothers, but would be given 10 days by the WBO to decide.^[9][10] Huck reached out to David Haye and Evander Holyfield to help with sparring.^[11] In January 2012, the promoters of Huck, Povetkin and Rahman attended a meeting where they discussed the winner of Povetkin vs. Huck would defend the WBA title against Rahman next.^[12] During this time, trainer Teddy Atlas failed to travel to Russia and announced he had parted ways with Povetkin. Russian trainer Alexander Zimin stepped in on short notice.^[13][14] For his debut at heavyweight, Huck weighed 209.4 pounds and Povetkin weighed 229.2 pounds.^[15]

Povetkin won the fight via majority decision. The fight proved to be a tough test for Povetkin. One judge scored the fight a 114–114 draw, with the remaining two judges scoring the fight 116–113 and 116–112 in favour of Povetkin. All three ringside announcers from EPIX scored the fight in favour of Huck. Chisora and Dimitrenko, who were sat ringside, scored the fight a draw. Arthur Abraham and Tomasz Adamek scored the fight clearly for Huck.^[16][17] The opening round started off slow however Povetkin started taking over the fight landing body shots and using his straight rights. In round 4, Huck began to let his hands go and found his range, even rocking Povetkin. Huck controlled the championship rounds as Povetkin began to show signs of fatigue. Huck came close to dropping Povetkin in the final round.^[18][19] After the fight, Povetkin admitted, "I underestimated him. Perhaps I didn't take this fight seriously enough." Huck said, "A lot of people who saw this fight see me as the winner." It was reported that Huck had injured his right between rounds 6 and 7. The verdict was met with boos around the arena.^[20][21][22]

After failing to capture a heavyweight title, Huck returned to the cruiserweight division. Huck made a ninth successful defence on 5 May 2012 at the Messehalle in Erfurt, Germany against Ola Afolabi (19-2-3, 9 KOs), a rematch to their first match which took place in 2009. The match ended in a majority draw as judge Ingo Barrabas and Paul Thomas had it 114–114 and Zoltan Enyedi scored it 115–113 in Huck's favour.^[23]

Huck next defended his title against German boxer Firat Arslan (32-5-2, 21 KOs) at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Nordrhein-Westfalen on 3 November.^[24] Huck defeated Arslan via 12 round unanimous decision, after the scores of 115–113, 115–113, and 117–111. Many fans and pundits ringside felt as though Arslan had done enough to win. Arslan's coach Dieter Wittmann commented, "This fight was the biggest scam that I've ever seen. It's a disgrace."^[25]

Following the controversial ending were Huck defeated Arslan, the WBO made Ola Afolabi as the new mandatory challenger for Huck's WBO title. The fight took place at the Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin on 8 June 2013. Afolabi had not fought in 13 months, last fighting in the majority draw with Huck in May 2012. The fight went the full 12 round distance with Huck claiming the majority decision thus successfully retaining the title an 11th time. The judges score the fight 117–111, 115–113, and 114–114. Huck gathered an early lead in the fight winning at least 5 of the first 7 rounds, before Afolabi started getting into the fight.^[26]

On 25 January 2014, Huck made a defence fighting Firat Arslan for a second time at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart. Huck scored his 26th stoppage victory after he stopped Arslan in round 6. Arslan started off the fight defensively, however after a couple of rounds, Huck found his way through with power shots. Huck dropped Arslan twice in the bout.^[27]

Huck matched the record for most consecutive world title defenses at cruiserweight, held by Johnny Nelson, when he successfully retained the WBO cruiserweight title against Mirko Larghetti on 30 August 2014, his thirteenth successful consecutive title defense.^[28]

Huck was due to make history against undefeated Krzysztof Głowacki, as it was to be his fourteenth defense, a new record. The bout took place on 14 August 2015 in Huck's American debut at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Premier Boxing Champions. Głowacki came out extremely aggressive and was effective early, going as far as to rock Huck in the opening round. As the rounds went on, Huck took control and in the sixth, he dropped his Polish counterpart with a huge left hand, Głowacki staggered to his feet and as the ref allowed the fight to continue, Huck came in to finish and Głowacki threw back everything he had, rocking Huck in the process and keeping him from ending the bout. The fight continued, and it was becoming more and more clear that Huck was taking control, he hit Głowacki with a huge punch in the tenth but his opponent survived. Coming into the eleventh round Huck was ahead on all three scorecards, he out-boxed the now desperate Głowacki for most of the round. Until after throwing a barrage of shots, Huck moved back with his hands down and Głowacki threw a vicious left-right combination and Huck tumbled back. He got back up on rubbery legs, and as the ref allowed the bout to continue, Głowacki rushed in and threw everything at Huck while he lay on the ropes, he took two huge right hands as he dropped down against the ropes, just as the referee came in and waved off the bout. Huck lost his WBO cruiserweight title and failed to break the record.^[29]

Huck met Afolabi for a fourth time on 27 February 27, 2016, at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Germany.^[30] Huck claimed Afolabi's International Boxing Organization cruiserweight title with the victory after Afolabi failed return for round 11. Referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight on doctor's advice due to the bad condition of Afolabi's left eye. By round seven Afolabi's left eye was swollen shut. In the Post fight interview, Afolabi stated that he would have continued to fight, but he thanked the officials for protecting him as he was unable to do so.^[31]

Huck was scheduled to defend his IBO world title against British boxer Ovill McKenzie (25-12-1, 13 KO's) at the Festhalle Arena in Frankfurt on 24 September.^[32] On September 20, a week before the fight, McKenzie pulled out of the fight due to illness. It was said that McKenzie had been given medical advice from health professionals. McKenzie later retired.^[33][34]

On 18 October, it was announced that Huck would be defending his IBO title against Ukrainian boxer Dmytro Kucher (24-1-1, 18 KOs) on 19 November at the TUI Arena in Hanover. Kucher, ranked number 6 by the WBC, was regarded a dangerous first defence, having only lost to world cruiserweight challenger Illunga Makabu. Kucher was coming off an impressive first-round knockout off former WBO champion Enzo Maccrinelli in June, also sending him into retirement. Kucher claimed the EBU title by defeating Maccrinelli.^[35] Huck retained his IBO title with a 12-round unanimous decision win over Kucher. Huck was pressured throughout the whole 12 rounds with Kucher adopting a southpaw stance and giving Huck problems. Huck hurt Kucher in the 8th round after landing a hard right hand and then attempted to finish him off, but could only throw him on the canvas. After 12 rounds, the judges scored the fight 117–111, 119–109, and 117–111.^[36][37]

Due to Tony Bellew fighting David Haye instead of taking on mandatory challenger Mairis Briedis (21–0, 18 KOs), the WBC ordered a match for the interim WBC cruiserweight title between Huck and Briedis, where the winner would earn a fight with Bellew for the full WBC title or possibly elevated to full championship status if Bellew decides to vacate and stay at heavyweight.^[38] Negotiations were underway with a venue in Germany being discussed with the fight taking place on 1 April 2017.^[39][40] On 18 January, Huck Sports Promotion announced the fight will take place at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund.^[41] Bellew was named WBC Emeritus Champion on 28 March 2017 meaning the winner between Huck and Briedis would become full world champion.^[42] Huck failed to capture the vacant WBC title and lost his IBO title in a one sided 12 round unanimous decision loss. The first couple of rounds seemed close as there was not much action, from the third round, Briedis installed the jab and controlled the pace of the fight en route to becoming the first Latvian to win a world title. The three judges scorecards read 118–109, 117–110, and 116–111 in favour or Briedis.^[43][44] Huck confirmed he would not be retiring despite his fourth career loss. "I’m too young to stop. I’m a true warrior. We’ll get the title back", he said.^[45]

On 27 June 2017 Huck announced that he would be participating in the World Boxing Super Series 8-man tournament which would start in September 2017. In a press release, Huck said, "I am thrilled to be joining the Champions League of Boxing. In the great history of the sport there has never been a tournament like this. Eight world-class fighters will enter the competition but just one man can prevail. I cannot wait to show the world that I am best of all those strong champions." The draw for the bracket style tournament was set to take place on 8 July 2017 in Monte Carlo.^[46][47]

At the Draft Gala, Oleksandr Usyk (12–0, 10 KOs), who was first-seeded, meaning he had the first pick of the tournament, chose to fight Huck in the quarter finals. When Usyk was asked why he chose Huck, he replied that it was because of his fans. Huck, also excited about the fight, said, "This was my wish opponent." The fight, would be contested for Usyk's WBO cruiserweight title.^[48] On July 26, it was announced that the fight would take place at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin on 9 September 2017. This would mark the second time Usyk would fight in Germany in his professional career, having fought their on his third professional bout in April 2014. It would also mark the first fight of the tournament.^[49][50][51]

On 6 September, at the final press conference, Huck pushed Usyk in the face-off. In regards to the shove, Huck said, "I wanted to show Usyk that he is my hometown and that he should be prepared for the battle of his life on Saturday." Usyk, who remained professional and calm, replied, "If you want to be a great champion, you have to beat the best and Huck is one of the best. I chose to enter this tournament because it is a path to achieve my dream of unifying all the belts. There's a prestigious trophy at stake too, the Muhammad Ali Trophy. We were born on the same day and I admire Ali because he is the biggest role model in boxing and I will thank God if I win a trophy with his name on it."^[52] As he was leaving the building, Usyk claimed he would 'bury' Huck.^[53]

On fight night, Usyk used his footwork and combination punching to cruise to a TKO win. On top of his dominant performance, Usyk taunted Huck throughout the fight. In round 8, Usyk tripped on Huck's feet and Huck lost a point on the scorecards as he threw a punch at Usyk when the latter was down. Usyk continued to land combinations with little to no response from Huck until referee Robert Byrd stopped the fight in the tenth round. With the win, Usyk progressed to the semi-final stage of the Super Series and is slated to face the winner of the Mairis Briedis–Mike Perez fight. Huck has now suffered back to back defeats for the first time in his career.^[54][55]

On 12 October 2017, Huck told German tabloid BILD, that he would not be retiring from the sport, but rather continue his career in 2018 campaigning once again at heavyweight. Huck made the decision after suffering his second stoppage loss in his last five fights. Huck fought his only heavyweight fight in 2012, unsuccessfully challenging Alexander Povetkin for the WBA 'Regular' title.^[56][57] On 4 April 2018, Huck Box Promotion and Petko's Box Promotion jointly announced that Huck would be returning on a card in Munich on 16 June 2018 at heavyweight.^[58] On 9 April, 41 year old Turkish-born German boxer Yakup Saglam (40-4-0, 37 KOs) was announced as Huck's opponent.^[59] Huck stopped Saglam in round 4 via TKO of their scheduled 10-round bout. The fight came to an end 26 seconds into round 4, when Saglam's corner threw in the towel.^[60][61]

Almost 4 years after his US debut, Huck had his second fight in the US against Nick Guivas on 17 May 2019. Huck dropped Guivas twice in the first round, and was initially awarded the TKO victory. However, after a review it was announced that the second knockdown was caused by an accidental foul. The fight was called a no-contest after the review.^[62]

On 29 August 2020, Huck fought Dennis Lewandowski. Huck dominated Lewadowski and won every round en route to a unanimous decision victory.^[63]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marco Huck.

• Official website
• Boxing record for Marco Huck from BoxRec (registration required)
• Marco Huck - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live