Long time WBO Cruiserweight Champion Marco Huck (37-2-1) returns to the ring on August 30th in Germany to take on undefeated Mirko Larghetti (21-0). Look for the books to favor Huck big time when the line gets released at the sportbooks.
For Huck, this will be the 13th defense of the WBO Cruiserweight title he won back in August of 2009. His lone loss in that time frame came when he took on Alexander Povetkin for the WBA World Heavyweight title, and he avenged a 2012 draw to Ola Afolabi with a majority decision that wasn’t quite convincing, but Huck remains the number 1 rated Cruiserweight active today. His last fight out, he made short work of veteran Firat Arslan.
By contrast, Huck’s rival, Cuban born Yoan Pablo Hernandez, struggled to a split decision win over Arlsan this past weekend (august 16th), so Huck is clearly still at the peak of his powers as a Cruiserweight.
Larghetti is an Italian fighter who will be making his first professional appearance outside of Italy. Doing it against a veteran like Huck is a tall order. He is a tough fighter who likes to come forward. He throws power punches of his jab, and he is a good athlete for his size. But there is nothing in his scouting reports, or on his resume that suggest he is any type of threat to Huck. huck is 2 years younger, a lot more experienced against better competition, and he is far more skilled. This is a tune up fight.
Huck will hopefully be matched up with Hernandez soon. Hernandez has been living in Germany since he turned professional, and Hernandez owns a solid 29-1 record and the IBF Cruiserweight title to make things interesting for Huck.
Both men are considered to be heading to the Heavyweight division, as Huck has already made one attempt to jump up in weight and capture a title, and it is only a matter of time before Hernandez does as well. Even with two talented fighters at their primes, the Cruiserweight division often finds it hard to get attention, so the question about the eventual Huck-Hernandez duel is will they do it as Cruiserweights?
