Huck vs Afolabi
Friday, June 7th, 2013
Current WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck will be facing his rival Ola Afolabi for the final part of the triology between these two fighters. After snatching victory from Afolabi in their first fight in 2009, Huck went on to win a close 12 round draw in their second fight last year.
Afolabi will be looking to finally conquer the champion and hoping it’s third time lucky. He even told Sports Illustrated how he had completely changed his diet in preparation for the fight; “I am eating properly…I quit eating cheeseburgers and other junk food and have turned to healthy foods instead. It makes a huge difference. I could make the weight right now. So by not having to make weight, I can concentrate on my training.”
Despite this, fighters can suffer the consequences of a shift in diet when switching to a leaner, healthy diet as it often results in them losing strength as well as weight. In addition to this, the Streatham-born fighter has not had a fight since his draw with Huck in May 2012, meaning he could be a little out of practise in the ring. We’ve seen this “ring-rust” weaken fighters before, leading them to lose the first few rounds while they get back into the swing of things. Some critics have called out Afolabi for over-training, since he began preparing for this fight in November, over six months before the date of the match. This combination of diet change, ring-rust and training burnout could leave Afolabi as easy pickings.
He will have the advantage of not recovering from damage from recent fights though, something Huck is likely to be dealing with after his fight with Firat Arslan. The gruelling 12 round unanimous decision battle meant Huck suffered a lot of punishment and has not participated in a fight since November 2012. The current WBO champion does not seem unsettled by Afolabi’s change of style and focus on his training. Huck says: “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.”
Will being in his physical prime at age 28 mean Huck will once again defeat Afolabi? Being slightly older at 33, some commentators feel Afolabi may have met his match in Huck. Many point out apart from losing the fight in 2009, Afolabi’s only loss out of 19 professional fights was in 2003 against Allan Green. If you are betting on the match, then the bet price on Huck currently is 4/7; Afolabi is available at 15/8, and the odds on another drawn match are 20/1.
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