Sometimes boxing rivalries tell their own story and in the case of this weekend's WBO Cruiserweight title bout between Marco Huck (35-2-1, 25) and Ola Afolabi (19-2-4, 9) we get another fantastic chapter in a brilliant rivalry.
The two men, who meet for the 3rd time first fought back in December 2009 with Huck taking a much debated unanimous decision. In 2012 they met for a second time with the bout declared a 12 round draw in what was a contender for both fight of the year and round of the year (round 12).
If the story continues in the way it's been going then this should be an absolutely barn burner due to the fact the previous two were. Though maybe the most telling fact going in to the bout is the that both men know what to expect from the other and both know they have the power to rock the other (even though neither man has been down in 24 rounds together).
The 28 year old Huck goes in to this bout as the favourite (8/15) though this doesn't really tell us everything we need to know about Huck.
The hard nosed and usually fun to watch Serbian born German is a fighter who has been involved in a number of hard, draining battled in his 38 fight career, especially in recent bouts. At the low level his power and aggression has seen him stopping opponents with relative ease. At genuine world level however Huck has been unable to quickly dispose of his opponents and as a result has been involved in tear up after tear up.
With a combined 72 rounds of action against Steve Cunningham, Ola Afolabi, Denis Lebedev, Alexander Povetkin and Firat Arslan, Huck is a fighter with a lot of miles on the clock. As well as the 72 rounds against those world class fighters Huck has been in 12 straight world title fights and has fought a staggering 10 bouts since the first Afolabi bout.
Aged just 28 Huck is showing the signs of his wars. His battle with Firat Arslan last time out made Huck look like only a shadow of the fighter he was 2 fights earlier. Sure he may just have been unable to get up for the fight though the fact he was out worked in almost every one of the 12 rounds was still a worry.
Whilst Huck is a crude, hard hitting, teak tough fighter Afolabi is much more skilled fighter who's much smoother, much more accurate and far more technically sound. He lacks the power of Huck though is certainly the better pure boxer and has also shown a level of toughness that matches that of Huck.
Afolabi at 33 years old is the older fighter in terms of "real years" but is by far the less "damaged" fighter in terms of ring years. Aside from the 2 wars with Huck, Afolabi hasn't been forced to go in to the trenches too much and is probably a very "young" 33 for a boxer. He certainly seems to have more in the tank than Huck despite twice failing to defeat him.
For me a lot depends on what Huck has left, though with his bout against Arslan it don't look like there was much at all left for Huck. A fighter can only go to the well so many times before the well runs dry and that's what I think will happen here.
Prediction-Afolabi UD12
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