German WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck equaled Johnny Nelson's record of 13 successful title defenses by winning a unanimous decision over Mirko Larghetti of Italy at the Gerry Stadium in Halle/Westphalia, Germany last Saturday night.
The scores were 116-112 (twice) and a puzzling 118-110 all in favor of the defending champion.
Maxboxing and Doghouseboxing.com scored the bout 116-112 for Huck.
With Nelson at ringside, Huck (38-2-1, 26 KOs) seemed bound and determined to make a statement.
He started fast, easily winning the first few rounds by pounding Larghetti with hard rights to head.
Larghetti (21-1, 13 KOs) used the ring and pecked away with his jab. Most of his punches were short. His respect was obvious. He managed to land a good right hand in round three.
Feeding off that right hand, Larghetti did even better in the next few rounds. Huck was still winning, but Larghetti was finding some holes in his defense.
Huck continued to punch in bursts--while Larghetti, a tad quicker, found success with left hooks.
Larghetti caught Huck with a long overhand right in round seven. The shot knocked the champion into the ropes.
Bleeding from a cut under his right eye, the unheralded Larghetti won rounds seven and eight. Was Huck pacing himself?
Whatever he was doing, his trainer Ulli Wegner wasn't happy. He lashed out at the champion between rounds.
After the scolding, Huck responded with more accurate punches. His heavy shots had Larghetti reeling in rounds 10 and 11.
The game challenger was running out of gas.
Huck finally caught Larghetti with a knockout blow in the last round, but the fatal punch arrived a second after the final bell.
"I respect how my opponent fought. But I deserved to win," Huck said to sky sports.com after the fight.
Where Huck goes from here is unknown. He has stated on numerous occasions that he would like another crack at the heavyweight championship of the world.
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