UPDATE: Marco Huck has suffered a severe shoulder injury in preparation for his heavyweight bout against Evgenios Lazaridis, according to a press release.
Huck’s injury forces the organizers to cancel the entire event, as the main event falls through. However, behind the scenes, they are already working on a new date. The teams from Dream Boxing, DAZN, Prime Fight Play, Rainer Gottwald, and MH Boxing are working feverishly to reschedule the planned fight date. August 2023 is being considered as the new date.
For Huck, however, a longer break can now be expected. The former world champion in the cruiserweight division, who wanted to step back into the ring after more than 800 days of boxing absence, is deeply disappointed and would have loved to be back in the ring. The competition preparations are said to have gone very well up until then, and Marco Huck was highly motivated and in very good physical condition.
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Marco Huck is back in action after a two-year break from the ring, the former world champion will make his comeback on May 20th in Braunlage (live on DAZN).
Huck: “My comeback will be broadcast in over 200 countries. Proof that my name still counts.”
Kenan Huck, the heavyweight’s brother, said: “The opponent will be a professional from Eastern Europe. A warm-up opponent after such a long break.” A trainer for HUck has also not been confirmed yet.
What happens after the fight? Kenan Huck, sports director of Huck Promotion, said: “Assuming a victory, we want to box against Agit Kabayel or Machmoud Charr.”
Marco Huck is best known for his long reign as the WBO cruiserweight champion from 2009 to 2015, during which he made 13 successful defenses and tied the record for the most defenses in cruiserweight history. He also held the IBO cruiserweight title from 2016 to 2017 and the European cruiserweight title from 2008 to 2009.
Huck was born in Serbia to Bosniak parents and moved to Germany when he was eight years old. He started his martial arts career as a kickboxer, winning two gold medals at the W.A.K.O European championships in 2002 and 2003. He switched to boxing at the age of 15 and turned professional in 2004. He won his first 19 fights before challenging Steve Cunningham for the IBF cruiserweight title in 2007, losing by a 12th round TKO.
Huck bounced back from his first defeat by winning the European cruiserweight title in 2008 and defending it three times. In 2009, he defeated Victor Emilio Ramirez by a unanimous decision to win the WBO cruiserweight title. He went on to defend his title against challengers such as Ola Afolabi (four times), Denis Lebedev, Firat Arslan (twice), Rogelio Rossi and Mirko Larghetti. He also moved up to heavyweight in 2012 and challenged Alexander Povetkin for the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title, losing by a close majority decision.
Huck lost his WBO cruiserweight title in 2015 when he was knocked out by Krzysztof Glowacki in the 11th round of a thrilling fight. He then won the vacant IBO cruiserweight title in 2016 by defeating Ola Afolabi for the fourth time. He lost his IBO title in 2017 when he was outpointed by Mairis Briedis in a fight for the vacant WBC cruiserweight title as well. He then challenged Oleksandr Usyk for the WBO cruiserweight title later that year, losing by a 10th round TKO.
Huck fought only twice more after his loss to Usyk, defeating Yakup Saglam by a first round TKO in 2018 and Nick Guivas by a no contest in 2019. He announced his retirement from boxing in 2020, ending his career with a record of 42 wins (28 by KO), 5 losses and 1 draw. Huck is widely regarded as one of the best and most exciting cruiserweights of all time, as well as one of the most successful German boxers of his generation.