Huck (left) squeeked past Lebedev (right)

Marco “Kapt’n” Huck 31-1 (23) retained his WBO cruiserweight title for the fifth time after winning a split decision over Denis Lebedev 21-1 (16) in a fight that was very tough to score.

The fight was an absorbing affair but did not have the excitement that I was expecting from these two. For the majority of the bout Lebedev was more active although Huck was quite accurate in his sporadic attacks and the crowd roared every time Huck landed.

Huck seemed to be on a reconnaissance mission in the opener as he covered up tightly while Lebedev tried to force Huck into the corners. Huck did land a couple of shots that snapped Lebedev’s head back but I felt Lebedev shaded it.

I then gave Huck the next two rounds although again it was tough to score. Several people I watched the fight with felt Lebedev dominated the fight so again a matter of opinion and how you score a fight.

The third I gave to Huck but Lebedev did start to bully Huck around the fifth and six rounds. Huck was breathing deeply in the fifth and it seemed like the hooks to the body that Lebedev chose to throw regularly were taking effect on the champion. Lebedev did hit the deck on the bell to end the fifth but although a punch landed he was already slipping and the referee ruled a no knock-down.

The seventh seemed to be another that was difficult to separate the two men. Huck counter-punched neatly at the start of the round but Lebedev got his man retreating for the second half of the round and this was enough to shade the round on my card.

Lebedev seemed to be taking a breather in the eighth but although Huck threw several big combinations at his man, Lebedev ducked and weaved out of the way of the majority. I felt Lebedev regained the initiative in the ninth and I felt the challenger was ahead going into the final three rounds.

However I felt the challenger tired badly in these rounds and I felt that Huck took the tenth with some good work near the end. The eleventh was the slowest round of the fight with both men slowing down quite noticeably but again I felt Huck did the better work.

I had it dead level going into the final round but was surprised to see Huck retreating and on his bicycle for most of the round as if he was way ahead on the scorecards. However Lebedev seemed too tired to do much about it and with Huck landing the odd counter on the move it probably gave him the win.

Watching on my high quality internet stream, the majority of opinions were that the fight was quite close although many felt that Lebedev’s constant aggression gave him the fight clearly. Interestingly although many people felt Huck also won, nobody thought that Huck had won by much of a margin.

Still WBO cruiserweight champion- Marco Huck

After a long wait the official scorecards were read out. The first judge scored the bout 115-113 for Huck while the second scored it 116-112 for Lebedev. The third judge gave the decision 115-113 for Huck meaning that he retained his titles, much to the delight of the partisan crowd.

Lebedev looked crestfallen at the decision, clearly feeling that he had done enough to win. This fight certainly deserves a rematch and preferably on neutral ground but with the popularity of Huck, the only place a rematch will be held is in Germany again.

For the record I scored the bout 115-114 Huck but I did give him the edge in several close rounds simply because I felt that the road of the crowd in these rounds would have influenced the judges.

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