Huck opponent named!

May 7, 2008

Photo: Sauerland Event

Marco "Captain" Huck (20-1, 15 KOs) will fight Frantisek Kasanic for the vacant IBF intercontinental cruiserweight title in Bayreuth on May 17. "That is great news," the 23-year-old said. "I have been working very hard in practice and the title fight is the reward. I will make the most out of this opportunity. Kasanic will be in for a hot battle."

After losing to IBF champion Steve Cunningham, Huck returned with a fifth-round TKO victory Leon Nzama on April 12. Shortly afterwards he inked an early contract extension with Sauerland Event through 2011. He is now eager to work his way back to the top. "I will take this fight very seriously," Huck stated. "After losing to Cunningham and the fight against Nzama I know what will be at stake. But things went very well in practice and that´s why I am very optimistic."

Huck knows not to take Kasanic (12-2, 12 KOs) lightly, especially after his second-round TKO victory over Pavol Polakovic last November. "That shows that I need to be on alert. He has beaten two very strong fighters most recently."

With Alexander Frenkel, Francesco Pianeta and Cecilia Braekhus also in action, it will be a busy night for coach Ulli Wegner. "They are all in great shape," he said. "The high altitude training camp in Switzerland went very well. Now we carry on with sparring in Berlin."

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Meanwhile, the highly-anticipated heavyweight duel between Cengiz Koc and Rene Dettweiler has been postponed to July due to Dettweiler´s coaching change. The 25-year-old moved from Manfred Wolke to his former amateur coach Otto Ramin. "We had a few internal issues and my development has stagnated," Dettweiler (22-1, 11 KOs) said. "After five years and 23 professional fights it was about time to start something new. I am looking forward to working with Otto Ramin and I am very optimistic for the future."