Huck decisions Afolabi in another close fight

Britain's Ola Afolabi (19-3-4) came up short again in his attempt to take the WBO cruiserweight title from German Marco Huck (36-2-1), losing a majority points  decision on Saturday night at the Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, Germany.

The Judges scored it 114-114, 115-113 and 117-111.

Huck started well landing with a series of punches while Afolabi looked rusty and started slow. The champion continued to break Afolabi down in the 2nd with sharp, calculated punches. The challenger came back well enough to take the 3rd but it was close.

Huck had the upper hand in rounds 4 and 5 but was lucky not to have points taken away for rabbit punches. In the 5th, Huck nailed Afolabi with a right hand rabbit punch in front of the referee as the round was ending. Afolabi made a sight comeback in the 6th but the 7th and 8th went in the Germans favour.

Afolabi then started to dominate from the 9th against a tired Huck. Afolabi appeared to hurt Huck in the 10th after nailing him with a big right hand to the head. Late in the round, Huck came back with a flurry of shots but it was a clear round for Afolabi. The sense though when Afolabi started the 12th well was that it was too late and when Huck came back strong during the last minute it erased any doubt as to who was the winner.

"I think I surpassed myself today," said Huck. "Today I showed that I can box. Key to the sucess was my good preparation. I leave the ring today without a bad conscience."

"We tried but we came up short again," said Afolabi. "Thanks for all the support. I'll be back, that you can count on. I may have lost this fight but I'm winning in life."