Huck Destroys Richards, Povetkin Batters Mora in Five

By Mark Vester

At Max Schmeling Halle in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany, Marco Huck (28-1, 21KOs) retained his WBO cruiserweight title with a third round stoppage of Adam Richards (23-3, 15KOs).

Richards came out charging with punches to push Huck back to the ropes. Huck tried countering and Richards continued to keep the fight on the inside, trading punches at close range. There was a clash of heads in the second minute to open up a minor cut on the head of Richards. In the second, Richards continued to press forward. He was catching some decent counters for his trouble. Huck landed a series of punches when he backed Richards into the ropes.

During the third, an exchange of punches sent Richards down when he was against the ropes. He appeared to be more off-balance than hurt from a punch. But when Richards got to his feet, Huck caught him with a hook that buckled his feet. Huck went on the attack with a variety of big shots to send Richards, who was unable to defend himself, down pretty hard. The ref jumped in to quickly stop the fight.

In the co-feature, IBF heavyweight mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (19-0, 14KOs) stopped Javier Mora (28-6, 18KOs) in five rounds.

Povetkin dropped Mora in the first round after landing a counter hook as they fought inside. In the second, a combination of punches sent Mora down for the second time in the contest. Povetkin trapped Mora against the ropes and began to batter him with punches. Mora was able to get off the ropes but he was taking big shots on the inside.

Mora's face was swelling up by the start of the third. Povetkin was smart, hanging back and boxing during the third. In the final thirty seconds they traded punches when he trapped Mora against the ropes. In the fourth, Mora seemed to be slowing down as Povetkin pressed forward and fired off shots on the inside. Mora was bleeding out of his mouth and nose as he went back to the corner after the fourth. During the fifth, Povetkin caught Mora with a hard combo of shots to send him down for the third time and the ref jumped in to stop the fight.

On the undercard, young middleweight prospect Patrick Nielsen (3-0, 2 KOs) won an easy four round decision over Alessandro Sigurini (2-3, 1 KO). 

Cruiserweight prospect Lukas Schulz (5-0, 3 KOs) stopped Lonja Fanta (3-1, 3 KOs) in two bruising rounds, battering Fanta until his cornermen were forced to stop the contest.

Heavyweight prospect Kubrat Pulev (7-0, 5 KOs) stopped contender Danny Batchelder (25-8-1, 12 KOs) in two rounds.

Heavyweight Jens Krull (now 8-0-1, 6 KOs) fought to a controversial six round draw with Samir Kurtagic (6-0-1, 5 KOs). Krull receiving a hometown save after being outboxed and outworked in the majority of the fight.

Light heavyweight prospect Artur Hein (12-0, 7 KOs) stopped Eric Howard (11-18-1, 6 KOs) in the eight round after landing with a hook to the body that sent Howard down for the full count.

Rising cruiserweight Alexander Frenkel (22-0, 17 KOs) won a dominating unanimous eight round decision over Michael Simms (21-13-2, 13 KOs). The scores were 79-75, 79-73 and 79-73.

Cruiserweight Yoan Pablo Hernandez (21-1, 11 KOs) won a lopsided twelve round decision over Cesar David Krenz (18-4, 11 KOs). The scores were 120-108 on all three cards.