by James Slater – Though the eyes of the boxing world will be firmly set on Dallas, Texas this coming Saturday evening, for the hugely intriguing Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey WBO welterweight title fight, there is another “world” title fight taking place the same night; in Germany. (there is also the vacant WBC lightweight title fight between Humberto Soto and David Diaz, also taking place in Dallas, on the under-card of Pacquiao-Clottey).
And while this fight – the WBO cruiserweight battle between defending champ and local man Marco Huck and Tennessee’s Adam “Swamp Donkey” Richards – is no way near as big a deal as the 147-pound match-up taking place on the other side of the Atlantic, those fans who do tune in will likely see a great action fight.
29-year-old Challenger Richards, 23-2(15), pretty much knows just one way to fight; aggressively and in an all-out manner. A crowd-pleaser who is unbeaten as a cruiserweight, the unusually-nicknamed warrior has promised his fans he will give it everything he has against Huck..
The defending champion is also a guy who is no stranger to a slugfest, yet in recent times “Kapn’ Huck” has shown more polished skills, patience and a tight defence. Can Richards get in and engage the champion and make him revert to his previous, all-action style? “The Swamp Donkey” will surely be hoping so, and so too will be the fans who want to see a hard battle that will entertain. Sure, there is nothing at all wrong with a fighter using his head and boxing as opposed to brawling, but a fun fight is a great thing to see. I think we will see a fun fight on Saturday night in Berlin.
25-year-old Huck, 27-1(20) will be making the second defence of his belt and he must start favourite over the challenger. But Huck can be hit and he can be hurt and though Richards is no Steve Cunningham (the only man to have beaten Huck) he has full confidence going into the fight. So what can we expect on Saturday?
I think it’s a given how the challenger will go right out and try his best to put something on Huck, and the leather will fly as a result. The action looks sure to be highly watchable right to the fight’s ending, but I feel Huck’s overall better ability will begin to take over around the halfway stage. Huck will have to take some shots and he may even wind up being visibly hurt; but his good chin, the fact he is fighting in front of the fans of his hometown, his desire to remain as champion, along with those superior skills he possesses, will see to it that he gets a win.
Look for an enjoyable slugfest, before Huck grinds Richards down around the 8th, 9th or 10th- round. Who knows, this fight might even wind up being more action packed than Pacquiao-Clottey!