August 21, Erfurt, Germany:
WBO cruiser cxhamp Marco Huck had it easier than expected with American Matt Godfrey in the headliner of Sauerland´s show at the Messhall. Huck looked crude, missed with a lot of punches but was much too strong for Godfrey, who caved in under the relentless pressure. Godrey was down in the second and floored twice in the fifth before it was stopped at 2.18.
Huck´s next fight will be the opening fight in a Super Six cruiser tournament and will take place December 4 or December 18 but against who isn´t clear yet.
The other participants in the tournament appears to be IBF ruler Steve Cunningham, WBC champ Krzystof Wlodarczyk (who of course must beat Jason Robinson September 25), Russian Denis Lebedev and perhaps Yoan Pablo Hernandez. A sixth name will be announced and promoter Wilfried Sauerland hinted at a fourth champion joining the tournament.
The Nordic Nightmare, Robert Helenius won the vacant EU heavyweight title in style stopping Frenchman Gregory Tony 39 seconds into the sixth round. Tony was floored in the third, fourth and fifth and staggered early in the sixth before it was stopped. Next up is a voluntary defence with a shot at the EBU title coming inside the next 12 months. Robert looks a bit slow and pedestrian but is explosive and have a powerful right hand.
Middleweight Dominik Britsch outscored Italian Lorenzo Cosseddu over eight but injured his left hand and failed to impress. Cosseddu made the fight and came close but Britsch was just a little too sharp for him.
Lightheavy Dustin Dirks knocked out Finn Sami Selesma with a good left hook in the second round.
News: Former WBA heavy champ Nikolai Valuev was ringside but will undergo surgery for a shoulder injury next week.
Alexander Povetkin was according to his manager Vlad Hrunov and Sauerland´s CEO Chris Meyer not, repeat not, pulled out of the fight against Wladimir Klitschko by Teddy Atlas. -The true story is that Alexander´s father passed away in April and there were lots of problem to solve and he just didn´t train and that led to the decision not to take the fight, said Meyer, who called Atlas´ statements “very unprofessional”. Hrunov downplayed the situation and said that Povetkin and Atlas was very close but acknowledged that it was due to the trainer´s statements that the IBF had dropped Povetkin from the ratings. -We are now discussing how to rebuild Alexander and will continue to do so in the week, said Meyer.
21.08 Huck stops Godfrey
