Last night’s Premier Boxing Champions card on Spike TV produced one of the best comebacks and most high-profile upsets boxing has seen in 2015. Germany’s Marco Huck was the reigning, defending WBO cruiserweight champion and a -800 favorite to beat undefeated Krzyszstof Glowacki of Poland. Despite the relatively sparse crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the German and Polish contingents produced a cracking atmosphere worthy of a championship bout. At stake for Huck was a history-making 14th consecutive title defense, which would’ve broken the tie he had with England’s Johnny Nelson.
Huck started slowly, but a big left hook to the temple put Glowacki down for the first time in his career. It looked like Glowacki was not going to make the count, but he fought on after getting up at 9 and went all Polish Diego Sanchez on us by crazily firing back.
The two continued to engage in some heated battle throughout the course of this exciting contest, but Huck had the clear upper hand heading into the championship rounds. But in the closing seconds of round 11, Glowacki caught Huck with a left and a brutal right that put him down for the first time ever. From the brink of a KO defeat to the brink of a stunning KO win, Glowacki swarmed on Huck and just about had Huck’s unconscious body knocked out of the ring. Down went Huck (38-3-1, 26 KOs), and Glowacki (25-0, 16 KOs) ended the night with the belt around his waist. Video of the decisive and dramatic finish can be seen at the top of the page. Alternatively, you can view this Twitter version.
Watch highlights from #PBConSpike—including Krzysztof Glowacki’s incredible KO of Marco Huck and #TarverCunningham https://t.co/Frh2dSBzDI
— PBC (@premierboxing) August 15, 2015
Huck was winning 96-93, 96-93, and 95-94 on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Even with the knockdown suffered, had he survived the end of the round, he still had enough wiggle room to at least come away with a majority draw and retain the belt that way.
This was definitely one of the best fights PBC has ever put on, and this is a clear contender for best comeback of 2015. Glowacki’s first US appearance sees him crowned the new WBO cruiserweight champion, while Huck’s US debut coincides with the end of his reign as the consensus #1 200 lbs fighter in the world.
The main event of the evening was between a 46-year-old Antonio Tarver and 39-year-old Steve Cunningham, and the fight was predictably terrible. It ended in a split draw, with fans booing inside of 2 rounds, while others like me knew better than to watch the main event for even 1 second.
(For more boxing coverage head to Bad Left Hook)
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