WBSS cruiserweight tournament results and video: Usyk stops Huck, advances to semifinals

WBO cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (13-0, 11 KOs) was the #1 seed heading into the inaugural World Boxing Super Series tournament, and he showed why he’s considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, as he scored a 10th round TKO stoppage of former long-reigning champ Marco Huck (40-5-1, 27 KOs) in front of a boisterous crowd in Berlin, Germany.

As was his right as a seeded fighter in this single-elimination competition, Usyk could choose any unseeded opponent he wanted for his quarterfinal matchup, and he opted for the 32-year-old German. After a contentious fight week, which included Huck shoving Usyk at the final press conference, the two finally met inside the ring at the Max-Schmeling-Halle.

The 2012 Olympic gold medalist was the heavy favorite going into Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup, and he delivered a terrific performance. Usyk was very committed to his stinging southpaw jab, along with an assortment of body shots to steadily wear Huck out. His combination punching, speed, and excellent footwork posed immediate problems for Huck, and it only got worse as the fight wore on. Huck did land several good shots on the Ukrainian, but Usyk would often shake his head or taunt him. There were also a lot of illegal blows (rabbit punches and low blows, to be exact) that Huck threw. In the 8th round, with Usyk on the attack and Huck in clear trouble, Usyk slipped and fell to the mat, and Huck hit Oleksandr while he was down, and referee Robert Byrd had no choice but to deduct a point.

While Huck did all he could to fight back and make things interesting in brief periods of the fight, his downfall was inevitable, and Huck sensed it. In round 10, having already hurt his foe several times throughout the contest, Usyk’s volume punching and accuracy overwhelmed Huck, and the early body punching left Huck with virtually nothing in the gas tank. Punches in bunches to both the body and head went unanswered, and at the 2:16 mark, Byrd stepped in to stop the beating, as Huck was taking far too much punishment for his own good. No knockdown was scored for Usyk, but obviously it really didn’t matter.

Usyk, a good friend of fellow Olympic gold medalist and world champion Vasyl Lomachenko, will now fight the winner of Mairis Briedis (WBC champion – 22-0, 18 KO) vs Mike “The Rebel” Perez (22-2-1, 14 KO), which takes place on September 30th in Breidis’ home country of Latvia. The semifinals are scheduled to take place in January and February of 2018.

We can’t conclude this post without noting that the free, legal live stream provided by World Boxing Super Series for viewers in the US (and a handful of other countries) crashed in round 6. Presumably the server couldn’t handle the influx of viewers watching the broadcast, and it rendered the stream and indeed the entire website inaccessible. Don’t worry though, as Caposa has you covered for the highlights.