Huck-Afolabi III purse bid looms

A purse bid will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday in Miami for a third bout between RING No. 1-rated cruiserweight and WBO titleholder Marco Huck and rival Ola Afolabi, the latter of whom has not fought since battling to a disputed draw with Huck in May of last year.

Meanwhile, Huck (35-2-1, 25 knockouts), of Germany, is coming off November's unanimous decision victory over Firat Arslan, who had gone 3-0-1 with three knockout victories before the loss.

According to WBO President Paco Valcarcel, the minimum offer for the bout, likely to take place in April in Germany, is $300,000.

Prior to facing Afolabi (19-2-4, 9 KOs) in their last meeting, Huck, who is 28, had lost a disputed majority decision to WBA regular heavyweight beltholder Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KOs) in February of last year. Huck lost to Povetkin, 114-114, 116-113 and 116-112, although THE RING scored it 115-113 for Huck.

In his next fight in September, Povetkin stopped former undisputed heavyweight chapion Hasim Rahman in the second round.

Before facing Afolabi the second time, Huck had won 15 straight fights as a 200-pounder, including 11 by knockout, since falling by 12th-round stoppage to Steve Cunningham in December of 2007.

Huck defended his crown against Afolabi, 32, by unanimous decision in December of 2009.

Huck is promoted by Sauerland Events, and Afolabi, by K2 Promotions.

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com