The first defense of the OIB (International Boxing Organization) cruiserweight champion, Nigerian-British Ola Afolabi (22-4-4, 11 KO) will be against Serbian-German Marco Huck (38-3-1, 26 KO) on February 27, 2016. It will be the fourth fight between both boxers. The first three took place during Huck's reign as WBO champion, with one win for the German (by unanimous decision), one draw, and another win for the champion (by majority decision).
The challenger confirmed it in a post on his Facebook account (the link is here), where he also announced the date and location: February 27, 2016, at the Gerry Weber Stadion in the German city of Halle. It will be the seventh time that Afolabi fights in Germany, while Germany is Huck's stronghold, having fought there in 39 of his 42 professional fights.
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Recently, Huck has been criticized for this fact by another great former cruiserweight world champion, the British Johnny Nelson. He and Marco Huck share the fact of being the boxers who have made the most consecutive world defenses in the cruiserweight division (13 defenses), but Nelson accused him of "not defending his title outside Germany". And it's true. Nelson defended his title in countries like Denmark, the United States, or Italy, but Huck only defended his title in Germany, with the possible favoritism that may entail in difficult fights to judge. The only time he defended it outside Germany (in the USA against Glowacki) he lost.
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However, for both boxers, it is a very important fight: Huck, despite everything, comes from being a great champion (almost 6 years of uninterrupted reign), but his defeat against the Polish Krzysztof Glowacki 4 months ago has shaken his status as a top boxer in the cruiserweight category. His intention is to become champion again as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the champion comes from taking the belt from Russian Rakhim Chakhkiev, a boxer with a great amateur career (Olympic gold in Beijing 2008). Afolabi countered the Russian's heavy punches well and dominated in the exchange of blows, knocking the champion out in the fifth round. Afolabi's victory, on Russian soil, was a surprise at the time for the spectators present there.