Alexander Povetkin retained his WBA heavyweight title with an unconvincing win against Marco Huck in Stuttgart.
Russian makes successful defence against cruiserweight
Alexander Povetkin retained his WBA heavyweight title with an unconvincing win against Marco Huck in Stuttgart.
Huck, the current WBO cruiserweight champion, rocked Povetkin in the fourth and seventh rounds but was unable to finish the job against a man 20lbs heavier.
However, he was still unfortunate not to get the verdict with two judges giving it to the Russian and one scoring it a draw.
The decision was greeted with a chorus of boos with Povetkin looking exhausted at the end of the 12-round contest.
"I under-estimated him, " admitted the champion, who won the belt after the sanctioning body awarded Wladimir Klitschko 'super-champion' status after beating David Haye.
"Perhaps I didn't take this fight seriously enough."
Huck's best chance to end it early came in the seventh, when Povetkin was trapped on the ropes before the bell saved him.
He regained his composure to hold his own in the later rounds, although Huck caught him again with a big right hand in the 10th, which he managed to survive.
"A lot of people who saw this fight see me as the winner," said Huck, who finished it with a gash by the right eye, his record dropping to 34-2. "He couldn't stand anymore and he's been judged the champion."
