In late February Marco Huck was finally able to rid himself of long-time rival Ola Afolabi. The pair met for the fourth time on Feb. 27 in Huck’s adopted home country of Germany and the former WBO cruiserweight titleholder scored a dominant 10^th-round stoppage.

Huck (39-3-1, 27 knockouts) put Afolabi (22-5-4, 11 KOs) in his rear-view mirror having shared a ring together for 46 rounds.

“The fight went exactly how I anticipated it to,” Huck told RingTV.com through translator Benjamin Adamthwaite. “I did my homework during training camp and once more proved to everyone that when I dedicate myself to training and my fitness level is right that I can beat everyone in the world. Then it doesn’t matter who they put in front of me.”

Huck won their first encounter in 2009 by close unanimous decision. A rematch took place in 2012, this time the judges couldn’t separate them and they fought to a draw. That set up the rubber match a year later; unsurprisingly it was another close-run affair, with Huck edging a majority decision. Late last year Afolabi rejuvenated his career knocking out Rakhim Chakhkiev; while Huck had lost his title to Krzysztof Glowacki. Both men agreed to face each other a fourth time.

This time Huck was able for first time to distance himself from the Los Angeles-based Brit of Nigerian decent when referee Jack Reiss called a halt to the one-sided beatdown at the conclusion of Round 10.

The manner of victory pleased the heavy-handed German.

“It was without a doubt my most convincing performance against Afolabi,” he said. “We have been through so many rounds previously but these 10 rounds where the best. And of course it was a statement. I made Afolabi look ordinary and he is anything but ordinary. He is one of the best fighters in the division. But I showed everyone who sits right at the top [of the cruiserweight division].”

He achieved the victory despite a late change of trainers, just 10 days before the fight.

“I realized during the sparring sessions that Varol [Vekiloglu] was more able to get through to me and motivate me,” he explained. “That is one of the most important aspects for me. Unfortunately, my now former coach [Conni Mittermeier] did not like that decision and left.”

This week Huck will be flying to Dubai for a two-week family holiday to re-charge his batteries.

When he returns he has his eyes firmly set on revenge.

“Obviously, I want to fight the Polish guy [Krzysztof Glowacki],” said the 31-year-old veteran. “But I don’t know if he will take the fight. He knows it was just a coincidence when he won the belt and that’s was due to me not performing the way I should that night. If he doesn’t want to fight I will look at other options.”

Huck revealed he has already made an offer to Glowacki, and while he stopped short of saying how much the offer was, he said in euros it was more than mid-six figures.

Glowacki is scheduled to make the first defense of Huck’s old WBO strap against another old rival Steve Cunningham on April 14. The winner is then mandated to face No. 1 contender Oleksandr Usyk.

All of which will likely make it difficult for Huck to face Glowacki this year.

“I don’t really care who I will fight as long as it is one of the best boxers around,” he said. “I always want to fight the best and the cruiserweight division is currently the most competitive one.”

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