Halle, Germany – German cruiserweight Marco Huck successfully retained the WBO title for the 10th time with a unanimous decision win over compatriot Firat Arslan on Saturday.
The decision was greeted by a chorus of boos, as the crowd felt the 42-year-old Arslan had done more than enough to beat a man 15 years younger.
“This fight was the biggest scam that I've ever seen. It's a disgrace,” Arslan's coach Dieter Wittmann said.
Arslan, a southpaw, forced the initiative throughout, and rocked the defending champion with a left uppercut to leave him with a bloody nose in the second round.
Huck finished the third with a flurry of punches to rouse the crowd, and he responded again in rounds seven and eighth, but the elusive Arslan appeared unbothered, even raising his arms in triumph after the ninth.
Arslan's intensity dropped slightly then, and Huck was compelled to finish strongly before the judges awarded it 115-113, 115-113
and 117-111.
“It was hard work, he fought like a lion, worked very hard,” said Huck, who improved to 35-2-1 (25 KOs). “I'm not a judge. I think I landed more punches.”
Former WBA cruiserweight title holder Arslan, who dropped to 32-6-2 (21 KOs), was furious.
“I've never experienced anything like this decision. I've seldom landed so many clean punches and he only scuffed me,” Arslan said. “How can such a thing happen? This kind of thing is ruining boxing. I landed so many punches. I think the whole crowd believes I'm the winner. I've been robbed of my win. I would have been the new world champion today, I would have written history.”
Huck next faces mandatory challenger Ola Afolabi for the third time. He fought the Briton to a draw by majority decision in his previous defence in May. — Sapa-AP