Johnny Nelson wants record fight with Marco Huck

I thought this was a hoax when I read it first but apparently its legit.

Huck is looking to equal Nelsons record of cruiserweight defences this weekend and it seems Nelson isn't best pleased:


’There are only a handful of world champions who can truly be considered the best in the world and in my opinion Marco Huck is not one of them,’’ said Nelson. ‘’No disrespect to the kid but to get people to sit up, pay attention and consider him the best, he needs to fight outside of Germany, away from his home comforts.  

 
‘’I fought all over the world and defended my title against the very best. I proved that I was the top fighter in the division. At the moment Huck has a plastic crown, to make it gold he needs to prove himself outside of Germany.’’

Nelson retired in 2005 ending a seven-year reign as WBO Champion. Despite nine years of inactivity, the 47 year-old believes he still has what it takes to beat Huck and admits he could be tempted out of retirement to defend his record against the reigning champion.

“Give me six months and I’ll take this kid out,”

While some may be concerned about Nelson’s health against the 29-year-old champion, he is adamant he that he would be fit enough despite his advanced years. He believes his awkward, southpaw style would be enough to bring to an end the winning streak of the “Kapt’n”.

“I’m not saying I’m coming back to boxing, what I’m saying is I’d beat Marco Huck now and if the interest is there, I’ll prove it. If you keep yourself in good shape it can be done. Bernard Hopkins is the perfect example. George Foreman did it at 45 against Michael Moorer and I know I can do it.

“In my day I’d have stopped him but now I still know too much for him. I’m in excellent condition but I’m not in fighting shape. It would take me six months to get ready for something like that but I know if I did, I’d beat him and I’d beat him well.”

During Nelson’s reign as WBO champion he defended his title in five different countries and fought the likes of Ruediger May, Guillermo Jones and Ezra Sellers. While Huck has faced the likes of Ola Afolabi and Dennis Lebedev, all of his defences have taken place in his adopted home of Germany, a factor which Nelson believes has allowed him to hold on the belt for so long.

“It’s very hard for people to look at you and think you are the best in the world when you only fight at home. He’s not the finished article, nowhere near it. They’ve [Sauerland] fed him opponents at home to keep this kid world champion, they’ve done a great job with him but they can only keep him at home so long. Once you put him out there against someone who’ll give him a run for his money then he’s got problems.

“I beat the top three Germans when I boxed, over in Germany and I remember [Wilfried] Sauerland saying to me after I beat his last fighter [May] that he’d never make the same mistake again. Would he be tempted to make the same mistake one more time or will his sons [Kalle and Nisse] follow in his footsteps?

Huck has wasted no time in responding to Nelson’s remarks. ’’I have a lot of respect for Johnny and everything he achieved but he can’t be serious,’’ said the 29 year-old champion. ‘’I think he is just upset that tomorrow I will match his record and in my next fight I will break it. But if he is serious and the fans wanted to see it, I would happily give him a beating in the ring.’’


“I know I’m not the fighter I once was, I don’t have the hand speed I used to have but I don’t need to be 100%, even at 50% I’ll beat him.”

Sounds like Johnny has been drinking a bit recently. Especially when this interview was given...

Steffy is only bitter because Nelson would have annihilated Enzo and Cleverley in the same night

DAVE667 wrote:Steffy is only bitter because Nelson would have annihilated Enzo and Cleverley in the same night

Yeah probably Dave. You know me so well. Anything you want to add now that actually relates to Nelson v Huck?

Steffan wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:Steffy is only bitter because Nelson would have annihilated Enzo and Cleverley in the same night

Yeah probably Dave. You know me so well. Anything you want to add now that actually relates to Nelson v Huck?

They're both better than Enzo or Clev?

Nelson cant fight anyway because of the knee injury he suffered in 2006 in training for the enzo fight

trottb wrote:

Steffan wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:Steffy is only bitter because Nelson would have annihilated Enzo and Cleverley in the same night

Yeah probably Dave. You know me so well. Anything you want to add now that actually relates to Nelson v Huck?

They're both better than Enzo or Clev?  

They probably are. Your point being?

Just watched Huck knock the guy out and win by UD.

Bizarre.

Union Cane wrote:Just watched Huck knock the guy out and win by UD.

Bizarre.

WTF??

TopHat24/7 wrote:

Union Cane wrote:Just watched Huck knock the guy out and win by UD.

Bizarre.

WTF??

I was in Moscow over the weekend, so the commentary was in Russian and I wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but it appeared that Huck launched a huge assault right at the end of the twelfth and sparked Lambretta, the Italian fell to the ground and the ref appeared to wave it off. So, Huck by KO I thought.

They then went to the scorecards, and announced Huck as the winner by UD.

I hadn't heard the bell ring, so thought that perhaps the bell had rung during the (non-existent) count, and Lambretta had been saved by the bell, but as it was a WBO title fight that rule was not in force; a fighter cannot be saved by the bell in any round.

The only logical explanation then was that Huck had knocked him out after the final bell, but then surely that would have led to a disqualification? But then they wouldn't DQ Huck in Germany would they.

Very confusing, and even now I'm not entirely sure what went on.

Johnny Nelson was ringside, I personally think Huck would have no trouble flattening him.

Nelson forgets some of us saw him fight Deleon and Warring....

Awful stinker can stay retired

There's a good IFL interview on this.

Jonny talks about it quite frankly and Kugan seems to listen politely, pose the questions we're all thinking diplomatically, tread carefully so as not to aggravate Jonny... whilst all the time I got the impression Kugan was thinking Jonny had lost the plot.

Very surprised at Nelson as I wouldn't have seen this coming from a guy that seemed content in retirement. In his head one fight isn't a comeback. What is it then?

I remember there Nelson was on about coming back for a fight with Haye about 10 years ago but he wasnt too long retired at that stage. Didnt have him pegged for this kind of carry on though. He has a kind a pretty self depreciating sense of humour and he knows the stank the place out god knows how many times. But obviously behind it all hes quite protective of his record, for whatever its worth in a pretty duff division with numerous title up for grab. I reckon Huck has it right saying it pretty much stems from the fact Nelsons record will be broken and hes not happy about it.

This is as likely as Lennox Lewis rematching Vitali Klitschko. Nelson is just vexed about his record going.

Never figured Nelson to be so into his record. To be honest I didnt even know he had it. Mostly bollox anyway. He didnt really face any top cruiserweights and random defences of one title when there are four or five in play shouldnt even be counted towards records anyways.

catchweight wrote:Never figured Nelson to be so into his record. To be honest I didnt even know he had it. Mostly bollox anyway. He didnt really face any top cruiserweights and random defences of one title when there are four or five in play shouldnt even be counted towards records anyways.

Agree 100% with this.

I'll just add, how egotistical does someone have to be to think that they have set some sort of boxing standard when they have only held the WBO belt?

Let's be honest, the belts don't mean as much as they used to but the WBO belt is the least prestigious of the bunch.

I would argue the WBA is the least prestigious as there can be multiple versions in the same weight class