Captain Huck eager to dethrone
IBF champ Cunningham

Photo: Stefan Hörttrich, Westfalenblatt

No Christmas, no problem: Marco "Captain" Huck is confident he will have a reason to celebrate on Saturday night after the first world title fight of his career. The undefeated 23-year-old takes on IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham in his hometown of Bielefeld. He is keen to deliver following a long - and lonely - preparation. "Christmas was pretty lonely but all my focus was on the fight," Huck (19-0, 14 KOs) said at today´s press conference. "I´ll have enough time to celebrate as a world champion. I´ve been making good progress in practice and will prove just that on Saturday."

Huck has spent the better part of the last week locked into a Berlin hotel. Coach Ulli Wegner would not allow his youngster to meet his family in Bielefeld but scheduled work-outs instead. "It was not easy but then again this is a world title fight and the preparation has top priority," he said. "Cunningham is a great fighter and deserves to be the world champion. But I am convinced Marco will beat him."

When he heard that Cunningham had just opened a pizzeria in Philadelphia, Huck had a good piece of advice for his American opponent. "After Saturday he will have enough time to make pizzas. Not even in his wildest dreams would he fancy a date with a fighter like me."

The 31-year-old clinched the IBF title back in May when he defeated champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in his backyard. Huck has also crossed Wlodarczyk´s path - he has been sparring with the Polish ex-champion during the preparation. "After four times Wlodarczyk did not want to continue because Marco had knocked him out twice," Wegner said. "Everyone will see how much Marco has improved. He will defeat Cunningham."

It would not take the reigning IBF champion long to fire back. "My name is not Krzysztof. I have beaten him twice. Huck is a different fighter and he has seen nothing like Steve 'USS' Cunningham. It is going to be awesome on Saturday." Added coach Anthony Chase: "Steve is an exceptional fighter. He has a warrior´s heart. He has fought his heart out and he will show people things that you have never seen before."

On what will be an action-filled undercard, undefeated Yoan Pablo Hernandez will fight experienced Mohamed Azzaoui for the WBA Fedelatin and WBC Latino cruiserweight titles, while Francesco Pianeta, Karo Murat and Frank Shabani will also be in action. Furthermore, Tomasz Adamek will take on Josip Jalusic, and Jose Alfaro and Prawet Singwancha will clash for the WBA lightweight title.