One and a half weeks until the showdown - IBO champion Marco "Captain“ Huck will defend on the 1st of April with Mairis Briedis in Dortmund, Germany, with the interim-WBC cruiserweight title also at stake.

Huck worked very hard in the training camp in Braunlage, Niedersachsen, with his new trainer Oktay Urkal.

The preparation with the former Olympic medalist was special because Huck had broken the metacarpal bone in the last fight with Dmitro Kutcher in November 2016. But the injury is healed now and the bone is able to work under pressure.

“The pain was hard during the fight in November”, Captain Huck remembers. “But of course I never thought to give up.”

And he smiles: “Because of the long time being professional with my former trainer Ulli Wegner I have another sense of pain than the most other humans…”

“An Indian brave doesn´t know pain” – this sentence in Germany knows every child. Young boys grow up with it (it´s the meaning of “big boys don´t cry” in English).

Ulli Wegner said this often to his boxers during the ring breaks.

“When it hurt during a fight Mister Wegner remembered me in his special way of speaking that I´m an Indian brave who doesn´t know any pain. And sometimes you tell your trainer that you feel pain. You continue fighting. Like an Indian brave.”

The power of his former trainer and the power against himself helped Huck get to where he is today. The fight with Kutcher, he won in spite of the broken bone and got the belt of the International Boxing Organization.

The fight with Briedis presents a hard hitting opponent – and normally it means pain. “But not for me," Captain Huck said in a confident manner. “I don´t know any pain. But it will not be the same thing with my opponent.”