The hugely anticipated World Boxing Super Series got underway last night in Berlin.
With two tournaments scheduled, covering the super-middleweight division and the cruiserweight division, it was the latter that got the show on the road.
The first fight, a quarter-final, saw Marco Huck take on Oleksander Usyk.
Usyk, one of the favourites to take the huge prize on offer when the tournament concludes next May, with a ?50 million prize fund up for grabs, maintained his unbeaten run by stopping Huck in the tenth round of their bout.
In doing so, the Ukrainian also kept hold of his WBO belt.
By beating Huck, Usyk will face the winner of the quarter-final between Mairis Briedis and Mike Perez, with the WBC champion, Briedis his most likely opponent.
Against Huck, Usyk?s harder punching constantly forced the issue and Huck often looked to be tiring, with Usyk taking control of the centre of the ring.
The seventh-round saw Usyk land a straight left that troubled Huck and the next round saw Usyk catch Huck with some more solid left hands.
Huck?s cause wasn?t helped when he was docked a point after catching his opponent with a low blow.
The end of the fight came in the tenth-round when Usyk stepped up the pressure, forcing his opponent to retreat around the ring. With Huck offering no resistance, other than covering up, the referee, Robert Byrd, stepped in to prevent Huck shipping any further unnecessary punishment.
Usyk Wins WBSS Cruiserweight Opening Bout
