1 With a home crowd of 5,000 cheering him on, Henry Maske of Germany retained his world light heavyweight title Saturday in an International Boxing Federation championship match against Egerton Marcus of Canada.
2 Predictions were that Marcus would be Maske's toughest competition since he won the championship against American Charles Williams two years ago, but it wasn't to be.
3 After all, the former East German Army First Lieutenant, eeked out a victory against the Canadian at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Marcus said later he had broken his powerful right hand in his second Olympic fight, but still went on to compete in the middleweight finals where Maske took the gold.
4 Added to that, the 30-year-old Marcus had 14 straight wins with 10 knockouts since turning professional in 1989, even with hand problems.
5 Maske, 31, of Frankfurt an der Oder in former East Germany, had 25 straight wins since turning professional in 1990. Only 11 ended early, but he has a reputation for doing only what he has to, to win.
6 Germany's mass circulation Bild newspaper last week quoted Renee Weller, a former top German boxer, as saying 'If Maske keeps fighting like he does he'll win the Nobel Peace Prize.'
7 It's no wonder he's called the 'gentleman boxer.'
8 Maske, weighing in at 79.1 kilograms (174), was scored ahead 118-110 by two judges and 118-111 by the third after Saturday's encounter.
9 He had little trouble keeping away from the shorter Marcus, who at 180 meters (5 feet 10), against the German's 1.90 meters (6 feet 2), was warned numerous times for ducking low attempting to get inside. Marcus weighed 78.8 kilograms (173 lbs).
10 Showing his usual tactics keeping his opponent at bay with quick right jabs, the left-handed Maske scored repeatedly with right-left combinations, frustrating Marcus in every round.
11 Maske's best moments came at the end of the seventh when he caught the Canadian with quick combination that had Marcus doubled over and the referee counting as the bell ended the round.
12 Throughout the match, Maske's technical advantage kept Marcus lunging or tied up and the quick German was never in trouble.
13 At the post-fight press conference, Marcus' manager Lou Duva put it in a nutshell, after excusing Marcus as too dehydrated to attend.
14 'It was a great fight,' Duva said. 'Henry Maske has all the abilities of a great champion.'
15 'We had the right tactics. We wanted to pressure him with body punches, then hooks. At the beginning Marcus did that. But later he tried to get him with one punch and it didn't work,' Duva said.
16 Maske, not a man to waste words, summed it up for his side.
17 'It was a hard fight. He was as explosive as I expected. He made me give it my best.'
18 Bild newspaper said that Maske was to get a paycheck of 1 million marks (dlrs 657,000), and Marcus 310,000 marks (dlrs 200,000) for the 12-round bout.

With a home crowd of 5 , 000 cheering him on , Henry Maske of Germany retained his world light heavyweight title Saturday in an International Boxing Federation championship match against Egerton Marcus of Canada .
cheering
Why was it important that they  cheer him on?