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Well...not much to say here...
other than there's never really been a sorrier crop of heavyweights in the world than right now...
Maskaev completes European sweep
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Sammy Rozenberg / BoxingScene.com
Posted: 3 hours ago
The American rule of the heavyweights is no more. Before a packed crowd in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oleg Maskaev (33-5, 26 KOs) stopped Hasim Rahman (41-6-2, 33 KOs) in the 12th and final round to capture the WBC heavyweight title.
Maskaev completed the European sweep of the heavyweight titles, joining WBA champion Nikolai Valuev, WBO champion Sergei Liakhovich and IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko.
If Rahman would have survived the round, Maskaev would have won the fight by way of a split decision. At the time of the stoppage, the scores were 106-103 Maskaev, 106-103 Rahman and 105-104 Maskaev. Considering that Maskaev was dominating the final round, and scored a knockdown, he would have been given a 10-8 round across the boards to win the title.
Both men were cautious at the start of the fight. Rahman began an early lead by being consistent with his jab. Around the fifth round, Maskaev began to neutralize the jab and land crisp left hooks.
The two fighters appeared to be tired going into the final round, with the fight on the table. Just when it appeared that Rahman may be on his way to winning a close decision over a tired Maskaev, the same right hand Maskaev used to knock Rahman out when the two met in 1999, connected on Rahman's jaw and sent him down to the canvas. Rahman was able to beat the count, but his legs were gone and Maskaev went on the attack with vicious intent.
With less then a minute left in the fight, Maskaev continued to batter Rahman with big punches, forcing referee Jay Nady to stop the fight.
The IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is waiting in the wings for Maskaev. Emanuel Steward, Klitschko's trainer, stated that they were not going to finalize a deal with Shannon Briggs until the Rahman-Maskaev date had passed.
The general feeling is that Maskaev will accept the deal to meet Klitschko for a unification encounter. Klitschko has a November 11 date set for Madison Square Garden, with HBO televising the fight live. Klitschko could be the easiest and the hardest fight to win depending on the strategy. In his most recent bouts against Chris Byrd and Samuel Peter, Klitschko was able to use his size to his full advantage to win.
The problems for Klitschko in the Byrd and Peter bouts were the ability of his opponents to find their target. The speed difference between Byrd and Peter is very significant. Byrd is one of the quickest heavyweights in the division, while Peter possesses a below-average hand speed and telegraphs his punches. Considering that both opponents were able to land their punches, regardless of hand speed, demonstrates that Klitschko still has to work on his defense.
Byrd was unable to hurt Klitschko with any of his punches, but Peter put Klitschko on the canvass on three occasions. The knockdowns by Peter were not clean, but he was still able to get inside and connect with Klitschko, who left himself open. Maskaev is quicker than Peter — not as good a boxer as Byrd, but he has a good combination of tools to pull a possible upset.
Maskaev will have to get off first, not allow Klitschko to establish the distance with his strong jab and get inside. Klitschko does not like to fight backwards against aggressive punchers that come forward. Maskaev will have to be aggressive and take some chances if he wants to stand a serious chance of winning.
other than there's never really been a sorrier crop of heavyweights in the world than right now...
Maskaev completes European sweep
Story Tools:
Print Email Blog This
Sammy Rozenberg / BoxingScene.com
Posted: 3 hours ago
The American rule of the heavyweights is no more. Before a packed crowd in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oleg Maskaev (33-5, 26 KOs) stopped Hasim Rahman (41-6-2, 33 KOs) in the 12th and final round to capture the WBC heavyweight title.
Maskaev completed the European sweep of the heavyweight titles, joining WBA champion Nikolai Valuev, WBO champion Sergei Liakhovich and IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko.
If Rahman would have survived the round, Maskaev would have won the fight by way of a split decision. At the time of the stoppage, the scores were 106-103 Maskaev, 106-103 Rahman and 105-104 Maskaev. Considering that Maskaev was dominating the final round, and scored a knockdown, he would have been given a 10-8 round across the boards to win the title.
Both men were cautious at the start of the fight. Rahman began an early lead by being consistent with his jab. Around the fifth round, Maskaev began to neutralize the jab and land crisp left hooks.
The two fighters appeared to be tired going into the final round, with the fight on the table. Just when it appeared that Rahman may be on his way to winning a close decision over a tired Maskaev, the same right hand Maskaev used to knock Rahman out when the two met in 1999, connected on Rahman's jaw and sent him down to the canvas. Rahman was able to beat the count, but his legs were gone and Maskaev went on the attack with vicious intent.
With less then a minute left in the fight, Maskaev continued to batter Rahman with big punches, forcing referee Jay Nady to stop the fight.
The IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is waiting in the wings for Maskaev. Emanuel Steward, Klitschko's trainer, stated that they were not going to finalize a deal with Shannon Briggs until the Rahman-Maskaev date had passed.
The general feeling is that Maskaev will accept the deal to meet Klitschko for a unification encounter. Klitschko has a November 11 date set for Madison Square Garden, with HBO televising the fight live. Klitschko could be the easiest and the hardest fight to win depending on the strategy. In his most recent bouts against Chris Byrd and Samuel Peter, Klitschko was able to use his size to his full advantage to win.
The problems for Klitschko in the Byrd and Peter bouts were the ability of his opponents to find their target. The speed difference between Byrd and Peter is very significant. Byrd is one of the quickest heavyweights in the division, while Peter possesses a below-average hand speed and telegraphs his punches. Considering that both opponents were able to land their punches, regardless of hand speed, demonstrates that Klitschko still has to work on his defense.
Byrd was unable to hurt Klitschko with any of his punches, but Peter put Klitschko on the canvass on three occasions. The knockdowns by Peter were not clean, but he was still able to get inside and connect with Klitschko, who left himself open. Maskaev is quicker than Peter — not as good a boxer as Byrd, but he has a good combination of tools to pull a possible upset.
Maskaev will have to get off first, not allow Klitschko to establish the distance with his strong jab and get inside. Klitschko does not like to fight backwards against aggressive punchers that come forward. Maskaev will have to be aggressive and take some chances if he wants to stand a serious chance of winning.
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