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If perfect weather exists than Bushkill, Pennsylvania is experiencing it.
It’s sunny with a light, cool breeze. The temperature is approximately 75 degrees. Down the block, music emanates from a local festival. The Fernwood resort is teeming with families enjoying the late summer weekend.
But down a dim hall and up a slightly darker staircase the atmosphere is stark in contrast to what’s going on outdoors. There’s music playing, but its low. And only the essential players are in attendance. There are no entourages here.
The atmosphere in the training camp of WBC Heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev is strictly professional.
Just training and sparring.
This is not to say that the champion is rigid or unapproachable. But Maskaev and his team are clearly here to do a job and to do it right.
“I’m taking this fight very seriously,” Maskaev, 34-5, 26 KO’s explains of his eagerly anticipated October 6 fight against Samuel Peter at Madison Square Garden in New York City. “I’m going to be, as always, in good shape, put up a good fight and win the fight."
“He’s a great fighter,” Maskaev continues. “He’s a very strong fighter. It’s going to be a tough fight for me. But so far so good. We’ve spent almost a month (training). I’m in good shape right now. But there’s a still a lot of work I have to do to succeed. We’re still working on our plans; we’re going to have approximately three of them. There’s still a lot of work but step by step we’re going to get there.”
Maskaev has essentially been training for this fight, his second title defense, all year. He’s been working at the resort for approximately five weeks and will remain here for the next five and a half weeks. He also trained for a few weeks in June when he thought he'd be fighting over the summer. His trainer, Victor Valle Jr., went out to Maskaev’s home in California twice to train his pupil.
“I forgot where I live,” Valle says jokingly.
Today Maskaev spars ten consecutive rounds with two different fighters; working on a variety of tactics he hopes will be successful against Peter.
“We changed plans now,” Valle says. “We want to put more into boxing and put the runs afterwards. So what we do is we let him rest and then we he comes to spar, he spars then he does his running. We’ll workout approximately between 12 and one and after that he’ll take his rest, then he’ll go later on and run, then he eats and it’s ba-boom – he goes to sleep.”
Maskaev runs approximately four days a week. “He runs a good five miles, easy,” explains Valle. “As of now we’re going to change plans with that. A five-mile run here with the hills and everything is equivalent to maybe six or seven miles.”
“Physically I’m as always – strong,” Maskaev says. “I run a lot. A lot of fighters, especially heavyweights, they don’t like to run. I don’t want to say that I like to run but I have to run. I know this is the key to be in good shape.”
Despite the fight being over a month away, Maskaev already appears to be in great physical condition. Mentally he appears much more confident and alert than he did a few years ago. Regardless of his physical or mental form though, the only people who actually think the 38-year old Maskaev will beat Peter are the people in his camp. This includes manager Fred Kesch and long-time promoter Dennis Rappaport.
“I think he’s extremely underestimated,” Rappaport says. “It’s like the old Rodney Dangerfield line; the guy that gets no respect. We’re used to going in as an underdog and we’re used to proving the critics wrong and he’ll prove them wrong against Peter.”
“The truth is that people have never seen Oleg. They still haven’t seen Oleg at his best,” Valle says of Maskaev.
“It’s always been like this; all my fights,” Maskaev says unfazed. “My last three, four fights approximately they thought Oleg was going to lose. But I believe in God. He’s going to give me strength and blessings for this fight and we’re going to be able to pull this fight thru.”
It’s hard to argue with the facts. And since Maskaev has been with this team he has gone unbeaten, scoring nine knockouts in 12 consecutive victories. The chemistry for success is obvious.
“Fred’s a great manager and a good person,” says Maskaev. “Dennis has been in boxing for a while with Gerry Cooney and a lot of other fighters. Before I signed up with Dennis I heard a lot of good things about him. But all of his fighters he takes care of good. And it’s the same thing with me. I’m very happy with Dennis, with my team, with Victor and everybody’s doing their job.”
Now it’s up to Maskaev to do his.
“I think it can be a tough fight or it can be an easy fight,” he says. “It depends on how we’re going be able to succeed with my plans.”
“You never know. That’s why I can’t say right now if we’re going to box him or fight him. It’s our secret. But we’re definitely going to do something he won’t like.”
JABZ
Valle, a true student of the game, has been closely studying tapes of Peter’s fights while developing a game plan for the big fight. “I think he’s overrated but very strong,” he says. “By observing him on the DVD’s and watching him, he’s a person that can be beat.”
“There are a few things I’m concerned about. One is the punching behind the head. That’s almost like a habit with him. Two, when he does a measuring he’ll lock up his arm and put his elbow right to your throat. Sometimes he takes the lace of the glove, I see the hand opening in slow motion, and he’s actually going to the face with the lace.”
“He continually fouls and gets away with it,” Rappaport says. “Obviously we’re going to have a serious talk with the New York commission. I would expect that this fight may turn into a street fight because we’re nobodies sucker. We’re not going to let him get away with it and not respond. So to keep this fight a boxing match we expect them to enforce the rules.”
Maskaev insists that he was not hampered by the prolonged negotiations to make the fight. “I was relaxing with my family. I wasn’t concentrating on a fight. I was thinking about my family. I was fishing. I had a good time.”
Regardless, Maskaev and his team still have a pending lawsuit against the WBC for a variety of issues. Chief among them is the purse split. Traditionally a champion receives 70-percent of the money while the challenger receives 30. But that was changed for this fight and Maskaev will only take 55-percent to Peter’s 45.
“First of all I’m very upset about that because the WBC is supposed to give me respect because Oleg Maskaev is still right now the WBC heavyweight champion,” Maskaev says. “I’m their champion! And they don’t give me respect, the respect I’m supposed to get. And that we don’t like and we’re going to fight against that.”
The fight at the Garden will represent a homecoming of sorts for Maskaev, who in the past year moved to Sacramento. Prior to his relocation though Maskaev had lived in two of New York’s five boroughs; Brooklyn and Staten Island. “I’m just back to my hometown,” he says with a smile. “This is my second home after Russia. When I lived in New York they accepted me as a young fighter. I grew up as a fighter in New York. I used to live in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn then I moved to Staten Island, New York. It’s a beautiful area. I still have a house out there. I’m still a New Yorker. I didn’t even change my driver’s license. I don’t want to leave New York.”
It’s sunny with a light, cool breeze. The temperature is approximately 75 degrees. Down the block, music emanates from a local festival. The Fernwood resort is teeming with families enjoying the late summer weekend.
But down a dim hall and up a slightly darker staircase the atmosphere is stark in contrast to what’s going on outdoors. There’s music playing, but its low. And only the essential players are in attendance. There are no entourages here.
The atmosphere in the training camp of WBC Heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev is strictly professional.
Just training and sparring.
This is not to say that the champion is rigid or unapproachable. But Maskaev and his team are clearly here to do a job and to do it right.
“I’m taking this fight very seriously,” Maskaev, 34-5, 26 KO’s explains of his eagerly anticipated October 6 fight against Samuel Peter at Madison Square Garden in New York City. “I’m going to be, as always, in good shape, put up a good fight and win the fight."
“He’s a great fighter,” Maskaev continues. “He’s a very strong fighter. It’s going to be a tough fight for me. But so far so good. We’ve spent almost a month (training). I’m in good shape right now. But there’s a still a lot of work I have to do to succeed. We’re still working on our plans; we’re going to have approximately three of them. There’s still a lot of work but step by step we’re going to get there.”
Maskaev has essentially been training for this fight, his second title defense, all year. He’s been working at the resort for approximately five weeks and will remain here for the next five and a half weeks. He also trained for a few weeks in June when he thought he'd be fighting over the summer. His trainer, Victor Valle Jr., went out to Maskaev’s home in California twice to train his pupil.
“I forgot where I live,” Valle says jokingly.
Today Maskaev spars ten consecutive rounds with two different fighters; working on a variety of tactics he hopes will be successful against Peter.
“We changed plans now,” Valle says. “We want to put more into boxing and put the runs afterwards. So what we do is we let him rest and then we he comes to spar, he spars then he does his running. We’ll workout approximately between 12 and one and after that he’ll take his rest, then he’ll go later on and run, then he eats and it’s ba-boom – he goes to sleep.”
Maskaev runs approximately four days a week. “He runs a good five miles, easy,” explains Valle. “As of now we’re going to change plans with that. A five-mile run here with the hills and everything is equivalent to maybe six or seven miles.”
“Physically I’m as always – strong,” Maskaev says. “I run a lot. A lot of fighters, especially heavyweights, they don’t like to run. I don’t want to say that I like to run but I have to run. I know this is the key to be in good shape.”
Despite the fight being over a month away, Maskaev already appears to be in great physical condition. Mentally he appears much more confident and alert than he did a few years ago. Regardless of his physical or mental form though, the only people who actually think the 38-year old Maskaev will beat Peter are the people in his camp. This includes manager Fred Kesch and long-time promoter Dennis Rappaport.
“I think he’s extremely underestimated,” Rappaport says. “It’s like the old Rodney Dangerfield line; the guy that gets no respect. We’re used to going in as an underdog and we’re used to proving the critics wrong and he’ll prove them wrong against Peter.”
“The truth is that people have never seen Oleg. They still haven’t seen Oleg at his best,” Valle says of Maskaev.
“It’s always been like this; all my fights,” Maskaev says unfazed. “My last three, four fights approximately they thought Oleg was going to lose. But I believe in God. He’s going to give me strength and blessings for this fight and we’re going to be able to pull this fight thru.”
It’s hard to argue with the facts. And since Maskaev has been with this team he has gone unbeaten, scoring nine knockouts in 12 consecutive victories. The chemistry for success is obvious.
“Fred’s a great manager and a good person,” says Maskaev. “Dennis has been in boxing for a while with Gerry Cooney and a lot of other fighters. Before I signed up with Dennis I heard a lot of good things about him. But all of his fighters he takes care of good. And it’s the same thing with me. I’m very happy with Dennis, with my team, with Victor and everybody’s doing their job.”
Now it’s up to Maskaev to do his.
“I think it can be a tough fight or it can be an easy fight,” he says. “It depends on how we’re going be able to succeed with my plans.”
“You never know. That’s why I can’t say right now if we’re going to box him or fight him. It’s our secret. But we’re definitely going to do something he won’t like.”
JABZ
Valle, a true student of the game, has been closely studying tapes of Peter’s fights while developing a game plan for the big fight. “I think he’s overrated but very strong,” he says. “By observing him on the DVD’s and watching him, he’s a person that can be beat.”
“There are a few things I’m concerned about. One is the punching behind the head. That’s almost like a habit with him. Two, when he does a measuring he’ll lock up his arm and put his elbow right to your throat. Sometimes he takes the lace of the glove, I see the hand opening in slow motion, and he’s actually going to the face with the lace.”
“He continually fouls and gets away with it,” Rappaport says. “Obviously we’re going to have a serious talk with the New York commission. I would expect that this fight may turn into a street fight because we’re nobodies sucker. We’re not going to let him get away with it and not respond. So to keep this fight a boxing match we expect them to enforce the rules.”
Maskaev insists that he was not hampered by the prolonged negotiations to make the fight. “I was relaxing with my family. I wasn’t concentrating on a fight. I was thinking about my family. I was fishing. I had a good time.”
Regardless, Maskaev and his team still have a pending lawsuit against the WBC for a variety of issues. Chief among them is the purse split. Traditionally a champion receives 70-percent of the money while the challenger receives 30. But that was changed for this fight and Maskaev will only take 55-percent to Peter’s 45.
“First of all I’m very upset about that because the WBC is supposed to give me respect because Oleg Maskaev is still right now the WBC heavyweight champion,” Maskaev says. “I’m their champion! And they don’t give me respect, the respect I’m supposed to get. And that we don’t like and we’re going to fight against that.”
The fight at the Garden will represent a homecoming of sorts for Maskaev, who in the past year moved to Sacramento. Prior to his relocation though Maskaev had lived in two of New York’s five boroughs; Brooklyn and Staten Island. “I’m just back to my hometown,” he says with a smile. “This is my second home after Russia. When I lived in New York they accepted me as a young fighter. I grew up as a fighter in New York. I used to live in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn then I moved to Staten Island, New York. It’s a beautiful area. I still have a house out there. I’m still a New Yorker. I didn’t even change my driver’s license. I don’t want to leave New York.”
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