By Dr. Peter Edwards
Photo © Chris Cozzone/FightWireImages.com
If you open up a dictionary and look for the true definition of a modern day Cinderella man, WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev will be the man pictured next to the description.
Between the years 2000 and 2002, Maskaev was knocked out three times. On October 7, 2000, he was stopped in four rounds by the Kirk Johnson, who is not the hardest puncher at the weight. Johnson sent Maskaev flying through the ropes with a shot that left him barely conscious and unable to stand for several minutes.
In his very next fight, less than five months later, Maskaev was once again knocked out. This time Lance Whitaker, a fighter who is a fringe contender at best, demolished him in two rounds.
After suffering back to back knockout losses, he picked himself up off floor and took on a few easy opponents to regain his confidence in the ring. Then the unforeseeable happened, he was once a again knocked out. This time it was against an opponent many regarded as a journeyman fighter, Corey "T-Rex" Sanders.
He met Sanders in March of 2003, and was stopped in the eighth round. Sanders seemed like a safe fight, he sported six losses on his record, and prior to facing Maskaev he was beaten by fighters with 9-23 and 19-25 records. Another interesting point is that Maskaev would be the last win Sanders would ever receive in the ring. He went on to lose every single bout since 2002. The post-fight statistics of Sanders did not do Maskaev any favors.
The Sanders loss was the lowest point in Maskaev's career. He was urged by his management, his former trainer and many others - to retire. They said he was a shot fighter that was no longer capable of taking a heavyweight punch.
Rather than listen to the critics, he regrouped, hired trainer Victor Valle, Jr and never looked back at the past. He returned almost a year later, picking up a first round TKO against Errol Sadikovski. After piling up a couple of easy knockout wins, and fought his first significant fight in 2004, against and undefeated 21-0 prospect, David Defiagbon.
The bout with Defiaghon took place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the assumed setting for Defiaghon's "coming out" fight. Maskaev was picked as a safe opponent to fatten up Defiaghon's resume. Instead, Maskaev turned the tables by fighting his undefeated foe as if he was the actual fighter that was undefeated. After the dust settled, Maskaev walked away with a split-decision victory.
The win over Defiaghon lifted Maskaev's standing in the WBC rankings, and three fights later he was picked by the sanctioning body to take part in a WBC Heavyweight Title Elimination bout with Sinan Samil Sam of Germany. The bout with Sam took place on November 11, 2005, in Sam's backyard of Hamburg, Germany.
Over the years, Germany got the reputation of being the kind of country where an outsider would have to knock the hometown fighter down 20 times in order to secure a draw. Plenty of fighters have claimed robberies over the years when fighting in Germany, but that did not stop Maskaev from flying over to fight Sam before a German crowd of thousands.
While the curse of Germany seemed to get the better of others, Maskaev cracked the curse by dominating Sam for a majority of the fight to win a one-sided unanimous decision, securing a WBC heavyweight title shot in the process.
The following year, Maskaev was set to face a familiar foe, Hasim Rahman, for the WBC title. They preciously met in 1999, and Maskaev produced the biggest win of his career on that night when he sent Rahman sailing through the ropes for a highlight reel knockout in the eighth round. This time, Rahman was viewed as a heavy favorite due to Maskaev’s advancing age, and the fact that Rahman had faced and beaten better competition since the last time the two men met in the ring.
The background story line was built around Rahman being the last American heavyweight with a title and Maskaev was a fighter from the former Soviet Union that was looking to pull off a full sweep of the heavyweight titles for fighters from Eastern Europe.
Once again, Maskaev proved the critics wrong by overcoming the odds when he faced Rahman in August. He took Rahman out of his game plan by making him fight instead of box. It was a close battle coming into the twelfth and final round, and Maskaev knew he had to dig deep in order to win. Moments into the final round, a combination sent Rahman reeling backwards and down to the mat. He was able to beat the referee’s count, but never fully recovered from the punches. Maskaev sensing the end was near jumped on his opponent and never stopped throwing punches.
As the referee waved off the contest, Maskaev captured the heart of the crowd as they were cheering his win and former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, watching from ringside, was screaming at the top of his lungs with excitement. The dream of the 37-year-old fighter from Kazakhstan was achieved, he was now a world champion.
He flew over to Russia last weekend, and successfully defended his title against Ugandan fighter Peter Okhello. Thousand of supporters cheered their Cinderella man on. It was Maskaev’s dream to win a world title and then fly to him homeland to make a defense before his countrymen. Yet another dream achieved. The President of Russia, Putin himself, made Maskaev an honorary citizen of the country.
Not a single person would have imagined in 2002 that Sanders would be the last time Maskaev would ever taste defeat. Maskaev is 12-0 since the Sanders loss, and nine of those wins came by way of knockout.
Maskaev’s options for 2007 are booming. The old man is the now the new kid on the block. Once forgotten by the sport, he now has some of the best fighters in boxing calling him out. IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko tried hard to make a bout with Maskaev in 2006, but injuries suffered by Maskaev in the Rahman bout threw a wrench in those plans.
Former undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins has come out of retirement with the hope of landing a heavyweight title fight with Maskaev. The bout with Hopkins would certainly make Maskaev millions of dollars, a nice chunk of change for future retirement plans.
Even the returning Evander Holyfield is trying to position himself for the Maskaev sweepstakes.
In January, heavyweights Samuel Peter and James Toney will battle in a rematch to determine who gets the mandatory crack at Maskaev. Regardless of who wins, either fighter makes an exciting opponent for Maskaev. No word on how soon he has to face the winner, and anything can happen in the bout – such as the winner suffering an injury with a lengthy recovery period, which would open up the door for other opponents.
Who knows what future hold for comeback kid, but what a ride it has been.