| |
“Maskaev pounds The Rock, and raises his
stock” By Mike Casile (PBR)
(8/12/2006)
The steady sound you heard last night in the
Thomas Mack arena in Las Vegas, was not the clock ticking closer to
midnight, for the 37 year old Cinderella man ,Oleg Maskaev (33 – 5, 26
KO’s), but rather the beautifully placed left hooks, he seemed to
surprise the “lackluster” Hasim Rahman (41 -6 -2, 33KO’s) with. Last
night personified the death of the American heavyweight champion, all
“fluff”, but when it came time to dig down, “no Stuff”.
Oleg was being chased around the ring, from the first bell, not just
fighting Rahman, but the ghost of the other 5 knockout’s he suffered. He
knew that they key to his victory would be head movement, which he never
seemed to develop throughout his long career. He looked stiff in the
opening rounds, moving with the grace on an elephant on roller skates,
but he only needed a few hard right hands to the jaw, to wake up, and
remind himself what he said to The Philadelphia Boxing report in a
recent interview, quote, “ It is all on my shoulders, my family, my
friends, my team, are all counting on me. I will not let them down”. He
seemed to be fighting with something American heavyweights have long
forgotten about. He “willed” himself to victory.
While Rahman was the 2 to 1 favorite, had
fought a better quality of opponents, had the whole “American last line
of defense” thing going for him, he just did not have the “will” to
fight Maskaev, the way he should have. Rahman’s jab seemed to be working
for him early on, but decided not to use it later, in fear of having to
mix it up, with seemingly stronger, and better conditioned Maskaev.
Jay Nady must have wanted some face time
last night, because he gave Maskaev multiple warnings about holding,
which was ridiculous, considering how the fight was progressing, and it
must have annoyed Maskaev, because at one point, he turned to Nady, and
said “I ‘m not holding”.
As a former soviet officer, Maskaev
had the discipline, to shrug off the seemingly lopsided refereeing
performance by Nady, and stick to his plan. He showed much less boxing
ability, than his last fight, due to a back injury he suffered in camp
that he revealed after the fight, but his head movement, took just
enough sting, off Rahman’s looping, undisciplined right hand.
The Rock seemed to crack under the newly
discovered left hook of Maskaev, and going into the final round, The
Rock began to sink, under the will and the pressure, of the Cinderella
story from Staten Island. Maskaev proclaimed, “I am a proud Russian
American”, after the fight. He reminded us all of something, he is
American, and maybe there is nobody better, to remind us, of what an
American heavyweight should be.
Mike Casile
Philaboxingreport.com
MC@philaboxingreport.com
|
|
