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Pastimes : Boxing: The Sweet Science -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (495)	8/9/2000 5:24:12 PM
From: LPS5	Respond to of 10489

Maskaev Speaks Out By Matthew Richardson Last week I had the opportunity to speak with heavyweight contender, Oleg Maskaev. Maskeav (who is ranked at 6th by the WBC, 4th by the WBA, 8th by the IBF and 7th by Fightnews.com) had a lot to say about his career which includes knock out wins over the likes of Derrick Jefferson and Hasim Rahman. Also in attendance during the conversation with Maskaev were his manager and his trainer, Bob Jackson. In his last two big fights on HBO, Maskaev has shined in beating Rahman and Jefferson. Recently Rahman won a slugfest with Corrie Sanders while Jefferson suffered his second consecutive loss as a professional. "Hasim Rahman belongs in the top 10. Jefferson, I don't know. I'm not sure about Jefferson." When asked about rematches with either man Maskaev responded by saying "I don't want to now. There's no reason, you know that. We'll do the same thing again. It's not easy, but you know, I got thru it (referring to breaking his hand in his fight with Rahman)." Maskaev has also fought the general census number 1 contender in the heavyweight division, David Tua. After fighting on fairly even terms throughout the bout, Tua's late power surge came through once again as he controversially TKO'ed Maskaev in the 11th. I asked Oleg if it bother him that Tua is getting a title shot at Lennox Lewis since him and Tua have some unfinished business. "No it does not. He deserved that. He deserves his shot." When asked about a possible rematch with "Tuaman" Oleg just simply said "We'll see. If it can be done then no problem." Maskaev then gave me his thoughts on a Lewis-Tua Superfight. "I think that Lennox Lewis is going to win the fight. I know that David Tua, he's dangerous when he walks inside and when he steps in with his left hook. He's got power in his left hook. But Lennox Lewis, he's smart he won't let him do it. He's going to keep him on a distance and will use his jab. That's all." A huge name in the sport of boxing is still Mike Tyson. Maskaev feels as if Tyson should not be allowed to box "not the way he's boxing now." He hasn't really considered Tyson as an opponent saying "He's not a boxer. He's like a street fighter. I don't like that, I don't like that at all. You have to show people your skills not just to hurt people. Or say something terrible about people's family." At this point Bob Jackson said "If anybody ever said anything about his (Maskeav's) family they'd be in big trouble." Oleg currently lives in Staten Island but his native land is Russia. Of course, two big name Eastern European opponents for him in the heavyweight division are Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko. "Wladimir is a good fighter. I think he's a good fighter. He's tall and he's powerful but we have to see more of him to understand him better." Coincidentally, Maskeav fought Vitali as an amateur. "I fought with him when I was an amateur. I stopped him in the 1st round." Maskaev's manager then said "They are afraid of Oleg. Both of them. They never will fight. 2 years ago when Ross Purrity knocked out Wladimir Klitschko we were supposed to fight him. 3 weeks before the fight they pulled out." The other loss on Maskeav's 22 fight record (20-2, 15 KO's) is a knockout loss to former WBC Heavyweight champion and the only man to beat Lennox Lewis, Oliver McCall. The loss was the first of Oleg's career but it came in only his 7th professional fight. I asked Jackson about a rematch with McCall. "We're not on an ego trip. He lost to McCall when he shouldn't have been in there with him. McCall is not in the picture, nowhere. We're not going to reach out of the picture to do some re-building. If McCall was in the top-ten we'd fight him like that (snaps his fingers). The public asked him who he wants to fight. He told them...Nobody below us, everybody in front of us." Jackson then told me that he would explain to me and to all the Fightnews.com readers who Oleg Maskaev is in a nutshell. "He is a good man who loves his family. You won't see him in the news paper here or there for some hanky panky. And when he gets in the ring...he knocks them all out!" Special thanks to Bruce Silverglade who helped me arrange the interview at his world famous Gleason's Gym. (FightNews.com)