Oleg Maskaev

Oleg Alexandrovich Maskaev (Template:Lang-ru; born 2 March 1969) is a Russian-American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2013, and held the WBC heavyweight title from 2006 to 2008.

Professional career

Maskaev, a former mine worker, began his career in the 1980s as an amateur boxer in the Soviet Union, where he held a victory over later WBC world champion Vitali Klitschko. He was the champion of the Soviet Army and later the national cup winner. Representing Uzbekistan, he won a gold medal at the 1994 Asian Games. His professional boxing career began in 1993.

Oleg is known for his powerful right-hand punch: he has knocked out former WBO heavyweight challenger Derrick Jefferson, contender Alex Stewart, and twice knocked out former WBC heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman. However, he is also noted for a weak chin that was evident in his knockout losses to contenders Oliver McCall, David Tua, Kirk Johnson, Lance Whitaker, Corey Sanders and journeyman Nagy Aguilera.

His most famous victories have been his two wins over Hasim Rahman. Maskaev knocked Rahman off balance, sending his rival out of the ring in the 8th round on November 6, 1999. This fight is also notable for the famous "chair incident", in which noted referee, Steve Smoger, who was backup referee for this fight, was struck in the head by a chair thrown by a fan who was later arrested.

He later fought Rahman again and defeated him for the WBC heavyweight title by knocking him out in the 12th round on August 12, 2006. His second win over Rahman was preceded by a streak of victories that helped rejuvenate Maskaev's career and earned him the "Comeback fighter of the Year" award in The Ring magazine in 2006.

Maskaev won his first title defense against Peter Okhello on December 10, 2006 by unanimous decision.

Maskaev fought against Samuel Peter for the WBC Heavyweight title on March 8, 2008 and was doing well in the early rounds, despite Peter's repeated rabbit punching and the referee's warnings. In the 5th round Maskaev landed some of his best shots on his opponents chin, but to no avail: Peter was seemingly unaffected, visibly shaking Oleg. He lost 5 of the 6 rounds, with Peter winning by TKO with 3 seconds remaining in the sixth round.

In late 2008 he beat opponent Robert Hawkins by UD after 10 rounds and then defeated but unheralded Rich Boruff on March 14, 2009 via first round KO, giving him mandatory contender status to the WBC Heavyweight Championship currently held by Vitali Klitschko. He fought Nagy Aguilera on December 11 in Sacramento, California at the Memorial Auditorium in a tune up fight, but was knocked out in the first round. Getting stunned with an overhand right-left hook combo and knocked down soon after, another barrage by Aquilera hit Maskaev hard knocking him out. Maskaev did not land a punch in the fight, and has since stated that he may retire following the loss, however he returned to the ring 3 years after the loss, to knock out Owen Beck. In 2013, he decisioned Jason Gavern in a 10-round fight.

Nationality

Maskaev was born in Taraz to Mordvin parents. He has lived in the U.S. since 1999 with his wife, Svetlana, and four daughters. He acquired US citizenship in 2004. He currently resides in West Sacramento, California. Before his second encounter with Hasim Rahman in 2006, he said "I would say I'm a proud Russian-American. So right now, I'm a citizen of America, of [the] United States... Whoever is going to win is going to be American."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the run-up to his title defense against Peter Okhello, he stated regarding his citizenship: "Russian. I don't want to talk about that anymore. I will walk to the ring under the Russian flag and Russian anthem as I'm now a Russian citizen."<ref>fightnews.com</ref> Russian president Vladimir Putin granted him Russian citizenship on December 9, 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Professional boxing record

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
46	Template:Yes2Win	39–7	Template:Flagicon Danny Williams	UD	10	4 Nov 2013	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
45	Template:Yes2Win	38–7	Template:Flagicon Jason Gavern	UD	10	26 May 2013	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
44	Template:Yes2Win	37–7	Template:Flagicon Owen Beck	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	30 Dec 2012	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
43	Template:No2Loss	36–7	Template:Flagicon Nagy Aguilera	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	11 Dec 2009	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
42	Template:Yes2Win	36–6	Template:Flagicon Rich Boruff	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	14 Mar 2009	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
41	Template:Yes2Win	35–6	Template:Flagicon Robert Hawkins	UD	10	6 Sep 2008	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
40	Template:No2Loss	34–6	Template:Flagicon Samuel Peter	TKO	6 (12), Template:Small	8 Mar 2008	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
39	Template:Yes2Win	34–5	Template:Flagicon Okello Peter	UD	12	10 Dec 2006	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
38	Template:Yes2Win	33–5	Template:Flagicon Hasim Rahman	TKO	12 (12), Template:Small	12 Aug 2006	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
37	Template:Yes2Win	32–5	Template:Flagicon Sinan Şamil Sam	UD	12	12 Nov 2005	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
36	Template:Yes2Win	31–5	Template:Flagicon Livin Castillo	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	24 Jun 2005	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
35	Template:Yes2Win	30–5	Template:Flagicon Quinn Navarre	KO	3 (10), Template:Small	22 Jan 2005	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
34	Template:Yes2Win	29–5	Template:Flagicon David Defiagbon	Template:Abbr	10	23 Jul 2004	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
33	Template:Yes2Win	28–5	Template:Flagicon Craig Tomlinson	TKO	2 (10), Template:Small	16 Apr 2004	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
32	Template:Yes2Win	27–5	Template:Flagicon Julius Francis	TKO	2 (10)	27 Nov 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
31	Template:Yes2Win	26–5	Template:Flagicon Dennis McKinney	TKO	1 (10)	25 Sep 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
30	Template:Yes2Win	25–5	Template:Flagicon Sedreck Fields	TKO	9 (10)	6 Sep 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
29	Template:Yes2Win	24–5	Template:Flagicon Gary Winmon	TKO	1 (8)	28 Jun 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
28	Template:Yes2Win	23–5	Template:Flagicon Errol Sadikovski	TKO	1 (10)	15 Feb 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
27	Template:No2Loss	22–5	Template:Flagicon Corey Sanders	TKO	8 (10), Template:Small	17 Mar 2002	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
26	Template:Yes2Win	22–4	Template:Flagicon David Vedder	TKO	6 (10), Template:Small	30 Nov 2001	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
25	Template:Yes2Win	21–4	Template:Flagicon Brian Nix	TKO	6 (10), Template:Small	25 Aug 2001	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
24	Template:No2Loss	20–4	Template:Flagicon Lance Whitaker	KO	2 (12), Template:Small	10 Mar 2001	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
23	Template:No2Loss	20–3	Template:Flagicon Kirk Johnson	KO	4 (12), Template:Small	7 Oct 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
22	Template:Yes2Win	20–2	Template:Flagicon Derrick Jefferson	TKO	4 (10), Template:Small	20 May 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
21	Template:Yes2Win	19–2	Template:Flagicon Sedreck Fields	Template:Abbr	7 (10), Template:Small	2 Mar 2000	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
20	Template:Yes2Win	18–2	Template:Flagicon Hasim Rahman	KO	8 (10), Template:Small	6 Nov 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
19	Template:Yes2Win	17-2	Template:Flagicon Shane Sutcliffe	TKO	2 (12), Template:Small	20 May 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
18	Template:Yes2Win	16–2	Template:Flagicon Jeff Wooden	TKO	3 (12), Template:Small	4 Feb 1999	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	15–2	Template:Flagicon Marion Wilson	UD	8	8 Dec 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	14–2	Template:Flagicon Toakipa Tasefa	KO	1 (12), Template:Small	2 Oct 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
15	Template:Yes2Win	13–2	Template:Flagicon Courage Tshabalala	KO	9 (10), Template:Small	9 Jun 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	12–2	Template:Flagicon Booker T Word	TKO	4 (10), Template:Small	9 Jan 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	11–2	Template:Flagicon Alex Stewart	TKO	7 (10)	27 Sep 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
12	Template:No2Loss	10–2	Template:Flagicon David Tua	TKO	11 (12), Template:Small	5 Apr 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	10–1	Template:Flagicon Rodney Blount	KO	2 (6), Template:Small	7 Feb 1997	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	9–1	Template:Flagicon Ralph West	TKO	3 (10), Template:Small	12 Sep 1996	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
9	Template:Yes2Win	8–1	Template:Flagicon Fernely Feliz	UD	8	20 Aug 1996	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
8	Template:Yes2Win	7–1	Template:Flagicon Mike Robinson	TKO	7 (8), Template:Small	9 Jun 1996	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
7	Template:No2Loss	6–1	Template:Flagicon Oliver McCall	TKO	1 (10), Template:Small	24 Feb 1996	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
6	Template:Yes2Win	6–0	Template:Flagicon Nikolay Kulpin	UD	12	29 Sep 1995	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Template:Flagicon Joe Thomas	Template:Abbr	6	25 Aug 1995	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Template:Flagicon Robert Hawkins	Template:Abbr	4 (6), Template:Small	30 Jun 1995	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Template:Flagicon Mike Whitfield	Template:Abbr	8	11 Apr 1995	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Template:Flagicon Jimmy Harrison	TKO	4 (6)	4 Mar 1995	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Template:Flagicon Alexander Miroshnichenko	Template:Abbr	3 (6)	17 Apr 1993	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small

External links

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