As cranrab might say, "fuckin euros...."
....although Maskaev lives in Staten Island, most will associate him with the other European fighters that have the other belts.
LAS VEGAS -- Oleg Maskaev gave the former Soviet fighters a clean sweep of the heavyweight championship belts, scoring an upset 12th-round knockout of Hasim Rahman on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.
It had been a hard-hitting, but fairly uneventful heavyweight fight until Maskaev landed a big left hook in the 12th round that changed the fight.
Rahman was clearly hurt from the punch and fell to the canvas on a delayed reaction. Although Rahman was able to get to his feet, he was in bad shape.
He tried to hang on to Maskaev and eventually slipped to the canvas as Maskaev was trying to extricate himself from the clinch.
Rahman was still shaky as he got up and tried to hang on for dear life. But Maskaev kept firing right hands and nailing Rahman, who appeared out on his feet.
After another series of blows, referee Jay Nady stopped the fight at 2:17 with Rahman slumped against the ropes. As Rahman staggered back to his corner, the Maskaev camp erupted in jubilation in the center of the ring as the 8,842 fans cheered wildly.
"I knew I was going to win," Maskaev said. "He was a little better than I was on the inside. I believed up to the last minute I would win the fight."
Although Maskaev (33-5, 26 KOs) became a United States citizen two years ago, the Kazakhstan native joins Wladimir Klitschko (Ukraine), Nicolay Valuev (Russia) and Sergei Liakhovich (Belarus) as a reigning heavyweight champion from the former Soviet Union, an unheard-of turn of events given the dominance of American heavyweights for the past century.
Maskaev, a former member of the Soviet military who now lives in Staten Island, N.Y., with his wife and four daughters, downplayed the Soviet sweep.
"I'm proud of where I come from, but I consider myself a Russian-American," Maskaev said. "But you should know this: European fighters are good and they are tough."
Rahman, 37, who took the fight title "America's Last Line of Defense" seriously, was bitterly disappointed with the loss.
"I never thought he would be taking the world title out of Las Vegas," said Rahman (41-6-2), a two-time champion who suffered his second loss to Maskaev.
When they met in a non-title fight in Atlantic City, N.J., in November 1999, Rahman had a wide lead on the scorecards when Maskaev nailed him with a right hand and knocked him out of the ring and onto the concrete floor at ringside.
Saturday night, it was Maskaev's left hook that did the damage.
"I felt I was blocking his left hook all night," Rahman said. "I think I encouraged it late in the fight because I was doing such a good job avoiding his right hand, which is his best punch."
Rahman said he thought Maskaev's fight-changing left hook came after Nady had ordered them to break.
"I was aware of everything and the referee said, 'Break,' and I stopped and he kept throwing punches," said Rahman, who earned $2.5 million. "To me, I felt I was winning the fight and I got caught with a shot. I thought we were supposed to break. I put my hands down and he caught me with a shot."
Maskaev was ahead on two scorecards, 106-103 and 105-105, while Rahman was leading on the third, 106-103. ESPN.com at ringside also had Rahman ahead 106-103.
HBO will replay the fight next Saturday night (10:05 ET) along with live coverage of the Paul Williams-Sharmba Mitchell welterweight bout.
Maskaev, 37, won despite a back injury in training camp that he concealed.
"I hurt my back during training camp and I never felt 100 percent through the fight," said Maskaev, who made $1.5 million. "I knew with three rounds left I had to win them all to win the fight. I had been working in camp on my left hook. I got used to him as the fight wore on. His jab was very effective but I moved to the right side to avoid the left jab."
Rahman was making the second defense of his title. He had won an interim title and later was awarded the full title when Vitali Klitschko retired because of a knee injury.
In his first defense in March, Rahman settled for a draw against James Toney in a bout many believed Rahman won.
That paved the way for him to defend against Maskaev, who had been maneuvered into a mandatory position few believed he deserved.
After Maskaev beat Rahman, his career quickly went downhill. He won his next two fights and then was knocked out in three of his next five. He was written off by many, including his former trainer, who told him he should retire.
Maskaev didn't listen. He hooked up with a new trainer in Victor Valle and a new promoter in Dennis Rappaport. Since then, Maskaev has won 10 in a row -- none coming against a top opponent -- and became the mandatory title challenger, taking full advantage of an opportunity few expected him to get.
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2548098