Beyond the point
of no return
Las Vegas, March 10,2001 - Lance "Mount"
Whitaker won in an over powering performance over
fellow Heavyweight Oleg Maskaev. Maskaev,
hoping to return to greatness, put on a disgraceful
performance against the plodding Whitaker and was
knocked out in the second round.
Whitaker (23-1 19 KOs), is hoping
to work his way up to title contention. He took a
big step on Saturday night with a dominating performance
over Maskaev who was trying to rebound from a brutal
knockout by Kirk Johnson and salvage his sinking career.
Both fighters started out cautiously, with Maskaev
being very efficient with the few shots he threw landing
a soft overhand right and following with a weak left
to the body of Whitaker.
He then backed Whitaker up against
the ropes and landed a left to the body and a right
to the side of his head. But for some reason, Maskaev
seemed too frightened to throw his punches with any
kind of conviction.
Before the fight started, Maskaev
appeared terrified as he walked into the ring. Somehow,
I had visions of Golota reincarnated as this poor,frightened
animal. Seemingly terrified as Maskaev crept out of
his dressing room and had the look of the famous quitter
that I shall not name (no his name isn't Golota).
Immediately, Sirens went off in my mind as I saw the
shivering Maskaev looking like he wished he was not
fighting the 13th wonder of the world (Whitaker).
In the second round, Maskaev again
backed Whitaker up against the ropes but then Whitaker
demonstrated his power by connecting with a punishing
right that landed on the chin of Maskaev and dazed
him.
Now with Maskaev clearly hurt and
backing up, Whitaker quickly pursued and landed a
left and then a hard right hand. Maskaev was no longer
able to protect himself when the final clubbing right
from Whitaker landed with a thud against Maskaev's
temple and sent him flat on his back.
Referee Joe Nedy began to count, but
there was really no reason to as Maskaev was out cold.
The fight was stopped at 1:13 of the second round
with Maskaev making no movements to get up off the
canvas.
Maskaev looked like a shell of his
past self.He seemed to handle Whitaker easily in the
first round, but he didn't appear to have the heart
to really fight tonight. I'm not saying Maskaev had
no guts (like a Golota), but he looked to be out of
it mentally.
Maskaev had no hope of keeping Whitaker
at bay with a jab that couldn't break a wet paper
bag. Maskaev was standing completely flat footed against
the slow moving Whitaker and he looked as if he had
no clue as to how to fight such a mammoth (surely
he must have learned something during his long and
successful amateur career).
Now Maskaev has been beaten senseless
twice by Johnson and Whitaker. He doesn't appear to
have many options left in his floundering career,
but he still refuses to retire. Like a hopless junky
beyond the point of no return; Maskaev is trapped
working in a profession that he is no longer physically
and mentally able to compete in.
I feel sorry for Maskaev, he seems
like a really good one, and that is hard to find now
a days in the boxing world.
He said later he really believed that
he and Whitaker were "Evenly matched." I
doubt that he was serious when he made that comment,
judging from the way he looked before and during the
fight. He was so full of fear.
After the fight, Whitaker commented on wanting to
fight Lewis or anyone who is willing to fight him.
Although following this impressive showing, I doubt
that there are many heavyweights out there who would
risk their career or health on this huge mountain
of a man.
Whitaker went on to say about his
opponent, "I wanted to see what he had and it
wasn't that much." Maskaev later said "
Maybe I should have taken a tuneup after the Johnson
fight to get my confidence back before fighting him."
(the same comments made by HBO analyst George Foreman)
I must say this about Whitaker: He
had a very calm demeanor all night and presented himself
afterwards like a class act during his interview with
HBO analyst Larry Merchant.
The busier Maskaev connected with
8 out of 39 jabs, Whitaker threw 26 and didn't land
a single one. Whitaker goes up to 23-1- (19) and Maskaev
drops to 20-4-(15).
What's next for Whitaker? He has a
fight, perhaps, coming up against Vitali or Vladimir
Klitschko, who both can punch and who can take a punch.
The temptation is to pick Whitaker, but after watching
him throw nothing but arm punches that could be timed
on an egg timer, and also noting that he is seemingly
unable to bend his knees at any time while fighting,
I would have to go with the Klitschko brothers.
If Whitaker goes right-hand crazy,
and shoots that slow right hand against the equally
tall Russian Klitschko brothers, he will leave his
chin wide open to Vlad or Vitali's deadly left hook
(a punch that is quickly becoming legendary in the
boxing circles).
At this point in Whitaker's career,
he would be smarter if he chose an opponent a little
less dangerous than the Klitschkos. Perhaps someone
like Grant, who has a chin made of fine china. Not
that Whitaker would learn anything from the fight,
but at least he would keep his career heading in the
right track and avoid the same fate as Maskaev.
Oleg Maskaev may not know it. But
he IS retired, at least according to his future with
HBO is concerned (which means he is likely finshed
for good in terms of big pay days). He has my sympathies.
Pre-Fight Analysis: Maskaev poised
for greatness
10.03 - Russia has always
been a very strong boxing nation. Even so, they have
only produced two heavyweight boxing champions, the
power punching Vladimir Klitschko and his brother,
Vitali. Now it looks as if they're poised to have
a possible third heavyweight champion in Oleg Maskaev,
a Staten Islander by way of Zhambul, Uzbekistan. Maskaev
is a typical Russian fighter. He has dynamite in each
hand, a fierce body puncher and an unrelenting will
to come forward. All these factors coupled with a
good defence that is sometimes wide open make Oleg
one exciting performer.
He is a former two time
Soviet National and Pan-Asian champion. It's been
a long journey for the 32 year old Maskaev. Not only
did he have to adjust to a new culture, he had to
adjust to a new style of fighting than what he was
accustomed to. "It's very different here,"
said Maskaev. "you have to fight to do damage
to your opponent. More uppercuts, hooks. You have
to box inside, outside. Good American schooling."
Maskaev is surprising a lot of Americans who thought
the immobile Russian would be no match for his hungry
Western competitors.
He turned pro in 1993,
after six wins he was knocked out in one round by
one Oliver McCall. A fight that he agrees, he was
not ready for at this early stage in his career.
Five fights later he
was stopped in eleven by David Tua. (a fight that
he was clearly winning but got lazy and relaxed and
was bombed out by the much shorter Somoan fighter)
In his next ten bouts
he went 10-0, and shocked the boxing world when he
upset an up and coming Derrick Jefferson on May 20,
2000.
In that fight Oleg exploded
a right hand bomb off the chin of Jefferson that sent
the 6'6" giant on the seat of his pants in the
first round. Somehow, Jefferson
injured his ankle during the fall to the canvas. He
kept fighting but was hobbled the rest of the fight.
In the second round,
Oleg ducked under a big left hand hook from Jefferson
and hit him with a straight right hand that landed
hard on the chin and sent Jefferson down for a 2nd
time in the fight. With Jefferson limping badly around
the ring, it became target practice for the talented
Russian fighter.
In the third round, Oleg
hit Jefferson on the side of the head with yet another
right hand bomb that seemed to explode on impact.
Jefferson was hurt but somehow made it out of the
round without going down again.
Finally in the fourth
round, the referee mercifially stopped the fight at
2:10 of the round when Jefferson's limping became
to much and he was no longer able to defend himself.
On October 8th, 2000,
Maskaev fought the quick and talented Kirk Johnson.
Oleg was favored by many to take out the ring rusted
Johnson, but instead was knocked out by the Canadian
in the fourth round. Johnson and Maskaev, 31, fought
an even bout through the first three rounds with Maskaev,
known for a rock-hard chin, continually moving forward.
Maskaev stunned Johnson
with a couple of early right hands, including a powerful
right at the end of the opening round. Instead of
going for the knockout over his wounded prey, Maskaev
backed off and let Johnson off the hook.
Johnson, not expecting
to win on a knockout, turned the fight 20 seconds
into the fateful fourth round with a big left hand
shot straight from the hip that
knocked Maskaev to the floor.
Oleg's opponent, Mount
Whitaker, is more of a classic knockout puncher. Whitaker
turned pro in 1995 after a brief amateur career. He
remained undefeated in his first 19 fights (16 by
knockout) before being outpointed by Lou Savarese
in 1999.
Stylewise, Whitaker is
a confusing site. A 6'8" 250 pound heavyweight
with an 84-inch reach who prefers to fight on the
inside. He has good power in his right hand, but still
fights somewhat clumsily and looks like an amateur.
After losing to Lou Savarese,
Whitaker rebounded well with a points win over Monte
Barret; victory by disqualification over David Dixon
and a knockout over
Robert Davis. In those fights, Whitaker showed immense
improvement over his sloppy fight with Savarese, and
seems to be blossoming under Joe Gossen's guidance.
Against Robert Davis,
Whitaker showed fierce punching power that had Davis's
face looking like putty at the end of the fight. In
round two, Whitaker nailed Davis with a huge right
hand bomb that landed with a thud that hurt him and
sent him face first into the canvas. Davis got up
on rubbery legs.
He tried to go back at
Whitaker, but he had nothing to offer. Whitaker rocked
him again with a pair of big right hands and followed
with a left that again sent
Davis sprawling.
Again Davis got up, but
after another furious attack by Whitaker, referee
Charles Dwyer stepped in and stopped it at 2:29 of
Round two.
For the 29 year-old Whitaker
it was the third straight time an opponent failed
to get past the second round.
Whitaker looks poised
to assault the heavyweight crown with a vengeance.
He is considered a possible future star and appears
to have a huge upside to his potential. HBO, for one,
is salivating at them prospects of signing Whitaker
to a long term fight contract if he continues on his
successful career course.
For Maskaev, this is
a crossroads fight. He must win this fight in order
to rebuild his severely damaged career on the world
scene, and set up a possible matchup with either Lewis
or Ruiz.
An exciting win over
Whitaker, will set him up with an HBO contract and
a big money fight with one of the three heavyweight
champions in the near future.
Whoever loses this fight,
their career will be seriously damaged beyond repair.
This is the last chance for either of these two to
make an impact on the sport.
