By Alexey Sukachev at ringside / Photos by Sergey Sinyakin (http://www.pro-box.ru)

Special thanks to Sergey Belyshev. December, 10, 2006

It was less than three years ago, when the potential European fight of the year between undisputed junior welterweight king Kostya Tszyu and mandatory challenger Sharmba Mitchell, scheduled to take place in Olympiysky Sports Arena, Moscow, on February, 2004, was scratched for good due to injuries, suffered by Kostya during his preparation. The unlucky occasion ruined all the plans, leaving organizers with the black holes in their budget and boxing fans with the horrible feeling of being cheated. The fight wasn’t, however, canceled but was relocated to USA and took place in early November the same year.

It was when no one in Russia could really believe that the title bout would somehow be arranged in the largest country on planet in the nearest future. Financial losses, lack of interest among sponsors and sportive media as well as the absence of world-beaters in higher weight classes were the clear factors, preventing any important fight from being held in Eastern Europe.

Situation turned around considerably in the last two years. Starting from Valuev’s successful performance against WBA beltholder John Ruiz and going on with Vladimir Klitschko and Sergey Liakhovich dominant victories over Chris Byrd (IBF) and Lamon Brewster (WBO), it reached its highest point on August, 12, when 37-year old Oleg Maskaev completed the clean sweep by post-Soviet fighters, having knocked out WBC boss Hasim Rahman in 12th round of their brutal clash.

‘The Big O’ became the first champion among the Eastern European heavyweight bunch, who decided to defend his belt in Motherland. The negotiations were pretty complicated, but at last WBC #10 Japan-based Ugandan Peter Okhello was named as the voluntary challenger in early October, and the second only title fight in Russian boxing history landed on December, 10, at the same Olympiysky Sports Arena. The only previous title collision, held in Russia thirteen years ago, was the IBF cruiserweight championship between Al Cole and Glenn McRory.

MASKAEV OUTCLASSES OKHELLO

The main event was preceded by a huge show, featuring the Bolshoi Theater soloist Andrey Valentiy, who performed Russian folk song as the special gift from Oleg Maskaev, and famous Russian singer Iosif Kobzon (former amateur boxer), who was performing Russian hymn during the beltholder’s appearance.

The defending WBC champion, 37, of West Sacramento, California, but representing Russia, started the bout with slow, but continuous pressure against quicker challenger. Maskaev’s plan clearly was to work his opponent’s body with the huge left hook, while the right hand was ready to make the job done. Okhello was, however, in retreating mode, throwing a rare jab to his rival’s face and showing no desire to start a brawl. Oleg scored with a huge left to the liver in the middle of the very first round. He continued with the devastating left to the head, but Ugandan appeared to be indifferent to these punches. Okhello, 34, of Nagoya, Japan, via Kampala, Uganda, tried to counter with the wild right swing at the end of the round and missed widely.

The second round saw both fighters doing the same kind of job. Okhello, 254 lbs, was considerably quicker than the titlist again, but had gained nothing from that. Oleg was, however, luckier, rocking his opponent in the middle of the session with a left hook to the jaw over tight defense. Ugandan was punched brutally at the ropes but amazingly all connected shots seemed to be of no effect for him, as he smiled widely and even winked his coach, Cornelius Boza-Edwards. Maskaev, 240, closed the round with the triple left jab, which forced Peter’s head to bounce on his neck.

It was round three that made some persons frightened about the positive outcome of the match for the defending beltholder. Maskaev started the action slowly, showing fatigue and working with lesser precision than before. Nonetheless, he connected with another crushing left at the start of the last minute of the round. Okhello was seemingly wobbled as he made his way to the ropes, trying to protect himself, and suddenly scored there with the countering right, which momentarily stunned Maskaev and put him in a dangerous position simultaneously. Ugandan continued with a huge but illegal punch to the back of the head and ended the combo with a strong right to the jaw that rocked Russian bitterly and opened a huge cut over his left eyebrow. Maskaev was able to survive this assault and closed the round with a left uppercut, forcing Okhello’s mouthpiece to fly out of his mouth.

In round four both fighters preferred to stay on distance, throwing rare jabs to look for holes in rivals’ defenses. Okhello was in retreating mode once again, while Oleg used his superior boxing skills to avoid single power punches by Ugandan challenger and scored numerously with his jab. Despite the lack of activeness, local crowd was impressed by tactical performance. After the end of round four both Evgueni Gorstkov (Russia) and newly elected EBU president Bob Logist (Belgium) had it 40-36 for the local hero, while Ken Morita (Japan) scored a draw – 38-38.

The action was measured and tactical in next several rounds. Maskaev played the aggressor, while Okhello was seeking his chance in counterpunching, without any success though. WBC champion connected numerously with his left hook both to the head and body. The challenger seemed to be aware of those punches, but did little to deflect them, showing amazing recovering skills instead. Ugandan was much busier running around than fighting, and threw no more than several punches a round. Russian was far more successful with his attempts, rocking his foe two or three times in a round, and unsurprisingly found himself clearly ahead on all three judges’ scorecards after the end of round eight: 80-72, 80-72, 78-74.

Reigning champion staggered his foe early in round nine with a fast left-right combo. Maskaev suddenly switched on his right, throwing bombs at Okhello, who was clearly unprepared for such a turn. Ugandan was wobbled again on the last minute of the round, and was lucky to find safety in clinches. It was later revealed that Oleg had suffered a small injury to his right knuckle, which forced him to use more of his left arm instead.

Round ten had turned to be the most successful for the home hero. Maskaev increased pressure with relentless mid-range attacks. Finally, his right hand had found Okhello’s chin in a devastating uppercut, following his previous left hook to the temple, forcing African to fall down on his knees. Ugandan easily beat the count but had to run into survival mode. That seemed to help him much, but at the end of the last minute of the round Oleg rocked him again with the overhand right and pinned him to the ropes. ‘The Big O’ soundly capitalized on his earlier success with a crushing combo, while referee Guadalupe Garcia was watching carefully for Okhello’s reaction, but the lucky challenger somehow found his way through the round.

Okhello had been surviving for the rest of the fight, while Maskaev tried to finish him off, without a success though. The challenger tried to accelerate in the last round, but the mythical second wind appeared to be a mirage in desert for faded Ugandan, as he barely made it to the final bell.

There were no surprises in official scoring, as all three judges favored the reigning champion with a well-deserved wide decision: 120-107 (Bob Logist), 120-107 (Evgueni Gorstkov) and 118-109 (Ken Morita). Fightnews scored the collision 119-108 for Maskaev, giving him all rounds, except the third one. With the victory Maskaev successfully retained his WBC title for the first time and moved up to 34-5, with 26 KOs, while Okhello moved down to 18-5, 16 KOs and possibly wasted the chance of a lifetime.

POVETKIN ANNIHILATES MAYFIELD

In a supreme style up-and-coming heavyweight prospect Alexander Povetkin, 27, of Chechov, Russia, scored his most impressive victory to date with a devastating third-round TKO over uncharacteristically faded former champion Imamy Mayfield.

Both fighters were seeking their pace in a relatively slow first round. Mayfield, 208, was trying to outbox his opponent on distance with the jab, using reach advantage, while Povetkin, thirteen pounds his heavier, and was looking for an opportunity to land his thunderous right. Russian fighter wobbled his foe with a huge left bomb late in round one to turn it in his favor.

In round two Athens super heavyweight gold medalist increased tempo, throwing hard combos, while former IBF cruiserweight titlist did his best to avoid these devastating punches. On the third minute of the round Mayfield decided to change the battle plan by going toe-to-toe with his opponent. That appeared to be a fatal mistake for 34-year old native of free Freehold, New Jersey. In a spectacular brawl Povetkin was a bit quicker his foe, landing huge overhand right to the chin. Falling down, shot American fighter, however, was able to grab Alexander with his hands, forcing both pugilists to deck the canvas. This clear knockdown was incorrectly ruled as a slip by referee Alexander Kalinkin. It was obvious that Mayfield would struggle a lot to survive the round, but he almost accomplished the impossible, when his foe landed another short right hook in similar fashion. Imamu tried to make another grab but missed, falling hard onto the canvas, and it was the bell, which saved him from being stopped in this round.

Mayfield was undoubtedly wobbled as the third round began and had a huge cut beneath his left eye to make his situation even worse. Povetkin scored early with a huge left through the defense, pinning Mayfield to the ropes, then threw a fast combo, prompting his rival to make a step from the ropes, and finished him off with another left, which landed flush on Mayfield’s chin. American fell down with his legs up in a frightful fashion. He beat the count, however, only to be correctly waved off by the referee. The time was 1:03 into the third round.

Povetkin, now 10-0, with 8 KOs, was much better than in his previous outings, showing a huge leap in class and a championship potential. With a stellar amateur career behind and a strong support from both Wilfried Sauerland and Vladimir Hrunov, Russian talent seems ready for tougher opponents. He is scheduled to fight next on March, 3, against a world-caliber fighter, to be announced soon, and, reportedly, prepares for a world title challenge later in 2007. Mayfield, on the other hand, is moving down with 25-8-2, 18 KOs, and four losses in last five bouts.

OFF-TV RESULTS

Three PUSHKA-promoted fighters were filling the undercard and a gap between Maskaev and Povetkin outings; all three making their international debut.

Unbeaten cruiser Mikhail Nasyrov (17-0, 11 KOs), 24, of Chelyabinsk, Russia, started impressively, but was forced to take an eight-round distance against durable Canadian David Whittom (7-3-1, 4 KOs), 27, of Lac Beauport, Quebec. Nasyrov rocked his opponent several times and looked rather good in first three rounds of action. As the bout progressed, it became obvious that the Russian fighter lacked TNT in his gloves and had a little chance to finish his opponent off. Moreover, Nasyrov suffered an intrinsic bleed to his nose in the middle section of the fight and had to fight with his mouth opened. That resulted in numerous spits of his mouthpiece, and Nasyrov was deducted three points for that. Russian struggled a lot, but was able to survive the late storm by heavily-tattoed Whittom on his way to an unanimous decision via amazing scores: 78-74, 78-74, 78-75. Fightnews scored the fight 75-74 for Nasyrov.

Sensational middleweight prospect Dmitry Pirog (7-0, 6 KOs), 26, of Krasnodar, Russia, showed once again, he is a force to be reckon with in 160 lbs, kayoing unheralded American journeyman Rodrigues Moungo (12-13, 9 KOs) in just two minutes. Russian middleweight champion started the clash with the relentless attack, throwing heavy bombs, while Moungo had simply no chance even to answer once with the shot, prompting the ref to stop the fight, before a fatal punishment would be taken. Pirog has already scored a wide decision over perennial contender Sergey Tatevosyan this April, and scheduled to move higher in all rankings pretty soon.

In a dull and slow manner former kickboxer Valery Volozhenin (6-0-1, 2 KOs), 26 and only one year as a prizefighter, of Chelyabinsk, Russia, scored his biggest win to date by upsetting much more experienced fellow compatriot Pavel Melkomian (20-3, 8 KOs), 26, with unanimous six-round decision. Melkomian, once a legitimate contender in cruiserweight division, is 1-3 this year with devastating losses against Grigory Drozd and Rudolf Kraj, and must think seriously about the retirement. 

There were lots of celebrities, attending the fight, including living legend Kostya Tszyu, former WBC champion Vitaly Klitschko, reigning WBA titleholder Nikolay Valuev and two-time Olympic gold medalist Oleg Saitov.

POST-FIGHT COMMENTARIES

There was no post-fight presser as an organized event; however, Fightnews was able to take on some participants and important guests.

Oleg Maskaev: “It was a workman-like performance, but I decided not to heat the things up and not to risk with such a hard-hitting opponent. I can’t say, I’m fully satisfied with my work tonight, but I’m the winner, and nothing else matters right now. We shall do correction work in the gym to fix all the problems and eliminate all possible mistakes. I was close to knock Peter out, but I suffered a small injury in the tenth round, and it prevented me from finishing the job inside the distance.

I’m thanking God first of all. God bless! And God is Love. I want to thank my opponent, because he was really competitive in this fight, and he came here to win and gave it all. He surprised me with the strength of his head and his endurance. I am thanking all the fans, who fill the whole arena; their support was that important for me, and especially of those, who came here from Mordovia (Oleg is half-Mordovian by his blood). I want to thank all the sponsors and organizers, who made this show real”.

Dennis Rappoport: “We have been having very serious discussions about Klitschko fight for the last couple of weeks. The fight is under way right now, and it can possibly hit the United States, Germany or Moscow, and some other countries as well. I know in Oleg’s heart, his saint dream is to fight Wladimir Klitschko in Moscow. We may have an official announcement very short. We are at the late stages of very, very serious negotiations with Klitshko camp.

That would be, ok, the biggest heavyweight fight in the last fifty years. The world wants to see it; the world wants to know, who the best heavyweight in this complicated situation is. People want to see only one undisputed champion, and in the depth of my soul I believe, that such a man is Oleg Maskaev.

The WBC had sanctioned our fight with James Toney, but James decided to choose a payday against Samuel Peter better than to fight us for a title. Both fighters were very sloppy in their September bout, and the controversy occurred due to the poor conditions of both fighters, so that the WBC asked them to fight once again in January. That is not our problem. They can fight each other twice, thrice, as much as they want. The deal is that the only fight that really matters something is Oleg Maskaev – Wladimir Klitchko superfight. We will be speaking with the respective president of the World Boxing Council Jose Suleiman about giving us another voluntary fight with the James Toney – Samuel Peter winner, being a mandatory challenger for the victor of the Klitchko – Maskaev showdown. They can’t deprive that – the only fight people want to see is WBC-IBF unification and nothing less”. 

Peter Okhello: “Not much to say; Oleg is a real champion – strong and well-prepared at the moment. He gave me simply no chance to show my skills, as they were much poorer than those he has. He gave me a boxing lesson; however, if I only had had a little bit more luck with my counterpunching, the outcome of the fight would have been considerably different. Rematch? Forget about it”.

Alexander Povetkin: “The fight occurred to be far shorter than I had thought it would prior the starting bell. I’m truly satisfied with my performance, and, I hope, you are too. However, there is a lot of work to do in gym to polish my skills, and lots of things are to be improved in the nearest future.

To fight in Moscow is something special for me. So much people, all rooting for you, crying and supporting you. That was amazing. Now, I need tougher opposition than tonight to develop myself into the world champion. I want to fight the best. Such guys as Chris Byrd and Calvin Brock are on target right now, and are welcome to test my skills.

Four or five bouts and I’ll be ready to challenge current champions for the world titles. I expect to get a chance for a championship fight to the end of the year (2007)”.

Imamu Mayfield: “I performed very poor. I made a fatal mistake by fighting Povetkin inside, rather than trying to outbox him on distance. That wasn’t a poor plan; that was an absence of it. Povetkin? He is a strong guy with a thunderous punch; however, I can’t say something for sure, as the bout was finished too soon”.

Vitaly Klitschko: “It was painful even to watch after Ohkello, as he was punished mercilessly by Maskaev. But I can’t take anything away from Ugandan. He showed an enormous endurance and courage by going the distance with Oleg. Speaking of Okhello, I can’t say, how much he would have lasted against me. That’s a silly question, because you can say nothing for sure in prizefighting, especially in heavyweight. Each hit could be decisive here.

We are working at making Klitschko – Maskaev superfight real. My brother is ready to go, and I feel, Oleg is ready too. This fight is a potential fight of the decade in heavyweight division. But I can say nothing for sure right now.

(Laughs) I’ll go to the bar tonight to celebrate such a tremendous victory with Oleg. And there would be a ‘comeback’ after that. Tune up! (Laughs) Just kidding, though”.

Nikolay Valuev: “That was a huge fight and also the most important show in Russian boxing history. We have shown that nothing is impossible for our country and our people. I hope, such events will be arranging in Russia on the regular basis”.