The Sweet Science 11.25.09: Maskaev on the Comeback

Posted by Igor Frank on 11.25.2009

“Big O” is back in search of a title at the age of 40.

Yesterday's thirties are today's forties. More and more professional athletes are bucking the trend of times and are able to practice their craft well into their forties by staying in great physical condition. Sweet science, is one of the most demanding professional sports, has been traditionally called the young men's game. And yet we have quite a few pugilists performing at the elite level well into their late thirties and early forties. Case in point, Vitali Klitschko at thirty eight destroyed young Chris Arreola, thirty eight year old Shane Mosley demolished younger Antonio Margarito and forty year old Roy Jones Jr. practically ran circles around much younger Jeff Lacy.

I asked yet another member of the forties club, ex-heavy weight champion of the world Oleg Maskaev what motivates him to lace up his gloves, besides trying to regain the much coveted title. "This is my job and I would like to stay in shape," said Maskaev during our telephone interview. "Look at Bernard Hopkins at forty four. I still have a lot left to prove."

Oleg "The Big O" Maskaev won a WBC heavyweight title in August of 2006 when he knocked out Hasim Rahman in the twelfth and final round of their championship fight in Las Vegas. That year at the age of thirty seven, he was named the comeback of the year fighter by the Ring magazine.

Born in Abay, Kazakhstan where he started his professional career in 1993, Maskaev and his family immigrated to United States in 1999. Brooklyn, New York was the place where Maskaev family settled down originally, but eventually they moved west to Sacramento, California. "Better place to raise my four daughters," explained Maskaev, who loves God and his children.

Oleg, his wife Svetlana and his four daughters acquired a US citizenship in 2004. But when Maskaev went to Moscow in December of 2006 to defend his title against Okhello Peter, Russian president Vladimir Putin granted him a Russian citizenship that he left behind immigrating to United States.

"I will always be Russian," explained Maskaev. "My parents live in Russia."

A bear of a man, Maskaev stays in shape year round by hitting a heavy bag in his back yard and doing some trail running. He does not have a regular boxing gym to train in Sacramento. Instead he went to Reno, Nevada for a training camp in preparation for his next fight. Scheduled for December 11th, 2009 in Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, an elimination bout with Nagy Aguilera will have the winner facing Vitali Klitschko for the WBC heavyweight championship. I asked the ex champion what he knew about his opponent. "He is an aggressive, young fighter," said Maskaev: "And he has good amateur background. But I am ready. I have no more injuries to deal with."

This is a very intriguing match up of youth versus experience. Last year veteran Bernard Hopkins schooled young Kelly Pavlik. This year veterans Mosley destroyed Margarito, Juan Manuel Marquez stopped Juan Diaz and Roy Jones Junior toyed with Jeff Lacy. Would Oleg Maskaev be able to continue the trend?