Maskaev Keeps Hold of Heavyweight Crown

Oleg Maskaev managed to defend his WBC heavyweight crown with a unanimous decision over Ugandan Peter Okhello last Sunday in Moscow.

37-year-old, Maskaev, was in control of the fight but was never really able to connect with a knockout punch. The Russian boxer has now enhanced his professional record to 34 wins from his 39 bouts with only losing 5, whereas Okhello’s was reduced to 18 wins and 5 defeats. Maskaev originally won his belt after he beat Hasim Rahman back in August; and it was the first ever heavyweight title bout to be held in Russia. Making his first title defence, Maskaev was able to shake the 34-year-old Okhello with a dominant right hand to the head in round number five and again in the eighth and ninth rounds.

But Okhello managed to survive and last the rest of the bout even though he was bleeding from the mouth and his right eye was so badly swollen it was almost shut. But no matter how determined he was he finally went down in the 10th round but even though Maskaev was highly supported by a 12,000-strong crowd who chanted: “Russia, Russia” was unable to complete the job. He said this after the fight: “I really wanted to knock him out, unfortunately I just couldn’t get that one punch. It was my first professional fight in Russia, in front of my countrymen, so I was really motivated to win it. Despite not scoring a knockout, I’m still happy with my performance.”

Please leave your thoughts on this heavyweight clash; that was as dull as any other, at the bottom of the page.