Ringside Boxing Report: Maskaev-Rahman plus undercards

Mark DeSisto 8/14/2006 Ringside Boxing

Click for larger image
© Natasha Chornesky
Saddo Boxing

The WBC Heavyweight Title match Saturday night at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada had an exciting finish with challenger Oleg Maskaev ensuring his victory with a TKO stoppage of champion Hasim Rahman with just 43 seconds to go in the 12th and final round. The rematch was similar to their first encounter back in 1999,

when Rahman jumping out to an early lead only to have Maskaev come on later and finish him off in the 8th round, sending “The Rock” thru the ropes and onto the concrete floor for the knockout. The now 37 year old Maskaev needed a bit longer to get the engine running and get the job done this time around.

Boxing’s heavyweight division has been looking for a catalyst, some spark for sometime now and we’d like to think that this close fight and late stoppage would do the trick. But if we are “keeping it real” as some like to say, last night’s bout was not heavyweight boxing as it’s finest. As a matter of fact, it was downright dreadful and sloppy at times.

Kazakhstanian native Maskaev(33-5, 26KO’s), not known for his fluidity, started the bout upright, stiff, and extraordinarily tight even for his standards. Rahman(41-6-2,33KO’s) only needed to press forward, throw his solid jab and a few rights to take the round. The next few rounds weren’t much more exciting with Rahman’s jab and more natural athleticism giving him the edge against a tired looking Maskaev who threw just enought power shots to keep Rahman from gaining any momentum. After 6 rounds, 2 of the 3 ringside judges had Rahmn ahead 5-1, 4-2, and the 3rd judge suprisingly had Maskaev ahead 4-2. Maskaev’s trainer Victor Valle Jr. revealed after the fight, why Maskaev looked about 50 years old walking back to his corner after the 6th round. Maskaev had suffered a signficant back injury during training and was obviously feeling it during the bout. That being the case, Maskaev proved he is a strong-willed man by stepping it up and having his best round so far in the seventh. He momentarily stunned Rahman against the ropes but was unable to sustain his attack.
The limitations of then champion Rahman were evident in the late rounds. Anytime Maskaev mustered the energy to put together a few combinations , Rahman was stopped in his tracks, only able to keep his hands up and wait for Maskaev to stop punching before plodding
forward with the jab and often telegraphed right hand. There was no evidence of slipping punches and firing back with counterpunches or anything that resembled an effective left hook from the soon to be ex-champion.

Rahman was able to hold off Maskaev for the most part in rounds eight and nine, but Maskaev managed to up his punch output and mix his punches better to take over the fight from the tiring Rahman in round ten.

Maskaev noticeably started going to Rahman’s body, further wearing down his opponent, and employing a fairly effective left hook to compliment the right hands that most of us saw coming way ahead of time.

Although Maskaev was ahead on two of the three judges scorecards entering the 12th and final round, the fight would have ended in an ugly draw, had Maskaev lost the last round.
With the fight hanging in the balance, Maskaev was bouncing up and down on his toes with renewed vigor that this writer had expected much earlier in such a significant bout. It took only one well-placed right hand from Maskaev to send Rahman down into the ropes and start referee Jay Nady counting to ten.

Rahman was up fairly easily and complaining about who knows what to Nady as Maskaev closed in and fired away as Rahman held on for dear life before stumbling down to the canvas again, trying to take Maskaev with him. Seeing Rahman on the ground, holding onto Maskaev’s leg, refusing to let go while Nady tried to pry him off wasn’t a pretty picture.
Maskaev closed in on Rahman one last time, pinning him on the ropes and landing punch after punch, leaving Nady no choice but to stop the bout and give “Cinderella Man” Maskaev the well deserved victory.

Click for larger image © Natasha Chornesky / Saddo Boxing

Prior to the main event , there was some excellent undercard action also ending in stoppages, fought at a much higher level and pace than the heavyweight attraction. These bouts were significant in giving the HBO pay-per-viewers at home more bang for the 50 bucks spent to view what overall was a good boxing show. Recent WBC Featherweight Title holder Humberto Soto let it be known that he is a serious player in today’s loaded Super Featherweight division, with a devastating 4th round knockout over the heavy-handed Ivan Valle. The bout between the two Los Mochis, Mexico natives was immediately fought at a fast pace, with both fighters looking to land fight-ending blows. Soto was able to put Valle down with a right hand to the top of a ducking Valle’s head, while suffering a cut over his left eye from an accidental headbutt.

With 21 KO’s in 25 wins, Valle has put a hurting on many fighters with his devastating left hand. The two traded left hooks in round 2, with Valle’s getting there harder and faster, the blow sending Soto a few steps back. Most fighters would have been wobbled or perhaps put down by that punch, but Soto, having what appears to be a steel chin, was hardly discouraged and kept going forward. Perhaps it was then that Valle realized he was in over
his head, and being no foreigner to dirty tactics, Valle hit Soto with a low blow to slow things down a bit. Another vicious low blow by Valle toward the end of round 2, was blatant enough for referee Joe Cortez to deduct two points from Valle.

Soto came out for the 3rd round only more determined to damage his cheating foe and put Valle down on two separate occasions with right hands. Soto struck with another big right hand early in round four, but this time followed it up with an accurately devastating uppercut to be the first fighter to stop the tough Valle just 42 seconds into the fourth round.

The bout was a WBC Super Featherweight Title Eliminator, giving Soto the right to fight the winner of the WBC championship title fight between Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez on September 16th. Soto has already convincingly defeated Juarez back in August of 2005 to gain his featherweight title.

Soto(40-5-2, 24KO’s) looked enormous at 126 pounds and was still a physical marvel for Saturday’s 130 pound bout. It’s hard to think that Juarez would fare any better in a rematch against the ever improving “La Zorrita”, and for the former 122 pounder and Mexican legend Barrera, a match against Soto would be ill advised at this late stage in his career. Post fight Soto stated he looks forward to taking on the WBC champion, or would gladly take on the winner of the upcoming 3rd bout between Manny Pacquiao and Eric Morales. This writer is jumping on the Soto bandwagon and gives him a good shot against anyone in the 130lb. division.

In the first major undercard fight, Chicago’s David Diaz scored a thrilling tenth round TKO over WBC lightweight champion Jose Armando Santa Cruz. Mexico’s Santa Cruz (23-2,13KO’s) was using his height advantage and high volume punching style to be comfortably outpointing Diaz(32-1-1,17KO’s) and well on his way to retaining his title. That is until southpaw Diaz landed a perfect countering left uppercut, flooring Santa Cruz. After beating referee Richard Steele’s ten count, Santa Cruz tried in vain to hold on and survive Diaz’s well-placed onslaught of punches, only to find himself on the canvas again, before beating Steel’s ten count one more time. One more flurry of punches from Diaz was all it took for Steele to wave off the bout at 2:26 of round 10, and for the 30 year old Diaz to take the deserved WBC Lightweight Title home to Chicago.