REVENGE ALL THAT THE ROCK NEEDS

REVENGE ALL THAT THE ROCK NEEDS

Hasim Rahman insists he is fighting for revenge - and not national pride - when he comes up against Oleg Maskaev this weekend.

The Rock defends his WBC title against the New York-based man from Kazakhstan at the Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas on Saturday night.

The fight has been billed as Rahman versus Russia.

If he loses, all four world heavyweight champions would come from Russia, or countries that made up the former Soviet Union: Russian giant Nicolay Valuev is the WBA titlist, Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko has the IBF belt and Sergei Liakhovich the WBO incumbent.

But although he is carrying the hopes of the nation - and to a point, the very fabric of boxing - on his broad shoulders, Rahman is only interested in his own smaller picture, avenging his 1999 defeat against Maskaev.

"It's like I've been saying from day one, I don't need nothing but him knocking me out in the first fight to really motivate me," he told boxingtalk.com.

"Once that bell rings and I wipe Maskaev out, people are going to see who the best heavyweight in the world is.

"I'm not planning on having this fight go 12 rounds."

Rahman insists he is fully focused on Maskaev and there will be no sign of the poor preparation that has dogged his career in the past and promises the same level of performance he turned in last time out against James Toney.

But he could not help but cast one eye towards a unification fight with Klitschko, even though the IBF holder seems to be headed for a showdown with Shannon Briggs.

"I'm completely focused on Oleg Maskaev and I know if I don't take care of business against Oleg there's nothing to talk about against Klitschko," he said.

"But I'm able to multi-task and I've told everyone we already have all the of the Klitschko-Rahman hats made out and I see no reason to leave them in their boxes collecting dust."

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