Background
Maskaev, Oleg was born on March 2, 1969 in Zhambul, Kazakhstan. Arrived in United States, 1999, naturalized, 2004.
Maskaev, Oleg was born on March 2, 1969 in Zhambul, Kazakhstan. Arrived in United States, 1999, naturalized, 2004.
He made only one successful defence of the WBC title before losing it to Samuel Peter. He is an ethnic Mordvin. His professional boxing career began in 1993.
However, he is also noted for a weak chin that was evident in his knockout losses to contenders Oliver McCall, David Tua, Kirk Johnson, Lance Whitaker, Corey Sanders and journeyman Nagy Aguilera.
His most famous victories have been his two wins over Hasim Rahman. Maskaev knocked Rahman off balance, sending his rival out of the ring in the 8th round on November 6, 1999.
This fight is also notable for the famous "chair incident", in which noted referee, Steve Smoger, who was backup referee for this fight, was struck in the head by a chair thrown by a fan who was later arrested. He later fought Rahman again and defeated him for the WBC heavyweight title by knocking him out in the 12th round on August 12, 2006.
Maskaev fought against Samuel Peter for the WBC Heavyweight title on March 8, 2008 and was doing well in the early rounds, despite Peter"s repeated rabbit punching and the referee"s warnings.
In the 5th round Maskaev landed some of his best shots on his opponents chin, but to no avail: Peter was seemingly unaffected, visibly shaking Oleg. He lost 5 of the 6 rounds, with Peter winning by TKO with 3 seconds remaining in the sixth round. He fought Nagy Aguilera on December 11 in Sacramento, California at the Memorial Auditorium in a tune up fight, but was knocked out in the first round.
Getting stunned with an overhand right-left hook combo and knocked down soon after, another barrage by Aquilera hit Maskaev hard knocking him out.
Maskaev did not land a punch in the fight, and has since stated that he may retire following the loss, however he returned to the ring 3 years after the loss, to knock out Owen Beck. In 2013, he decisioned Jason Gavern in a 10-round fight.
Maskaev was born in Taraz to Mordvin parents. He acquired United States citizenship in 2004.
He currently resides in West Sacramento, California.
Before his second encounter with Hasim Rahman in 2006, he said "I would say I"m a proud Russian-American. So right now, I"m a citizen of America, of United States. I don"t want to talk about that anymore.
I will walk to the ring under the Russian flag and Russian anthem as I"m now a Russian citizen." Russian president Vladimir Putin granted him Russian citizenship on December 9, 2006.
Married Svetlana Maskaev. 4 children.