09.11.05 – By Troy Ondrizek: Now that we finally got what we expected and have Klitschko bail again on a mandatory fight, the WBC is preparing for Rahman’s first mandatory challenger. Coming up this Saturday, the 12th of November, does that date sound familiar? Is the WBC International Heavyweight Championship bout between current title holder Sinan Samil Sam and the ever Rahman-like Oleg Maskaev.. It seems the WBC saw Klitschko’s excuse for not fighting, coming, and scheduled the number one title eliminator on the same fight date as the Rahman/Klitschko fight. It’s not like the WBC isn’t warranted for expecting Vitali to pull out, even they admitted this was the fourth time that he did so. The president of the WBC even stated that these problems of Klitschko’s might be mental.
Let’s talk about the fight at hand. It should be much more interesting than the WBC’s last “Interim Champion” fight between Rahman and Monte Barrett. Sam has good hand speed for a heavyweight and through punches in bunches. However, it seems he lacks the ability to lift weights or do any cardiovascular training, for Sinan Samil Sam comes into just about every fight in worse physical condition than John Ruiz. Oleg Maskaev as I previously mentioned is a fair duplicate of Hasim Rahman. He doesn’t possess great skill, but has enough to stay in a fight, and as the same as Rahman he always has a puncher’s chance. Just ask Rahman, for he was dominating Maskaev in their bout, probably the best of Rahman’s career, before “The Big O” knocked him OUT of the ring with a great one-two overhand right. My prediction is that although Sam’s superior boxing skills will have him up early, his utter lack of defense will get him KO’d in the middle to late rounds once Maskaev figures out his timing.
On a side note I wish I could be on hand for this card, because I would see the future WBC heavyweight champion of the world fighting that night. The future champion won’t be fighting in the main event though. No he is on the undercard and goes by the name of Alexander Povetkin. The same man who won the SuperHeavyweight Gold Medal in the 2004 Olympics. This kid possess great talent and has taken a much different course than Audley Harrison and has decided to fight often. Povetkin will be on the global scene in two to three years at the rate he is going. At that point he still will be in his twenties and can be a bright future for the Heavyweight division.