RSSSending Out an SOS
The days of US dominance of the ring are nearing an end
Just as the British-born bare-knuckles thought of themselves as the unbeatables of the 19th century, the Americans considered themselves the 20th century dominators of the manly art. They liked to boast of Jack Dempsey, and Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Ali and Larry Holmes, Tyson in his heyday and Vintage Holyfield.
The recent encounter featuring Hasim Rahman and Oleg Maskaev for the WBC version of the heavyweight championship of the world was hyped as America’s last hope of holding on to the vaunted beat against the invasion of the East Europeans.
Rahman, the star-spangled kept pointing out, was from Baltimore, Maryland, his opponent Maskaev hailing from some far-off place called Karaganda, Kazakhstan. The fact that Mr Maskaev was now a naturalized citizen of the US of A and a long-time resident of Staten Island, New York, was played down because it spoiled the patriotic hype.
The other three heavyweight titles were already in the hands of invaders from the former Soviet Union and if the fourth was to fall to a 37-year-old Kazakhstanian, the American flag of pugilistic would fly at half-mast.
The end was decisive and dramatic with the emboldened Maskaev turning up the pressure, knocking Rahman down so hard we didn’t expect him to get up, and when he finally managed to beat the count he was a helpless hulk waiting for the coup de grace.
So now our American flag bearer has to be the naturalised citizen from Staten Island, the Kazakhstanian version of the Cinderella Man who moves on to risk his newly-won WBC belt against Vladimir Klatschko, Kiev’s gift to the WBO title. When they meet in the Garden hopefully this autumn, the four heavyweight champions will be reduced to three, be they Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakhstanian. As HBO commentator Larry Merchant lamented: “Where have you gone, Joe Louis? America’s eyes now turn to you.”
ESPN Motion: Oleg Maskaev Talks About Becoming the WBC Champion
Organizations • WBC • Heavyweight • Hasim Rahman • Oleg Maskaev
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