The largest boxing tournament in Russia's history will take place in Moscow's Olympic stadium on Sunday. The main event on the program is the fight for professional boxing's most prestigious title: World Boxing Council (WBC) world heavyweight champion. The title is currently held by Oleg Maskaev, who will defend his belt in a duel with the Ugandan Peter Okhello. Maskaev gave an interview to Kommersant correspondent Aleksey Dospekhov.
Practically since the very beginning of your professional career, which was in the mid-1990s, you have lived and boxed in the United States. Over the course of more than ten years, you have fought only three bouts in Russia, but you say that you have been dreaming of fighting a championship match in Moscow. In the week that you have been training in Russia, have you succeeded in feeling like you will be meeting Peter Okhello in a match at home?
To some degree, yes, There is more attention being paid to me here. But I think that I will really feel that way only during the match itself.
Different boxers have different opinions on whether it is easier or more difficult to fight at home. Some feel like their home fans help them, while others feel like being on their home turf puts them under too much pressure.
Pressure? For me, that's not at all the most significant factor. The more important thing for me is to know that I'm in the kind of shape that will allow me to do my work well. Right now I know I'm in that kind of shape. All the rest means little compared to that… In principle, of course, it is fantastic that I will be on my home turf and that many fans will be able to come. I would like everything to work out so that they get see a good match from Oleg Maskaev – I would like it to be a festive occasion.
How have your preparations for this match differed from your preparations for the match in Las Vegas against Hasim Rahman on August 12, in which you won the heavyweight title?
Not very much. The one thing is that I had different sparring partners: during the summer they were all Americans, but now I'm working with one American and two Cubans. I'm satisfied with them and their work… Out of the ten days that I will be in Moscow before the match, seven of them will be spent training.
It hasn't been that long since your stunning bout with Rahman, in which you knocked him out at the end of the 12th round. Naturally, after that kind of victory you need time to recuperate, both physically and mentally. How are you doing?
The standard interval between a championship match and the first defense of the title is six months. In this case, it has been five months, but it makes no difference. Everything will be fine.
Your duel with Rahman is being called the fight of the year in professional boxing. Do you agree with that assessment?
For me, every match is unique. Every one is hard, and each one has its interesting points, so I can't say that the match against Rahman was the fight of my life. But if the fans think that it was the best fight of the year, then that's obviously good.
Peter Okhello is a completely different opponent than Rahman. He is much less well-known…
But not less dangerous. Believe me.
Why is he dangerous?
Physically, he is very strong, and he has plenty of experience. I'm not going to get into a list of all of his strengths, which I have already spent plenty of time analyzing. I'll just say that my experience has taught me that no matter who my opponent is and no matter how well I've studied him, it's impossible to know how the match is actually going to go. You think that some match is going to be the most difficult fight of your life, and it turns out to be the easiest. Or, vice versa, some random low-stakes match can turn out to be the hardest one you've ever fought.
Speaking of your own experience, you went through a period in your career about five years ago that would have stopped most boxers in their tracks. How did you manage to attain the heights that you have after suffering those three defeats then – to Kirk Johnson, Lance Whittaker, and Cory Sanders?
That was a very difficult period in my life. It all had to do with the people that were supposed to be standing behind me – they deserted me as if I were a sinking ship. When problems came up, everyone who I thought was on my side just ditched me. Since then, I have found new people, and they all support me one hundred percent. Trust and a close-knit team are the most important things.
Was there a moment when you became aware that you were capable, despite all of the difficulties you've encountered in your career, of becoming world champion? A particular match that you won, maybe against an opponent like Sinan Samil Sam, for example?
I was never fixated on becoming world champion. I believed only in one thing: that I should go into the ring and do everything I needed to do to win that match.
Were you more nervous about the match with Hasim Rahman, your first championship match ever, than you are now about your first championship match in Moscow?
My level of nervousness is always the same.
I understand that many experts, after your victories against Samil Sam and Rahman, are looking at you with new eyes: Maskaev isn't the same boxer that he was five years ago. He's so much better! Do you agree with them that you have changed a lot in the last five years?
My coach [Victor Valle] has been working with me on new techniques and tactics. Since people are saying that I'm different now, that must mean that the changes are noticeable. But I can't say anything about that – I just go into the ring and do what my coach has taught me to do.
There are numerous opinions of what constitutes the key factor in a championship fight. What is yours?
That's a difficult question…
Well, for example, how did you manage to KO Hasim Rahman in that terrifically tense fight? Nobody expected that.
True, no one did. Rahman himself said honestly that he couldn't understand how that happened.
By the way, many people who know you well say that no other boxer in the world has as strong a character as you do.
Character? Let's put it this way: after the fight with Rahman, I just believed that God had blessed me during that fight and that I had a lot of support. And I learned a lesson from that match: you've got to fight to the bitter end – not to the last minute, but to the last second. If you relax, it could cost you a lot.
What is your situation regarding trying to obtain Russian citizenship, which you haven't formally had up to this point?
The question is already basically decided. I just need to officially get a passport. I'm working on it.
