TAKE FIVE: RAHMAN VS. MASKAEV

Friday, Aug. 11, 2006 | 7:50 a.m.

By Jeff Haney

The principals

Hasim Rahman (41-5-2, 33 KOs) vs. Oleg Maskaev (32-5, 25 KOs)

Time/site

Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center; undercard begins at 4:30 p.m.; pay per view begins at 6 p.m.

Tickets

$50 to $600 at the Thomas & Mack box office, unlvtickets.com or 739-FANS

HBO Pay-Per-View, $49.95

At stake

Rahman's WBC heavyweight title

Undercard

Humberto Soto (39-5-2, 23 KOs) vs. Ivan Valle (24-7-1, 20 KOs), 12 rounds, super featherweights; Jose Armando Santa Cruz (23-1, 13 KOs) vs. David Diaz (31-1-1, 16 KOs), 12 rounds, lightweights; Vanes "Nightmare" Martirosyan (9-0, 6 KOs) vs. Marcus Brooks (6-1, 3 KOs), six rounds, super welterweights; plus four other bouts.

American splendor

In the timeless tradition of exploiting the fighters' ethnic and national differences to hype a championship boxing match, Bob Arum named Rahman "America's Last Line of Defense" in the heavyweight division. The heavy-handed imagery refers to the three heavyweight belt-holders who hail from former Soviet bloc nations, along with Maskaev, a native of Kazakhstan. Maskaev, 37, and a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2004, went on the offensive this week. Members of his camp wore T-shirts and hats depicting Maskaev standing before a U.S. flag, not unlike George C. Scott in "Patton." Maskaev also threw the fight's first low blow, suggesting a Muslim such as Rahman shouldn't represent America in the age of terrorism.

He's not Rappaport

Arum said Maskaev's promoter, Dennis Rappaport, and his manager, Fred Kesch, were misguided in playing up their fighter's American heritage. (Rappaport: "An American will win this fight. That American, in my opinion, will be Oleg." Kesch, claiming to be confused by the "Last Line of Defense" tagline: "We thought maybe Hasim Rahman was going to invade Staten Island, where Oleg lives with his family.") "They get a piece of the pay per view, too," Arum said. "You'd think they'd be doing the opposite. It's not very bright." Rahman shrugged off the controversy. "Everybody wants to be American," he said.

Through the ropes

In their previous meeting, in November 1999 in Atlantic City, Maskaev, trailing on the scorecards, connected with a big right hand to send Rahman sailing between the ropes and out of the ring for an eighth-round knockout. He had been staggered by Rahman in the sixth round, but Maskaev insists he was in control throughout the fight. "We were hurting each other," Maskaev said. "It was a tough fight - boom! boom! He was hurt, that's for sure." Maskaev lost three of his next seven fights. He has since won 10 in a row against an undistinguished lineup.

Looking back

Rahman admits he did not fully train for Maskaev in '99 and that he entered the ring overconfident of an easy victory. Still, he prefers to focus on the pounding he was giving Maskaev before getting knocked out. "I'm still shocked to this day how he was able to take all those shots," Rahman said. "I thought it was going to be a three- or four-round fight." Rahman, who went on to win the heavyweight title from Lennox Lewis in 2001 and then lose it in a rematch seven months later, said the key to Saturday's fight will be neutralizing Maskaev's powerful right hand.

Big picture

Although both men appeared toned and in good form physically this week, Rahman, 33, predicted a relatively easy, early-round knockout victory. He hopes to set up a big match against IBF heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko. "If the fight goes the way I expect it to, I'll be ready (to fight again) in September, or (later in) August," Rahman, of Las Vegas by way of Baltimore, said. "As long as Klitschko stays out there, he's the main attraction. He's the one I want."