Thursday, February 1, 2007

Oleg Maskaev speaks!


"Samuel Peter can wait," claims the WBC Champ

In recent weeks the debate over who will get the next shot at WBC Heavyweight Champion Oleg Maskaev has intensified to enormous proportions. Number-one ranked Samuel Peter has claimed his right as the mandatory; pointing to consecutive elimination bouts he won against James Toney. Former champion Vitali Klitschko, meanwhile, has also asked for an immediate title shot against Maskaev, claiming his distinction as the "WBC Champion Emeritus" grants him the right to step over Peter. In addition to these claims, the representatives of Peter, Klitschko and Maskaev have all made impassioned arguments against one another and to the WBC as to who they think Maskaev, 34-5, 27 KO's, should have to box next. The lone voice missing from this triumvirate was that of the champion.

Until today.

In an exclusive interview with Fightnews, Maskaev claims that he'll fight whomever the WBC mandates though his preference is a clash against Klitschko. "I've been looking to fight Vitali Klitschko because we have to finish something that started when we were amateurs," Maskaev said of an early '90's amateur bout between the two future champions. "I stopped him in the first round. He's saying that he couldn't continue to fight because he had an injury. But the fact is that his trainer threw the towel in the middle of the ring and stopped the fight in the first round."

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