by Geoffrey Ciani – This week’s forty-ninth edition of On the Ropes featured exclusive interviews with Oleg Maskaev, Kevin Johnson, and Holly Holm. Highlighting this episode was the very interesting interview with former WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev. Maskaev is slated to take on Nagy Aguilera on December 11. If he wins this fight, he is then scheduled to face Ray Austin in a WBC title eliminator. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
On his upcoming fight December 11:
“It’s going to be a good fight for me because I know the guy has a great amateur background, so I’m training hard getting ready for this fight. I’m looking for a good fight and I’m ready to win.”
On the possibility of fighting Ray Austin in a title eliminator:
“The main goal I’m looking to fight Vitali Klitschko for the WBC championship. So first I’m going to win this fight and then I’m going to fight Ray Austin..”
On his victory against Vitali Klitschko in the amateurs:
“That was the army tournament back in 1991 when we were in the Russian army together. I stopped him in the first round, I hurt him three times and his trainer threw the towel in the middle of the ring and stopped the fight. Vitali doesn’t want to admit that. He says everything differently, but I know I hurt him and I won that fight and I want to fight him again in the professionals and prove that I can beat him.”
On losing against Kirk Johnson:
“I hurt him in the first round and then all of a sudden my manager came to the corner and said, “Oleg, you got to finish him, he’s ready to go”. And I lost my head, was overconfident, and I just missed the punch and that’s it, I was out. That was the biggest upset fight for me in my life.”
On winning the WBC championship in his rematch with Hasim Rahman:
“I was very happy that I beat that guy again, because I knew Hasim Rahman was in the best shape in 2006 and was ready to get even with me.”
On his experiences boxing with the Russian Army:
“In the Russian Army I was the best for about four years.”
On losing his championship to Sam Peter:
“When I fought Samuel Peter, Oleg Maskaev was injured. My back and behind my elbow, but right now I’m feeling good.”
On fighting former champion Oliver McCall in his seventh pro fight:
“I was a green young fighter who signed a contract with people who were not the right people. They were not right for me, they were just looking to make a quick couple of bucks.”
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Next up we were afforded the opportunity to have a nice chat with heavyweight contender Kevin Johnson. Here are some excerpts from this portion of the show:
On training and preparations for his upcoming fight with Vitali Klitschko:
“Things couldn’t be any better. Perfect. Wonderful.”
On whether or not he feels he is ready for challenging Klitschko:
“Oh yeah, 100%.”
On fighting outside of the United States for the first time in his professional career:
“It’s making me work harder so I could go over there and clarify this win.”
On being able to get inside on someone as big as Vitali:
“Well that’s the thing about this fight. I don’t have to worry about getting inside for this fight right here, because I don’t have to go to him. I have the reach advantage. I can stand outside and box the hell out of him all day.”
On having a back-up plan in a fight:
“Plan B, C, D, E, F, and G—you’re always supposed to have fifteen backup plans just in case one don’t work, you need another and another and another.”
On implementing his game plan against Klitschko:
“There’s several things I can do to beat the guy. You can’t really say what you’re going to do until you step into the ring and hear that bell ring.”
On what he believes is the key to beating Vitali Klitschko on December 12:
“Not getting hit.”
On his lack of amateur experience:
“If you know me and you do your research on me, you would know I have the best amateur background that anyone else would dream to have.”
Regarding Manny Pacquiao’s impressive run:
“I love the guy, I love watching him. I know he’s always going to give me something. If I could meet the guy I would just like to ask him where does he sleep, in an oxygen chamber? The guy is energetic. I’ve never seen anybody as energetic as this guy.”
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Finally we had the chance to speak with the Holly Holm who is widely regarded as the pound for pound best female fighter in boxing. Here are some excerpts from the Holly:
On preparations for her upcoming fight with Melissa Hernandez:
“It’s been going great. I’ve been putting a lot of hard work in.”
On being regarded as the best pound for female fighter in the world”
“I don’t really put too much mind in it. I mean, I want to live up to those claims if they do put them out there, but really I just like to win each fight. I don’t put too much emphasis on the names or the labels or titles. I just want to perform my best.”
On her activity level:
“I can only sit around so long and I get bored and I think, well what’s next? Let’s get something going. A fight career doesn’t last that long. It’s not like a career in engineering, or anything. It has its course and it’s over. So I want to make sure I can live my career to the fullest.”
On why fans should watch female boxing:
“Well most people that do watch women’s boxing wind up saying, ‘Man that’s way better than any guy fight I’ve ever seen’. I think people just need to give it a chance.”
About her only professional career loss:
“I was winning the fight on the scorecards. In the first round I got elbowed and it got really swollen and it wound up getting busted open in the fourth round, but I still feel like could have fought better not to let her get that in. I would have loved to have a rematch with her, but she hasn’t been that active. I think it was something that I learned from.”
On how she got into boxing:
“I started with kickboxing aerobics and did it to keep in shape for soccer season. It just seemed so interesting that I just wanted to try it one time, and when I tried it, I was addicted instantly.”
Regarding who is her favorite fighter to watch:
“I don’t think anyone could complain with wanting to watch Manny Pacquiao right now. That guy just keeps getting better. He’s just so quick and so crafty.”
More on Manny Pacquiao:
“It doesn’t matter if he fights at a heavier weight or a lighter weight, he just keeps cruising and I really enjoy watching him fight.”
On the potential showdown between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Junior:
“If anybody can beat Mayweather, it’s going to be Pacquiao. He just seems to adjust to his opponents and I think he puts the hard work in to be able to do that.”
If you missed last week’s special edition of On the Ropes, be sure to tune in and listen now!
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