MOSCOW, December 29 (R-Sport) – Former WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev will knock out Jamaican boxer Owen Beck in his comeback fight, retired ex-champion Nikolai Valuev told R-Sport on Saturday.
"The Big O" enters the ring for the first time in three years with a 3.5 kg weight advantage Sunday against his mediocre opponent, who has lost his last eight fights.
“I think Maskaev will win,” former WBA champion Valuev said. “One will probably knock out the other sooner or later. It will probably be Oleg.”
Valuev, who beat Beck in three rounds back in 2006, believes Maskaev must keep Beck at close quarters for the best chance of prevailing.
“Most likely, it will be a short-distance fight and Oleg will benefit from it,” Valuev said. “He has a good punch. Of course, he won’t show the speed he had earlier."
Maskaev, 43, won his WBC title in 2006 by beating Hasim Rahman of the United States but lost it two years later to Nigerian boxer Samuel Peter.
Maskaev holds a record of 36 wins, 27 KOs and seven losses.
Owen "What the Heck" Beck, is seven years Maskaev's junior and has 29 wins with 11 defeats.
