Which former heavyweight champions and contenders could prime Oleg Maskaev beat?

Corbett, Fitzsimmons, Jeffries, Hart, Burns, Jack Johnson (small chance), Willard, Dempsey, Tunney, Sharkey, Schmeling, Braddock, Louis (very small chance), Charles, Walcott, Marciano, Patterson... Leon Spinks, Mike Spinks...

 

A very small chance, but Oleg had a dynamite right hand which Louis, at times, had problems with. There is a small chance he catches Louis and either ends it or begins to end it. I certainly wouldn't bet on it, but the thread asked "could" not "would"...

 

More knee-jerk. That's one I could think about some more. If Oleg doesn't move smoothly enough, Mike could beat him up a la Cooney. But a green Maskaev went deep with Tua and Rahman (twice) so he has his moments of durability... but against a shifty dynamic mover like Mike.. hmmm...

 

Well, let's look at Oleg Maskaev first.

6'3" with a 79' reach and very solid at 240+ Lbs. Very strong, good power in both hands, a high work rate, a good jab, and good overall skills.

He fought Oliver McCall in just his 7th pro fight and was stopped in the 1st round (98 seconds). He had showed some potential though. He stopped Robert Hawkins in the 4th round and he had clearly outboxed Nikolay Kulpin over 12 rounds. He was supposed to last longer than that vs. McCall.

He won his next 4, 3 by KO, then faced David Tua. Tua was expected to stop Maskaev early. Maskaev gave Tua trouble and lasted until 1/2 way thru the 11th round. After 10 rounds the fight was scored even.

He stopped Alex Stewart KO7, Booker T. Word KO4, and Courage Tshabalala KO9 in his next 3 fights. He won 4 more, 3 by KO, then took on Hasim Rahman. Rahman outboxed Maskaev thru much of the first 7 rounds. Maskaev had rocked Rahman a few times though and in the 8th round he knocked Rahman thru the ropes. Rahman was hurt and could not make it back inside the ring in time and was counted out. Maskaev won his next 2 by KO including a 4th round KO over Derrick Jefferson.

Maskaev lost his next 3 out of 5 fights by KO. He was stopped by Kirk Johnson LKOby4, Lance Whitaker LKOby2, and Corey Sanders LKOby8. Things were not looking good for Maskaev.

Maskaev took almost a year off and came back vs. a fighter who was 4-10 (KO1). He won his next 11 fights, 8 by KO, and went 2-0 (1) in WBC HW World Title fights during this stretch. He beat Sinan Sam W12, Hasim Rahman KO12, Okello Peter W12 before losing the WBC belt to Sam Peter, LKOby6. At this point he was 39 and clearly past his best.

So, at his very best... which HW Champs could Maskaev have defeated?

I'll tell you who he's not beating-

Ali, Holmes, Holyfield, Foreman, Lewis, Bowe, V. Klitschko, W. Klitschko, Louis, Frazier, Marciano, and Tyson for starters.

Maybe he could beat these guys-

L. Spinks, Bruno, Seldon, Carnera, and some others.

 

Bruno would outbox Oleg just like you said... but I think Oleg could hang in there, land his own big shots, and eventually stop Bruno while he was still on his feet. Maybe it would go into the 10th or 11th round, Bruno would be ahead on points.

 

Bruno had some good qualities but stamina wasnt one of them. Bruno also lost most of the high profile fights he was in. He did well vs. Bonecrusher Smith and Tim Witherspoon but was stopped in the late rounds in both fights. He was stopped in the 5th and the 3rd by Tyson. He gave Lewis some trouble but was stopped in the 7th.

Maskaev was clearly on a lower level than Tyson and Lewis but it must be noted that Oleg went 2-0 (2) vs. a fighter who went 1-1 (1) vs. Lewis... Hasim Rahman. The other guy who beat Lewis also beat a green Maskaev by 1st round KO.

Many will say he was clearly worse than Smith and Witherspoon but there is little evidence to support this claim.

So, besides a decision win over McCall, what else did Bruno do that was so impressive? Stopping an old Truth, Coetzer, an old Bugner?

 

Maskaev had enough power to knock out just about anybody. His chin was always shaky though. Can't accurately comment on his skills, because I've only seen him a few times. I'm guessing he'd have a puncher's chance against a fair number of champions, but that's not enough to favor him over anyone great.

 

tommy burns

 

He'd have a chance vs. these guys-

Sullivan
Corbett
Fitzsimmons
Jeffries
Hart
Burns
Willard
Schmeling
Sharkey
Carnera
Baer
Braddock
Patterson
Johansson
Machen
Ellis
L. Spinks
Norton

Maybe all of the post-Ali to 1987 HW belt holders minus Holmes, M. Spinks, and Tyson... that includes Tate, Weaver, Dokes, Coetzee, Page, Tubbs, Witherspoon, Smith, Thomas, Berbick, and Tucker.

Maybe these guys as well-

Douglas
Seldon
Bruno
Ruiz
Jones

Maybe these guys too-

Toney
Botha
Shavers
Morrison
Quarry