Former WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev (37-7, 28 KO's) didn't look half bad in defeating Owen Beck (29-12, 20 KO's) by a 3rd round TKO on Sunday night at the Sports Palace in Moscow, Russia. Maskaev put Beck down three times in the fight in stopping him in the third round at 2:59.
Beck was knocked down once in the first and twice more in the second round from big shots from Maskaev. The finisher came from a short right hand from Maskaev that put Beck down. To Beck's credit, he did make it back to his feet but he was unable to stand without swaying from side to side and then caused the referee Viktor Panin to stop the fight.
Maskaev hadn't fought since being stopped in the first round by Nagy Aguilera in December 2009. That is a long time to go in between fighting for someone Maskaev's age, but he looked good.
It is unclear how far Maskaev can go in the division.
However, Maskaev has good enough power to rise up the rankings and get another title shot if he can be matched the same way that other heavyweight contenders like Tyson Fury and Manuel Charr have been matched.
