In an important step toward regaining the World Boxing Council heavyweight title he lost last year, West Sacramento-based Oleg Maskaev (36-6) registered his 27th knockout victory Saturday by stopping Rich Boruff at 1:35 of the first round in Saransk, Russia.
Boruff (17-3-1), of Indiana, scrambled to his feet after being knocked down, but he was too wobbly to continue and suffered his third consecutive loss by knockout.
The WBC has mandated that Maskaev, 40, will meet the winner of next Saturday's bout between champion Vitali Klitschko and Juan Carlos Gomez. Klitschko came out of retirement last year to become champion a second time by beating Nigerian Samuel Peter, who had dethroned Maskaev. Klitschko, 37, and Maskaev are from the former Soviet Union.
Lightweight in Manchester, England – Amir Khan pounded Marco Antonio Barrera with speedy punches in the fifth round and won on a technical decision. Khan banished memories of being humiliated by Breidis Prescott in 54 seconds in September at the Manchester Evening News Arena.
On the undercard, Ola Afolabi claimed a World Boxing Organization cruiserweight title by knocking out Enzo Maccarinelli, while Roman Martinez knocked out Nicky Cook to win a WBO super-featherweight belt.
Middleweight in Kiel, Germany – Arthur Abraham kept his International Boxing Federation title with a unanimous decision over Lajuan Simon. The judges scored it 117-110, 118-109 and 117-110 for Abraham (29-0), who defended the title for the ninth time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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