KAZAKHSTAN-born Oleg Maskaev stopped Hasim Rahman in the last round to win the WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas. Rahman trailed narrowly on points going into the final round and was stopped with 43 seconds left. Maskaev's victory means fighters from ex-Soviet countries hold all four major belts at heavyweight. Rahman was the lone US-born world champion.Maskaev, who became a US citizen in 2004, was upset at Rahman being dubbed "America's Last Line of Defence". "I believed up to the last minute I could win this fight," said the 37-year-old Maskaev. "I got used to him as the fight wore on and I knew with three rounds left, I had to win them all to win the fight. "I'm proud of where I come from, but I consider myself a Russian-American. This is a message to everyone: European fighters are tough." Maskaev, a former Russian Army officer, entered the fight on a 10-bout winning streak, albeit mostly against unimpressive competition. But the father of four earned a mandatory title shot with a persistence that prompted his promoters to compare him to 1930s' champion, James J Braddock, the famed "Cinderella Man". Maskaev knocked Rahman, 33, into the lap of a television commentator when the two last met in 1999 and the rematch was nearly as dramatic. Rahman came out of the blocks the quickest and landed big right hands in the first, second and fourth rounds. Maskaev took the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds with a superior work rate before Rahman surged back in the eighth. However, Maskaev enjoyed a second wind in the ninth and caught his opponent with a stunning left hook at the end of the penultimate round. Maskaev led 106-103 on judge Jerry Roth's scorecard entering the 12th, while Anek Hongtongkam favoured Rahman 106-103. Glenn Trowbridge had Maskaev ahead 105- 104, leaving Rahman in need of a 12th-round victory to force a draw. Sensing victory, Maskaev sent Rahman down with a big right in the opening stages of the final round. Rahman struggled to his feet but was unable to even keep his guard up as Maskaev continued his vicious assault, prompting referee Jay Nady to wave the contest off. Rahman claimed the punch that staggered him occurred while Nady was telling the fighters to break, but still blamed himself for the defeat. "I put my hands down, and he caught me with a shot," Rahman said. "I never thought that he would be taking the world title out of Las Vegas tonight. I'm going to have to watch the tape and see what I did wrong. "I think American heavyweights are a little spoiled, make too much money too quick and lose sight of the grand prize which is to win the title and keep it." Rahman won the undisputed heavyweight crown in 2001 with his stunning knockout of Lennox Lewis, but lost it seven months later when Lewis knocked him out in a rematch. He became a champion for the second time after Vitali Klitschko's retirement and his first title defence was a draw with James Toney in March. Russia's Nikolay Valuev is the WBA champion, Wladimir Klitschko of the Ukraine has the IBF crown and the WBO's title-holder is Serguei Lyakhovich of Belarus.
