FanHouse Hasim Rahman

For Oleg Maskaev to be in contention for a heavyweight world title is incredible considering the obstacles he has overcome both in and out of the ring.

There was his near-death experience as a 16-year-old coal miner in his native Zhambul, Kazakhstan, and the fact that only his budding, amateur boxing career saved the former Soviet leutenant from being sent into the war in Afganistan.

Knocked out in all of his six losses, Maskaev overcame a suspect chin to earn his biggest career wins -- two knockouts of former world champ, Hasim Rahman, with the second earning him a brief stint as WBC champion.

Maskaev says that he suffered a broken right elbow during the rematch with Rahman, an injury he endured during a subsequent win over Peter Okhello, as well as in a loss to Samuel Peter.

But now, Maskaev (36-6, 27 knockouts), who turns 41 in March, finds himself, yet again, on the verge of title contention.

For with a Dec. 11 victory over Dominican-born, Nagy Aguilera (14-2, nine KOs), Maskaev would earn a matchup with 39-year-old Ray Austin (28-4-4, 18 KOs). The winner of Maskaev-Austin positions himself for a shot at WBC king, Vitali Klitschko (38-2, 37 KOs), whom Maskaev knocked out in the first round as an amateur.

FanHouse caught up recently with Maskaev, who has dual citizenship in America and the United States.

Oleg Maskaev had won two of five fights and been stopped three times when promoter, Dennis Rappaport, met him in 2002 -- not long after the 33-year-old Russian-American had suffered an eighth-round knockout loss to journeyman, Corey Sanders.

Since then, however, Maskaev is 14-1 with 10 knockouts -- a run that began with six straight KOs. The first stoppage was a one-rounder against Erroll Sadikovski in February of 2003.

"Oleg, in the ring, is now doing something that he's never done before -- and that's being relaxed," Rappaport said of Maskaev, who is coming off of a first-round knockout of Rich Boruff in March -- his second straight win since being dethroned as WBC champ a year earlier by Samuel Peter in six rounds.

"A relaxed fighter is the most dangerous fighter in the world. Oleg's boxing beautifully, he's devastating to the body," said Rappaport. "Even at his age, he's learning new things, and, more importantly, he's got the desire to continue learning."

On July 4, America's independence Day, "Fast" Eddie Chambers was handing Ukrainian Alexander Dimitrenko his first loss in 30 bouts before a crowd partisan to Dimitrenko in Hamburg, Germany.

It was Chambers' fifth consecutive win since a January 2008 setback against Russian Alexander Povetkin. And the symbolism is not lost on Chambers, America's best shot at a heavyweight champion.

"I hear that a ton from my fans, like, 'You're the only one who is gonna do it.' It was important for me to go over there and show my skills," said Chambers, who defeated Dimitrenko the day before the latter's 27th birthday. "Beating Dimitrenko, you know, I realize what it did for the United States and our hopes of having a world champion again."

An aging fighter who is approaching 40 years old, Vitali Klitschko said this past week that when the time comes he will truly know when to retire from boxing.

"I'm in great shape, and I am in great form. If I feel that I don't have it left anymore, I will announce my retirement. But not yet," said Klitschko, adding that Saturday night's performance in defense of his heavyweight World Boxing Council championship against Cris Arreola would go a long way toward determining his decision.

Although he is six years into his retirement, the former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis indicated to FanHouse recently that he felt as if he still could defeat the current crop of heavyweights.

Although he has no plans for a comeback, that didn't stop Lewis from expressing his disappointment in today's division overall, and, in the champion brothers, Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko, in particular. During a Q&A, Lewis said that it was "bad for the sport" that the Klitschkos have vowed not to fight one another.

Check out the full interview below to find out which opponent Lewis wishes he fought during his career and why it was so important to him to fight Mike Tyson.

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During the early evening of his 44th birthday on Wednesday, former undisputed heavyweight champion, Lennox Lewis -- six years into retirement -- reflected about his boxing career with FanHouse from his home in Miami.

Lewis let on that he still believes himself capable of returning to the ring.

In Thursday's episode of ESPN's MMA Live, Franklin McNeil calls a potential fight between Hasim Rahman and Kimbo Slice, "a tremendous fight," adding, "I think Kimbo could give him a tough fight, even in boxing." I've already made clear that I think Kimbo vs. Rahman is a bad idea, but since McNeil's comments indicate that it's an idea getting some momentum, let me go into a little more detail about why I don't like it.

In Thursday's episode of ESPN's MMA Live, Franklin McNeil calls a potential fight between Hasim Rahman and Kimbo Slice, "a tremendous fight," adding, "I think Kimbo could give him a tough fight, even in boxing." I've already made clear that I think Kimbo vs. Rahman is a bad idea, but since McNeil's comments indicate that it's an idea getting some momentum, let me go into a little more detail about why I don't like it.

Former boxing heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman says he's serious about taking up mixed martial arts, and that he'd love to fight Kimbo Slice. My opinion is that Rahman is not serious at all, and he just sees MMA as a way to cash an easy paycheck.

Bolstering my opinion that he's not really serious is this: Rahman's manager told Sherdog that he's in contact with Strikeforce about Rhaman fighting for the organization. But Strikeforce tells me that's not the case. I asked Strikeforce Vice President Mike Afromowitz via e-mail about Rahman, and he answered, "There has been no dialogue between Strikeforce and Hasim Rahman."

Former heavyweight boxing champion Hasim Rahman says he wants to give mixed martial arts a try, and he's already talking up Kimbo Slice as his first opponent.

Rahman told FightHype.com that if he fights Kimbo, "I see him getting knocked out quick. ... Kimbo would get knocked out trying to take me to the ground."

I'm sure Rahman is right that he'd knock Kimbo out, but that's because (as Seth Petruzelli showed), it's easy to knock Kimbo out. Any halfway decent heavyweight boxer should be able to knock Kimbo out quickly. That doesn't mean he'd be any good at MMA.