WBC heavyweight champion HASIM RAHMAN, the last remaining American to hold a heavyweight title, and OLEG MASKAEV, the WBC’s No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger, will hold a news conference This Wednesday!  May 10, at The Copacabana, (560 West 34th St., New York, NY 10001), beginning at 10:30 A.M. Rahman, 41-5-2 (34 KOs), from Baltimore, MD, represents America’s Last Line of Defense between the heavyweight title and total domination by natives of the former Soviet Union.  The last time the heavyweight title belt was NOT around an American’s waist was in 1999 after Lennox Lewis unified the WBC/WBA/IBF titles and Vitali Klitschko reigned as WBO champ.

This marks the second time Rahman and Maskaev, 32-5 (25 KOs), from Kazakhstan, have rumbled.  In their initial encounter, on November 6, 1999, Maskaev, rallied from behind on two judges’ cards, slamming an overhand right to the head that sent Rahman through the ropes headfirst, toppling HBO’s ringside commentators’ table on his way down to the ringside floor for a dramatic eighth-round knockout. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Dennis Rappaport Productions, Caesars Palace and Wynn Las Vegas,  America’s Last Line of Defense will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View, Saturday, August 12, from the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV.