By Tim Smith

The most striking thing about Hasim Rahman, the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion, and Oleg Maskaev is how remarkably similar they are. Both are square jawed boxers, who aren’t afraid to brawl. Both are have scored stunning knockouts and have themselves been KO’ed in spectacular fashion. And both are two of the most inconsistent heavyweights on the scene today.

That is why no one can say with any degree of accuracy just what will occur when Rahman and Maskaev meet in the ring at the Thomas and Mack Center on the campus of UNLV this Saturday night on HBO Pay Per View ($49.95).

“But, the same way they label me as inconsistent in the past, they going to have to start to label me as consistent because I will constantly come in with my weight good, with my ability to throw punches good, my conditioning excellent and I’m going to stay with it,’’ Rahman said.  “So the same way you get labeled as inconsistent is the same way you get labeled as consistent.  It depends on how you do and what you do over a period of time.’’

Maybe this will be the beginning of a period of consistency for Rahman. This is a rematch of a bout that occurred seven years ago. In that match, Rahman took Maskaev for granted and Maskaev deposited Rahman into the lap of HBO commentator Jim Lampley, literally. Knocked Rahman clear out of the ring and onto a table top, where the unconscious Rahman rolled over into Lampley and Larry Merchant. If you haven’t seen the replay, you’ve been living in a cave. It’s on more times than Seinfeld reruns.

Rahman bounced back just fine from the KO. He even KO’ed Lennox Lewis to win the W.B.C. title in 2001 only to have Lewis return the favor seven months later and knock him out. Maskaev scored another great knockout after Rahman, sending Derrick Jefferson into orbit on a fourth round KO. But then Maskaev began to become a victim of his own design. He was knocked out by Kirk Johnson, Lance Whitaker and Corey Sanders in the span of two years. And no one ever considered him much of a contender after that.

Most people in boxing are still trying to figure out how the W.B.C. made the match between Makaev and Sinan Sam an eliminator for the No. 1 contenders spot. But when Maskaev beat Sam, he became the mandatory for Rahman.

No one has tested Rahman recently. His last loss was a decision to John Ruiz in 2003.  He won his title by beating a disinterested Monte Barrett last Aug. 13 and defended it against a bloated James Toney on March 18. His match against Vitali Klitschko never came out because Klitschko injured his knee and retired from boxing.

Maskaev is no Klitschko, though he said he stopped Klitschko in the first round of a match between Russian Army officers in the 1980s. When asked what he was going to do against Rahman, Maskaev was circumspect.

“Basically what I’m going to do, I’m going to do everything to win the fight,’’ he said. “And it’s going to be a totally different fight (this time) because I think Rahman and I…it’s about almost six years past and we are different fighters. The fight will be a different fight.  So what I’m expecting, do my job in the fight, to win the fight.  That’s it.’’

Maskaev is no defensive wizard. He has been working with Victor Valle, Jr., who has been trying to get him to learn defensive techniques like moving his head and slipping punches. We won’t know whether any of that has taken hold until he climbs in the ring with Rahman.

If Maskaev stands in front of Rahman, he’s going to get busted up, because Rahman has some extremely heavy hands. The fact that he has been KO’ed three times in his career is an indication that a strong puncher can find weaknesses if he checks Maskaev’s chin.

Dennis Rappaport, Maskaev’s promoter, said that Maskaev has improved since he hooked up with new trainer Victor Valle, Jr. He said Rahman will be looking at a better version of the boxer he saw seven years ago.

"Back in ’99 he was a stand-up European style fighter, now he’s a superb boxer with great defensive skills, great techniques, he dances, he moves and he punches with devastating power in both hands.  We think that Oleg Maskaev of 2006 is a far, far superior fighter than the one that fought in ’99."

Rahman isn’t exactly Mr. Granite Jaw himself. But his last KO loss came against Lewis, who had one of the best right hands in the game when he unleashed it, back in 2001. If Rahman is in shape, he is a handful for anyone.

The bigger question is whether Maskaev got inside Rahman’s head with that first knockout. Rahman maintains that he has gotten over the knockout and what happened in the first fight will have no bearing on the rematch. He believes he is a much different fighter, and a better fighter than the first time.

“I was just a wild young gunslinger thinking I was strong and just cocky, arrogant, thinking nobody could beat me,’’ Rahman said. “And, I just went out there thinking I’m going to knock everybody out.  But, now I know what to do, I know  the importance of a jab, I know how to set things up.  I can see clearly what he’s trying to do, I can really recognize his attack and try to blunt it, whereas (before) I couldn’t recognize anything he was trying to do.’’