Boxing Fanhouse Exclusive

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Boxing historian Bert Sugar's versatile appeal includes having sparred with ex-presidential candidate, John McCain, living next to former president Bill Clinton and once being known as "The Great White Hopeless."

Sugar tells why he loves the sport's international diversity, and comments on newly-crowned Israeli, Yuri Foreman, boxing's Jewish legacy, and why his favorite boxer all-time is Sugar Ray Robinson among many other things.

Check out the video after the jump.

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.

FanHouse has a Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward live blog for round-by-round updates for one of the Showtime Super Six Super Middleweight World Boxing Classic bouts.

The 168-pound main event will start a little after 10PM ET. The live blog begins below.

Kessler (42-1, 32 knockouts) vs. Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) live blog: Refresh this page often for minute-by-minute updates.

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."

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Boxing star Manny Pacquiao is on top of the world. His following is reaching new heights. Watch how it takes a dozen cops to get the Pacman from his car to the airport terminal as Manny heads back to the Philippines. We also join the media crush that tries to get Manny to talk about potentially facing Floyd Mayweather.

Check out the video after the jump.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Daniel 'The Rock' Dawson is a renaissance fighting star. He is not only a kickboxing world champion, but also a highly rated boxer with the impressive record of 34-and-1 (20 KOs) in the boxing ring.

In this FanHouse video, we caught up with Daniel and his trainer Justin Fortune. Find out what Daniel would do if he wasn't a fighter and whether he prefers kickboxing or boxing more.

Check out the video after the jump.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

As a teen, Jamie "Shotgun" Winchester was sent to prison for attempted murder. Now, he's using boxing to keep his life on the right track.

We caught up with him moments after his fight at the MGM in Vegas. Winchester was one of the undercards for the Pacquiao-Cotto fight. He faced Middleweight prospect Matt Korobov (8-0, 6 KOs) in a match that Korobov won.

Winchester shares some of the crazy things he witnessed in prison and has a message for those still locked up.

Check out the video after the jump.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said that the early pay-per-view numbers released on Manny Pacquiao's victory over Miguel Cotto are "over a million and under 1.5 million buys -- and that's without all of the precincts being reported."

"They're not really accurate yet, but all that we can say with absolute certainty is that Pacquiao-Cotto was the biggest, revenue-producing event on pay-per-view for the entire year," said Arum. "And that surpasses all of the UFC. Everything. Any event. It's the biggest event of the year from the standpoint of revenue being generated."

Arum, who promotes Pacquiao (50-3-2, 37 knockouts), said that he met with officials at HBO on Thursday concerning the numbers.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Miguel Espino said he believes Kelly Pavlik "thinks I'm a pushover," adding, "He turns down a fight with Paul Williams on Dec. 5 to fight me on Dec. 19? That doesn't make any sense."

Also, Espino's trainer John Bray tells us what workout partners at Los Angeles' Fortune Gym say the fighter's punching power does to their dental features.

Check out the video after the jump.

Noted boxing historian Bert Sugar believes that a clash between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao would rival Sugar Ray Leonard's comeback 14th-round knockout of Thomas Hearns in September 1981, when the victor trailed by four, three and two points, respectively, on the three judges' cards.

Calling it "today's Super Bowl of boxing," Sugar said the demand and scope of Mayweather-Pacquio "easily passes" Felix Trinidad's controversial September 1999, 12-round majority decision over Oscar De La Hoya, even as theirs was a clash of a Puerto Rican icon in Trinidad and a cross-over Mexican-American star in De La Hoya.

"[Mayweather-Pacquiao] has international appeal, particularly in Asia. And you've got HBO, which will be pumping it with their 24/7 series. It will be the fight of the century," said Sugar, who, as then-editor of Ring Magazine, named Leonard-Hearns "Fight Of The Year."