Nationality
Maskaev was born in Taraz to Mordvin parents. He has lived in the U.S. since 1999 with his wife, Svetlana, and four daughters. He acquired US citizenship in 2004. He currently resides in West Sacramento, California. Before his first encounter with Hasim Rahman in 2006, he said "I would say I'm a proud Russian-American. So right now, I'm a citizen of America, of United States... Whoever is going to win is going to be American." In the run-up to his title defense against Peter Okhello, he stated regarding his citizenship: "Russian. I don't want to talk about that anymore. I will walk to the ring under the Russian flag and Russian anthem as I'm now a Russian citizen." Russian president Vladimir Putin granted him Russian citizenship on December 9, 2006.
Read more about this topic: Oleg Maskaev
Famous quotes containing the word nationality:
“If nationality is consent, the state is compulsion.”
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881)
“Rarely do American parents deliberately teach their children to hate members of another racial, religious, or nationality group. Many parents, however, communicate the prevailing racial attitudes to their children in subtle and sometimes unconscious ways.”
—Kenneth MacKenzie Clark (20th century)