A couple more comments from my notes on the fight:
Maskaev worked the body a lot in the mid- to later rounds of the fight. Four, five, six shots at a time before Rahman would throw a hook and back him off. He was hurting Rahman with those shots and you could visibly see Rahman wince with each punch.
It looked early like Maskaev wanted the big right hand but found more success with the left hook. He threw a lot of combinations.
Words fail me when trying to describe how pathetic Rahman looked trying to hold on to Maskaev at the end. He looked like a drowning man clinging to a life preserver. He did not want to let go and the fear in his face was palpably visible. You could almost hear the voice in his head screaming, "NO! NO! NO!" He knew he was going to get KTFO and lose the fight. The photo above where Rahman is almost sitting in the corner is a perfect example of the look he had on his face throughout the 12th round beating.
It was a great fight to watch. They hit each other hard, and often. There were moments when I wasn't sure Maskaev was going to be able to take some of Rahman's power shots. His head would snap back and the sweat would fly. But it seemed that sometimes a punch by Rahman would set him off and he'd hit Rahman with a few blows of his own. I felt while watching the fight that Rahman was hitting Maskaev with the harder punches, but even so, Rahman seemed less capable of withstanding the punishment that Maskaev was dealing out.
When Rahman came out with loose tape on his glove, I felt immediately that something was up. I think Rahman's corner knew their man was in trouble and cut some tape to give him an extra breather. It was only moments later that Rahman went down for the first time.
Great photos, Jax! Thanks for the new wallpaper.