Oliver McCall

[zslayton]

I want to know what others think of him as a fighter.

My opinion is he is a guy that landed a lucky shot against a far superior fighter. He won a title, but he is not what I would consider a champion. In my opinion, he was/is nothing more than a limited journeyman that landed an awesome shot. I think Buster Douglas, Bruce Seldon, and John Ruiz even, are better fighters and champions that McCall, even though McCall outlasted Seldon in their meeting.

[Sweet Scientist]

I want to know what others think of him as a fighter.

My opinion is he is a guy that landed a lucky shot against a far superior fighter. He won a title, but he is not what I would consider a champion. In my opinion, he was/is nothing more than a limited journeyman that landed an awesome shot. I think Buster Douglas, Bruce Seldon, and John Ruiz even, are better fighters and champions that McCall, even though McCall outlasted Seldon in their meeting.

I never thought much of Seldon & Ruiz...and Douglas was really a one-fight-wonder who ate himself into oblivion...McCall is kind of 'on a par' with those guys, You have to give him credit for the 1st Lewis fight...and you equally have to wonder about the 2nd...whether it was drugs, insanity, bi-polar, or what-ever...I thought the 2nd fight was the most bizzare I've ever seen...For awhile, I thought McCall might turn out to be half decent...didn't take long to see that wasn't happening...when he barely squeaked by a 45 year old Larry Holmes (I thought it was a draw)...too bad Larry didn't win...then he could have fought Foreman for the Social Security Heavyweight Title...

[zslayton]

I just wasn't impressed with anything about McCall. He caught Lennox with a bomb. So did Rahman. Other than that neither has done shit to deserve mention with the best. McCall was a tought guy with a hard punch, but he wasn't half the fighter that Ron Lyles was.

I honestly don't think McCall is much better than Ross Purity. I know that is harsh, but on a scale of 1-10 I rate McCall a 5 or 6 at best.

[Sweet Scientist]

I just wasn't impressed with anything about McCall. He caught Lennox with a bomb. So did Rahman. Other than that neither has done shit to deserve mention with the best. McCall was a tought guy with a hard punch, but he wasn't half the fighter that Ron Lyles was.

I honestly don't think McCall is much better than Ross Purity. I know that is harsh, but on a scale of 1-10 I rate McCall a 5 or 6 at best.

OK...who is impressed with him?

[BrocktonBlockbuster49]

i AGREE ABOUT MCCAIL though i rate him above a bruce seldon or ross purrity lol. mccail showed his true colors in getting outboxed and outworked in losing his title to frank bruno. I know mccail was tysons sparring partner. and he was better than a journeyman cause he still did catch lewis and knock him out giving lewis his first loss, and mccail also defeated notible contenders bruce seldon, francesco damieni, journeyman jesse furgesson, and lost a split decision to an aging but still game tony tucker. he also defeated larry holmes who was coming off a win over undefeated ray mercer and then gave holyfield a tough fight so it showed larry was still a dnagerous contender.

I believe larry was 46 in that fight. it was a very close decision. too bad larry didnt win, that would have made him the oldest heavyweight champion of all time just one year after foremans miracle. foremans incredible upset over moorer at 45 would never be as famous if holmes had surpassed him in age and won the title.

[overhand_right]

I'm extremely impressed with Oliver McCall.

He was one of only a small handful of guys in the 80s who could regularly spar with Tyson with no fear, never get knocked down, never back up, and really bang with him.

Although his early pro career was patchy, the guys who beat him were good fighters. Mike the bounty Hunter would be a nightmare to fight for anyone and Buster Douglas in his very next fight after outpointing McCall would knock out Tyson.

Not only was McCall powerful and relentless, he has very underated skills. Check out the way he rarely takes a flush shot on the chin. He always leans, parries shots, catches them with his arms. This is GOOD DEFENCE.

After Tyson got locked up he really came into his own. In 91 he outlasted undefeated prospect (and future champ) Bruce Seldon and banged him out in the 9th. In 92 he fought Tony Tucker and gave Tucker a very hard time in losing a close 12 rd fight. Then in 93 the fight that really got him noticed was the awesome way he broke down Francesco Damiani piece by piece & made him turn away & QUIT!

This was the same Damiani who had been handing a prime Mercer his ass for 8 & a 1/2 rds til Mercer broke his nose. McCall did an awesome job. DK was manouvering Damiani into a title shot but McCall was on him all night, slipping his combos then hitting back with well placed shots to the gut & chin, and repeatedly an awesome left uppercut on the inside he couldnt miss with.

After 8 rds Damiani literally just turned his back and walked away, his face looking like he'd just gone through a windshield.

He waxed Lennox Lewis in 2 rds fair & square, no lucky punch, just a well prepared & practiced punch, he also roughed LL in rd 1 people forget and had him looking shaky.

The fact that he came back at the age of 36 and fought the one guy no heavy in the world wanted to fight in Henry Akinwande speaks volumes about McCalls attitude. And the fact he was able to overcome his long history of drug problems and grind Henry down and knock him out cold shows what a wasted talent the bull was.

Whether or not you guys are impressed by him doesnt really matter, legendary trainer Emanuel Steward recognised what an underated talent he was and i think he might be a better judge than you guys LOL!!!

[skarylarry1]

The referee was surely paid off by Don King. Nobody ever heard of this referee! Isn't funny all the early stoppages are against slimeball Kings fighters! Chavez Taylor, etc. Ihave seen fighters wobbled from 3 knockouts that were allowed to continue. Lewis was wobbled but he should have been allowed to continue. Lewis would have survived and certainly would have koed that bum!

[dempseyfire]

McCall among some has a kind of "Ibeabuchi" mystique around him in terms of saying he would've been an ATG without the drug issues. I don't think so . . world-class chin, but his boxing skills were ordinary . . his biggest strength was being able to relax in the ring and go rounds, which enabled some of his late round knockouts when his opponent was gassed. But it was also a weakness; he rarely fought with any sense of urgency . . simply going rounds like a sparring partner, being inactive. He was a physical talent but even without the drugs would've never gotten squarely into the '1st tier' of the 1990s (Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis on most days). I do think a fight with an out of prison Tyson in 1996 would've been very fun and interesting.

[Bodyshot3]

I think we Brit fans saw the very best and worst of McCall.

The best was coming to London and seizing the title from Lewis and also becoming the first man to beat Lennox. That was no mean feat and that was surely well beyond a Seldon or Ruiz. Maloney and Lennox definitely both muddied the water by claiming the fight was stopped early and incorrectly but it was a legit stoppage of one of the best heavyweights of the modern era. McCall was outstanding that night; right attitude and right tactics perfectly executed. Watch the fight back....Lewis is beaten by McCall and not the ref.

I suppose it would be easy to claim the worst was the rematch with Lewis. But that really was not a fight......McCall should have been nowhere near a ring that night and it was not a contest of any consequence because of the state he was in. What did surprise me was that an ageing Bruno - who many people thought was a danger to himself and deeply unworthy of another shot - took McCall to task and Oliver was unable to exploit the flaws Frank was known to have. Well done Frank....but it suggested McCall had to be absolutely in the zone to compete with the best.

Strange fighter in my opinion - clearly talented and dangerous - but swung between being a world-beater and less than stellar depending on where his head was at.

[drunkenpiper36]

He wasn't pretty to watch and I've seen some dull affairs where he was involved. But his chin arguably rates up there with the very best of them as does his longevity. His power wasn't world class but well above average for sure. I can't place him into any one category as his career took him through all levels of the sport. For part of his career he was journeyman. At others fringe contender and even briefly a champion. A good solid fighter with some good scalps on his record, but not Hall of fame material

[Rexob]

Oliver Mcall one of the greatest chins ever! Not so sure about the so called lucky punch is there such a thing? but is a right loon head!

[Syntax Error]

Frustrating guy to watch, because he had talent, but he could be so lazy.

The Frank Bruno fight just summed him up at his worst: he did nothing for 10 rounds & only decided to inject some much needed urgency into proceedings when realised that he needed to knock Bruno out to retain his title.

Had he started punching Bruno earlier, Frank would have gone out the way he usually went out when he faced a top opponent; spent, lagging on the ropes, getting repeatedly tagged & the referee having to save him.

Apart from having arguably the greatest chin ever, I just don't rate him too highly.

[Tuan_Jim]

Hindered by his insanity but hard as a coffin nail.

A WBC heavyweight champ with scalps such as Lennox Lewis, Francesco Damiani, Henry Akinwande, Larry Holmes, Bruce Seldon, Oleg Maskaev, a decision that could have gone his way vs Tony Tucker, Samil Sam, Jesse Ferguson, Mount Whitaker, Lionel Butler, and Fres Oquendo.

For a guy first seen on the Tyson/Holmes walk-out bout, dropping a 6-round decision to the Bounty Hunter, that's a damn impressive career. Who on that cold winter's night in Atlantic City would have put money on Holmes and McCall fighting each other for the WBC title 7 years later?!

[gregor]

Lewis was wobbled but he should have been allowed to continue. Lewis would have survived and certainly would have koed that bum!

He was still wobbled at the end of countdown and could not stay at one place. Continuing? McCall would hardly need to throw any punch to have him down again.

McCall had really amazing chin. I can't remember any other HW who was never down and even never really looked hurt (and that was against top level opposition).

[evrenb]

Lewis was wobbled but he should have been allowed to continue. Lewis would have survived and certainly would have koed that bum!

He was still wobbled at the end of countdown and could not stay at one place. Continuing? McCall would hardly need to throw any punch to have him down again.

McCall had really amazing chin. I can't remember any other HW who was never down and even never really looked hurt (and that was against top level opposition).

George Chuvalo

[BoxBuzz]

George Chuvalo? I think he was at least compromised by George Foreman and Joe Frazier right?

[klompton]

I would say McCall has a better chin than Chuvalo (who was down by Bonavena) but it didnt get called.

The problem with giving these guys so much credit for their chin is that when they were outgunned they basically covered up and went inactive. They protected their chin and just tried to hear the final bell. McCall went LONG stretches of fights doing absolutely nothing. When these guys saw they couldnt win they would follow their opponent around the ring behind a high guard giving the impression of aggression but only throwing the occasional token punch and rarely putting anything on it. To me its hard to give a guy like that credit for having a great chin because they rarely put it in position where it could be tested. Id have to say McCall had the better chin though because he took bombs from Lewis without even flinching and was only really stopped because he was nuts, it wasnt because he was hurt or damaged. Chuvalo, when he went up against prime punchers got smashed and I know the party line is he wasnt down but he would have been in a few seconds against both Foreman and Frazier.

My personal thoughts on McCall were that he had the physical tools one needed to a champion but he didnt have the brains or the heart. Its not all physical to be a champion you have to be special on the inside too and McCall simply didnt have that. He was big, strong, durable, could punch, and was typically in good shape (although his stamina could have been better) but like I said, when the going got rough he didnt really try to walk through fire, and even when the going wasnt that rough he never really tried to kick it into gear and take his body outside of his comfort level. If you watch that sparring he had with Tyson he never really seemed to have much heart or fire. There was even one point where he gets hit with a bodyshot and tries to quit and act like Tyson hit him with a kidney punch. I think thats McCall's overall problem, the guy was a sparring partner and never really got that mentality out of his head. He was in there to do just enough and not much more.

[Ambling Alp II]

To be fair to Chuvalo, it needs to be pointed out the stage of his career when he fought Frazier and Foreman. He had already had a long career where he had taken a lot of punishment when he fought them.
He already had more than 60 fights when he fought Frazier. "Past his prime Frazier" had only 29 going into the first Foreman fight and Frazier typically took less punishment in a fight than Chuvalo.

[drunkenpiper36]

I would say McCall has a better chin than Chuvalo (who was down by Bonavena) but it didnt get called.

The problem with giving these guys so much credit for their chin is that when they were outgunned they basically covered up and went inactive. They protected their chin and just tried to hear the final bell. McCall went LONG stretches of fights doing absolutely nothing. When these guys saw they couldnt win they would follow their opponent around the ring behind a high guard giving the impression of aggression but only throwing the occasional token punch and rarely putting anything on it. To me its hard to give a guy like that credit for having a great chin because they rarely put it in position where it could be tested. Id have to say McCall had the better chin though because he took bombs from Lewis without even flinching and was only really stopped because he was nuts, it wasnt because he was hurt or damaged. Chuvalo, when he went up against prime punchers got smashed and I know the party line is he wasnt down but he would have been in a few seconds against both Foreman and Frazier.

My personal thoughts on McCall were that he had the physical tools one needed to a champion but he didnt have the brains or the heart. Its not all physical to be a champion you have to be special on the inside too and McCall simply didnt have that. He was big, strong, durable, could punch, and was typically in good shape (although his stamina could have been better) but like I said, when the going got rough he didnt really try to walk through fire, and even when the going wasnt that rough he never really tried to kick it into gear and take his body outside of his comfort level. If you watch that sparring he had with Tyson he never really seemed to have much heart or fire. There was even one point where he gets hit with a bodyshot and tries to quit and act like Tyson hit him with a kidney punch. I think thats McCall's overall problem, the guy was a sparring partner and never really got that mentality out of his head. He was in there to do just enough and not much more.

That's a pretty good assessment. Although I think there was a brief period for a few years when he was starting to look like he was more mentally devoted. He had a Manny Steward in his corner for the first Lewis fight and pulled off an amazing upset. Prior to that bout he had chalked up wins over Damiani, Seldon and had some pretty close fights with Tucker and Norris that could have gone either way.. It seemed that after his crisis in the mid 90's he slumped back into being the type of fighter you described above.

[pound per pound]

I want to know what others think of him as a fighter.

My opinion is he is a guy that landed a lucky shot against a far superior fighter. He won a title, but he is not what I would consider a champion. In my opinion, he was/is nothing more than a limited journeyman that landed an awesome shot. I think Buster Douglas, Bruce Seldon, and John Ruiz even, are better fighters and champions that McCall, even though McCall outlasted Seldon in their meeting.

I never thought much of Seldon & Ruiz...and Douglas was really a one-fight-wonder who ate himself into oblivion...McCall is kind of 'on a par' with those guys, You have to give him credit for the 1st Lewis fight...and you equally have to wonder about the 2nd...whether it was drugs, insanity, bi-polar, or what-ever...I thought the 2nd fight was the most bizzare I've ever seen...For awhile, I thought McCall might turn out to be half decent...didn't take long to see that wasn't happening...when he barely squeaked by a 45 year old Larry Holmes (I thought it was a draw)...too bad Larry didn't win...then he could have fought Foreman for the Social Security Heavyweight Title...

McCall vs Seldon was a good fight. Check out round nine, Seldon has McCall on queer street. How good was McCall? He had journeyman like skills and tomato can like focus. But he was big, could hit, and take a punch.

[Sklar]

For a number of reasons McCall had most of his best days in the gymnasium. He was an exceptional gym fighter and sparring partner, one of the very best.