BoxRec

The battle of the iron jaws

Nice fight and one I've never thought of before. I think George outworks him.

George cuts up late on and loses by Doctor Stoppage.

McCall on cuts? When did Chuvalo ever lose on cuts??

Chuvalo by wide decision. Both had iron jaws but one guy threw punches while the other mugged for 3/4 of a fight and then always tried for a late KO, which wouldn't happen here.

Chuvalo!
And u could bet ur house on it.. And it would be on points.

How about in a 100 round fight with 10 ounce gloves? I think it may still go the distance!

It'd be a damned good fan-tastic fight.

jezzamundo wrote:How about in a 100 round fight with 10 ounce gloves? I think it may still go the distance!

Chuvalo on points

dempseyfire wrote:McCall on cuts? When did Chuvalo ever lose on cuts??

When he fought Ollie McCall is fantasy fight night? Where else?

dempseyfire wrote:McCall on cuts? When did Chuvalo ever lose on cuts??

Chuvalo by wide decision. Both had iron jaws but one guy threw punches while the other mugged for 3/4 of a fight and then always tried for a late KO, which wouldn't happen here.

Yeah, this wouldn't be close. George was not a great fighter, but he had a decent left hook, and could throw lots of punches. McCall was/is pretty inactive during most of his fights.

I'd like to see more reasoning for the 9 people who somehow think McCall would win this . . .

dempseyfire wrote:I'd like to see more reasoning for the 9 people who somehow think McCall would win this . . .

McCall was a pretty good fighter, but I just can't see how he matches up well with a guy who pushes the fight and won't get knocked down. And for all his limitations, George could fitht at a pretty good pace all night.

It would probably be a shutout.

If this fight could happen and I was going to bet, I would take McCall in a best vs. best vs. Chuvalo. I like his strength, stamina, punching power etc. over Chuvalo. I also think McCall was a bigger, quicker athlete than Chuvalo. McCall was a very good fighter when he was coping with his drug addiction, at other times, he was too involved with the drugs to train. But, these fantasy fights are best vs. best?

John Galt wrote:If this fight could happen and I was going to bet, I would take McCall in a best vs. best vs. Chuvalo. I like his strength, stamina, punching power etc. over Chuvalo. I also think McCall was a bigger, quicker athlete than Chuvalo. McCall was a very good fighter when he was coping with his drug addiction, at other times, he was too involved with the drugs to train. But, these fantasy fights are best vs. best?

But McCall was never a very high volume fighter, so don't you think it's unlikely that he's going to outpunch Chuvalo? And he certainly wouldn't have been able to stop George.

John Galt wrote:If this fight could happen and I was going to bet, I would take McCall in a best vs. best vs. Chuvalo. I like his strength, stamina, punching power etc. over Chuvalo. I also think McCall was a bigger, quicker athlete than Chuvalo. McCall was a very good fighter when he was coping with his drug addiction, at other times, he was too involved with the drugs to train. But, these fantasy fights are best vs. best?

Bigger? Not by much, in his prime he'd be about 10 lbs heavier and an inch taller. Chuvalo was an incredibly strong man I don't see McCall having any real strength advantage at all. Better athlete? Maybe . . .neither had great speed and both were plodders with their footwork. In any case athleticism plays a small role in this fight.

Is McCall going to outwork George? No. Is he going to outbox George? I can't recall Oliver outboxing anyone, looking at his record you can see he never beat any upper-level comp by decision, only by KO. Since Chuvalo ain't getting knocked out, I see practically no way in which McCall wins this fight. Chuvalo would outpunch McCall and his grinding body work would have McCall fatigued in the later rounds. McCall never had great stamina . . .he simply had late fight knockout power b/c he knew how to stay relaxed and barely threw anything for the first half of fights. I never saw McCall fight a whole 10-12 rounds at the pace Chuvalo could.

Why do people think so highly of Mccall?

It can't be because of his lucky win against Lewis because if that were the case they would rank Rahman much higher.

Maybe it's the mystique of never being knocked down before.


Chuvalo is in for quite an easy night.

I picked McCall. Best for best.

I like Chuvalo and while he can set a higher pace, he also
would take a lot of hard shots from McCall.

I see it going the distance, with Chuvalo ending strong.

Robinson wrote:I picked McCall. Best for best.

I like Chuvalo and while he can set a higher pace, he also
would take a lot of hard shots from McCall.

I see it going the distance, with Chuvalo ending strong.

Saying you think Chuvalo would take lots of hard shots isn't explaining how McCall would be winning rounds . . .how exactly does Oliver win rounds here? He can't outbox him and won't outwork him.

Picking the older guy to win Robbie isn't a cop-out here . . .I know you hate picking against the modern heavyweights.

Oh DF, I am not THAT formulaic.

Chuvalo struggled with some less than stellar guys
during or around his prime. He did look good in some
of his fights. And I am a Chuvalo fan.

I just think that McCall would have better durability,
harder shots and would be able to trouble Chuvalo
at an early stage. McCall was a big athletic guy who
had a great many defects in his personal life, but
was in my opinion a decent talent.

I just see him winning, sure it could go either way
and truth be known I would be cheering for Chuvalo
to win. BUt having said that I would cheer for Patterson
in 99% of hypothetical matches as well...

In any case I think McCall DOES have the artillery at his
disposal to hurt Chuvalo, not in the sense that Foreman did,
but George is hittable and I am confident that he would
be hit and slowed by Oliver.

Grimm wrote:Why do people think so highly of Mccall?

Beats me, the guy fought like a sparring partner and would surely loose to Chuvalo.

Robinson wrote:Oh DF, I am not THAT formulaic.

Chuvalo struggled with some less than stellar guys
during or around his prime. He did look good in some
of his fights. And I am a Chuvalo fan.

I just think that McCall would have better durability,
harder shots and would be able to trouble Chuvalo
at an early stage. McCall was a big athletic guy who
had a great many defects in his personal life, but
was in my opinion a decent talent.

I just see him winning, sure it could go either way
and truth be known I would be cheering for Chuvalo
to win. BUt having said that I would cheer for Patterson
in 99% of hypothetical matches as well...

In any case I think McCall DOES have the artillery at his
disposal to hurt Chuvalo, not in the sense that Foreman did,
but George is hittable and I am confident that he would
be hit and slowed by Oliver.

Another big, athletic guy.

I respect your opinion here, but could you please explain why you consider McCall athletic? Was he a collegiate track and field star? Maybe he was a star basketball player, or wrestler? He hardly looks quick and graceful like a Mayweather or an Ali.

You certainly are correct about Chuvalo being inconsistent during much of his career, and that seems very valid to the discussion, but it seems like everytime a poster picks a more contemporary HW in these matchups, they always seem to mention that the more recent fighter is big and athletic. This almost seems to imply that the older fighters were somehow less athletic, which is interesting because most people in prior eras were generally much more active than people in modern societies.

John L., McCall was/is an excellent basketball player. His children are also athletic, he had a daughter who played college basketball and a son who played college football. McCall is probably one of the most physically gifted hywts. in history. He has had a serious drug problem for most of his life, he has missed a lot of training, yet he has been able to compete with the top fighters and still can at age 45. People can criticize his technique, his lifestyle, etc., but his athleticism is as good as it gets.

John Galt wrote:John L., McCall was/is an excellent basketball player. His children are also athletic, he had a daughter who played college basketball and a son who played college football. McCall is probably one of the most physically gifted hywts. in history. He has had a serious drug problem for most of his life, he has missed a lot of training, yet he has been able to compete with the top fighters and still can at age 45. People can criticize his technique, his lifestyle, etc., but his athleticism is as good as it gets.

Okay, he was an excellent basketball player. Somehow I don't see how that athleticism translated into his fighting style, as he was never particularly fast of hand or foot, or showed much energy in the fights I saw him in. And I think his still being somewhat competitive at his age is more a reflection of how the talent in boxing has slipped in the past few decades more than any indication of superior athleticism.

Most top boxers in the past also participated in other sports as well, and pretty much all were very active physically. What I find curious is why more contemporary fighters are often times described as athletic, implying that earlier fighters were not. Jim Jeffries was an excellent track athlete, although few ever seem to mention that. But the Klitschkos are always described as "athletic". Why?

The much maligned Jess Willard actually made a living for a while as a cowboy, which requires a great deal of discipline, agility, strength and stamina, yet most seem to consider him as some uncoordinated giant who won a title simply because he was big.