Oliver McCall. Promising boxer

February 7, 1997 british boxer Lennox Lewis in Las Vegas contested the vacant WBC title in a fight with American Oliver McCall, who two and a half years ago inflicted the first defeat of the Briton in his career. And although Lewis won, in the United States they did not recognize the boxer who beat the crying opponent, who was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, as the champion.

Lewis was never liked in the US. Against the background of Mike Tyson, he was too cautious, against the background of Riddick Bow - Olympic champion(Lewis knocked out Bowe in the Olympic final), and compared to Evander Holyfield, he was not at all American.

In addition, Lewis without a fight took away the championship belt from Bow, who defeated Holyfield. Although Bow himself flatly refused to meet his Olympic abuser, the public did not like the ease with which Lewis became the world champion. Moreover, for the first time since the days of Ingemar Johansson, a non-American won the WBC title.

Moreover, unlike the Swede, the Briton did not return the belt to his historical homeland after the next fight. He continued to convincingly move to the pinnacle of boxing glory, which every time met the audience buzz. But in 1994, he was replaced by delight. Lewis lost.

FIRST FIGHT

COUNT OF JUDGES, (at the time of stoppage)

Lewis – McCall

First fight: 10-9, 10-9, 10-10

Second fight: 40-36, 39-36, 40-35

Lewis "matured" long enough. He even managed to take part in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he lost to Tyler Biggs. Lewis took revenge on him seven years later, knocking him down three times.

Lennox Lewis - Oliver McCall I (video)

By that time, the British coach was John Davenport, who taught him everything that Lewis used for the rest of his career. It was Davenport who taught Lewis to work with the body, move correctly, be flexible and invulnerable in the ring, and at the same time worked on the British's striking technique.

Emanuel Steward, who coached Lennox at last years, it remained only to polish the skill of his ward, without inventing anything new.

But before the fight with Oliver McCall, Lewis no longer had Davenport, and there was no Steward yet. Lewis broke up with the first due to the difficult nature of the American specialist, and the second worked just with McCall.

Lewis was trained by Pepe Correa, who had no coaching skills. He was just a fan of Lewis and let him do whatever he wanted.

In a previous fight against not the most formidable Phil Jackson, who could not oppose Lewis, Lennox suffered eight rounds. And he decided to stop working with Correa. But Lewis decided to fire the specialist, who was his main fan, after the next fight.

After all, his rival was some kind of Oliver McCall. The statistics of the American said that he was much weaker than his former rivals: Jackson, Bruno, Tucker and Ruddock. At the press conference, Lewis even behaved in the style of Tyson.

He tossed a brothel-coloured women's garter belt towards McCall, declaring that it was the only belt his rival was worthy of wearing. Lewis expected an easy walk. But got knocked out in the second round. Pure Lucky Punch! McCall did not even look in the direction of the opponent! But this mistake by Lewis led to the fact that he had to start all over again.

SECOND FIGHT

To get to the rematch, Lennox had to go through a difficult path through fights with Tommy Morrison and Ray Mercer. At this time, McCall defeated 46-year-old Larry Holmes with great difficulty, and then lost one wicket to Frank Bruno, losing the championship belt.

However, the fight turned out to be a title fight as Tyson was stripped of the belt by the WBC for not wanting to fight the mandatory challenger. Mike chose to lose his regalia in a fight with Holyfield.

Lennox Lewis - Oliver McCall II (video)

Lewis entered the ring accompanied by Emanuel Steward, the Briton was thoughtful, concentrated and indifferent. McCall's exit was a little delayed, but then Oliver shot like a bullet down the hall, flying into the ring when his team was still halfway there.

McCall's strange behavior continued. During the announcement of the boxers, he could not stand still, moving around the ring. In the first round there was an insignificant episode, which was even difficult to note. Moving away from Lewis's attack, McCall closed his eyes and blinked rapidly. However, in the first battle, he defeated the British with his eyes closed. Did you expect deja vu? It turned out not.

By the end of the third round, when McCall began to dance, it became clear even to the blind man that something was wrong with him. And when Oliver took a break, instead of sitting on a chair in the corner of the ring, McCall continued to walk around the ring - no one understood what was happening. The situation is out of the ordinary. Neither McCall's coaches nor referee Mills Lane knew what to do. After all, in fact, McCall did not break any rules.

But in the next round, his crazy behavior went to new level. He began to show with all his appearance that he did not need this fight and this Lennox Lewis. McCall strolled away from the opponent from corner to corner, and sluggishly defended himself. It is hard to imagine what Lewis thought about the opponent at that moment. Trick, ambush?

However, Lewis landed some of the strongest punches in his opponent. No response from McCall. But the referee reacted: “Are you going to fight?” asked Mills Lane. "Will!" McCall replied, who spent the rest of the round in the same style and burst into tears at half-time.

"Are you ready to continue the fight?!" the referee was already shouting in the corner of the ring. For the boxer, his seconds answered in the affirmative. McCall himself shook his head, but the fight continued. This mockery of boxing lasted less than a minute, and the referee stopped the fight.

There was hum and whistle in the hall. This time not to Lewis. “We paid to see boxing, but we saw running. Give us back the money!” the audience demanded. Crying McCall immediately jumped over the ropes and rushed headlong into the locker room.

At the press conference, McCall talked for about an hour about how the referee prevented him from carrying out an insidious plan, which was to wear down Lewis and take him by surprise. When he finished speaking, Oliver began to cry again.

So what happened to McCall? "It's a natural consequence of his lifestyle," said WBC president José Suleiman, alluding to McCall's drug addiction. The boxer was subjected to compulsory treatment for drug addiction three times.

“Yes, in general it was impossible to put him in a fight. I told Don King six weeks ago that McCall was not ready for psychological reasons, but he nevertheless released the boxer into the ring. King is a disgrace to the human race. He should not be allowed to come close to boxing, ”said the organizer of the fight, Dino Duva.

Because of this behavior of McCall, Lewis's victory and the return of the championship title went by the wayside. “There was no revenge,” Lewis admitted. - I was ready for anything, but not for the fact that he would suddenly break down and cry. When they tell me now, here, McCall beat you, I answer them, maybe, but it was I who ultimately made him cry.

Even when he was an amateur, McCall showed quite impressive results - for example, he twice happened to win the Chicago Golden Gloves (Chicago Golden Gloves). Oliver began performing professionally in 1985; before legendary battle with Lewis, he managed to win over Jesse Ferguson (Jesse Ferguson) and Bruce Seldon (Bruce Seldon) and almost cope with Tony Tucker (Tony Tucker). Lennox Lewis McCall defeated in the second round; attacking the opponent with unexpected aggressiveness, Oliver managed to successfully carry out his trademark right hand. Lewis bounced off the ropes; he managed to get up to the end of the countdown, but his legs obviously did not hold him - and the referee considered it good to interrupt the fight.

McCall's victory meant quite a lot not only for him, but also for his promoter Don King (Don King) - it just so happened that since 1990 none of King's wards have won the championship title in heavyweight could not win. Oliver, meanwhile, was clearly unwilling to give up his hard-won belt – in Las Vegas, he masterfully defended his title against Larry Holmes; later, however, Frank Bruno still managed to defeat the Atomic Bull.

On February 7, 1997, Lewis and McCall met again in the ring; Lewis won this time. Oliver then was clearly not up to par - in the 4th and 5th rounds he openly refused to fight, and later even began to whimper; he ultimately forced the referee to break the fight and give the win to Lennox.

In 2001, Oliver knocked out in the 10th round of Henry Akinwande himself, one of the most dangerous boxers of the time. The victory automatically moved McCall, who had pretty much lost his positions, to 4th place in the ranking. best boxers peace; alas, after a while Oliver went to jail for a year and disappeared from the rating.

On September 9, 2006, McCall became the WBC Fecarbox champion, sending in the 4th round to TKO Darroll Wilson.

On June 16, 2006, McCall defeated Sinan Samil Sam to win the WBC International Heavyweight Championship. This victory gave him the right to claim the title of WBC heavyweight champion (WBC Heavyweight Championship), which at that time belonged to Vitali Klitschko; alas, Oliver later lost the right, losing to the Cuban Juan Carlos Gomez (Juan Carlos Gomez).

On May 22, 2009, McCall returned to the ring after a rather long break and won the title of IBA Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion by defeating Australian John Hopoate.

Despite problems with the law, Oliver continued to actively perform at a professional level. Periodically, he managed to demonstrate quite impressive results; in fact, in his entire career, McCall was never knocked out by a professional boxer. Alas, stable results prevented him from showing discord with the authorities. Several times Oliver went to a rehabilitation clinic, several times he was arrested for disturbing the order. However, since 2011, McCall does not drink, does not use drugs and does not violate public order; it is quite possible that in the future he will still be able to make the whole world talk about himself again.

McCall is married; he has four daughters and three sons. One of his daughters, Geneva McCall, this moment is a three-time NCAA champion; one of the sons, Elijah McCall, is a professional boxer.

Oliver McCall(Eng. Oliver McCall; April 21, 1965, Chicago, USA) - American professional boxer, serving in heavy weight class. WBC world champion (1994-1995). He was a sparring partner of Mike Tyson.

Father of boxer Elijah McCall.

Professional career

McCall made his professional debut in November 1985.

In 1988, he lost on points to Mike Hunter.

In 1989, he lost on points to James Douglas.

In July 1990, he defeated Lionel Butler by split decision.

In November 1990, he lost in a controversial decision to Orlin Norris.

In the next fight, he met with the undefeated Bruce Seldon. Seldon was ahead on the cards of three judges, but he ran out of steam and McCall knocked him down three times in the 9th round. After the third knockdown, the referee stopped the fight. Interesting fact: Oliver McCall rested before the fight 5 months after the previous fight, and Seldon came out after 27 days.

Then, in a close fight, he defeated Jesse Ferguson by close unanimous decision.

In 1992, he lost by controversial decision to Tony Tucker.

In April 1993, he met with former WBO champion Francesco Damiani. McCall won by TKO in the 8th round. After this fight, Damiani retired from boxing.

Championship fight with Lennox Lewis I

In September 1994, he met the WBC world champion, undefeated Lennox Lewis. Lewis missed a punch in the 2nd round and fell to the canvas. He was able to get up at the expense of 10, but he was unsteady on his feet, and the judge decided to stop the fight. After the fight, Lewis demanded a rematch. He was refused. McCall became world champion.

In April 1995, McCall faced former world champion Larry Holmes. In a close fight, McCall was awarded the victory by a controversial unanimous decision, although according to a number of experts, Holmes was robbed.

In September 1995, in the UK, he met with former European champion Frank Bruno. Bruno neatly boxed 10 rounds, and in the final rounds he constantly hugged the Bull. As a result, Bruno won by unanimous decision.

In February 1996, a rating fight took place between ex-world champion Oliver McCall and Russian Oleg Maskaev. Oleg Maskaev suffered his first defeat in the professional ring. The inexperienced Maskaev could not oppose anything to McCall's strong and aggressive style and as a result was knocked out in the 1st round. In order for the Maskaev-McCall fight to take place, the Russian was credited with fictitious victories in Russia. The fake results were later removed.

Championship fight with Lennox Lewis II

In February 1997, Lennox Lewis and his only offender Oliver McCall met again in a battle for the vacant WBC world title. In the 2nd round, McCall shocked Lewis, but failed to finish him off. In the 3rd round, Lewis landed several hard punches that stopped McCall's constant attacks. After the 3rd round, McCall began to walk around the ring. In the 4th round, McCall almost did not defend himself, began to cry and walk around the ring with his hands down, missed a lot, but did not fall. The impression was that McCall was in a state of drug intoxication. Referee Mills Lane gave him a suggestion, then repeated the same thing in his corner, saying that if this continues, he will stop the fight. In the 5th round, Lane's patience ran out, and the fight was stopped - a technical knockout in favor of Lewis. After the fight, McCall stated that walking around the ring was his plan: he wanted to mislead Lewis, and then knock out the opponent.

2000s

In 2000, Oliver defeated Cedric Fields by controversial decision.

In 2001, McCall knocked out former champion Henry Akinwade in the 10th round.

In late 2004, McCall lost on points to Devarril Williamson.

In 2005, McCall lost on points former champion in the first heavy weight to Cuban Juan Carlos Gomez, but the result was later canceled due to a positive doping test for Gomez.

In 2007, McCall defeated Turk Sinan Shamil Sam. October 19 in Germany in the WBC eliminator again met with Gomez. This time the Cuban was stronger beyond any doubt.

In 2009 Oliver McCall defeated Lance Whitaker and Franklin Lawrence.

2010s

In 2010, he lost to a boxer from Uzbekistan, Timur Ibragimov. In the same year, he defeated Fres Oquendo by controversial decision.

In March 2011, he lost to Cedric Boswell, and in August he defeated Damian Willis on points.

Match table

Oliver McCall has never been knocked down or knocked out in his entire career. The only early loss in McCall's career, caused by a referee stoppage of the fight.
McCall's career has been going on for 28 years. Oliver had his first fight in 1985, and his last in 2014.
Oliver McCall used cocaine very often, which had an impact on his career, 2 failed fights were the result of a positive doping test, and in the second fight with Lewis, McCall's incomprehensible behavior was probably caused by cocaine.

Links

Track record at boxrec.com
Page on boxnews.com.ua
Vigorous Bull (Russian)

American professional boxer, heavyweight; best known for his brilliant victory over Lennox Lewis in 1994.

Even when he was an amateur, McCall showed quite impressive results - for example, he twice happened to win the Chicago Golden Gloves (Chicago Golden Gloves). Oliver began performing professionally in 1985; before the legendary fight with Lewis, he managed to win over Jesse Ferguson (Jesse Ferguson) and Bruce Seldon (Bruce Seldon) and almost cope with Tony Tucker (Tony Tucker). Lennox Lewis McCall defeated in the second round; attacking the opponent with unexpected aggressiveness, Oliver managed to successfully carry out his trademark right hand. Lewis bounced off the ropes; he managed to get up to the end of the countdown, but his legs obviously did not hold him - and the referee considered it good to interrupt the fight.

McCall's victory meant quite a lot not only for him, but also for his promoter Don King (Don King) - it so happened that since 1990 none of King's wards could win the heavyweight championship title. Oliver, meanwhile, was clearly unwilling to give up his hard-won belt – in Las Vegas, he masterfully defended his title against Larry Holmes; later, however, Frank Bruno still managed to defeat the Atomic Bull.

February 1997 Lewis and McCall met again in the ring; Lewis won this time. Oliver then was clearly not up to par - in the 4th and 5th rounds he openly refused to fight, and later even began to whimper; he ultimately forced the referee to break the fight and give the win to Lennox.

In 2001, Oliver knocked out in the 10th round of Henry Akinwande himself, one of the most dangerous boxers of the time. The victory automatically moved McCall, who had pretty much lost his position, to 4th place in the ranking of the best boxers in the world; alas, after a while Oliver went to jail for a year and disappeared from the rating.

On September 9, 2006, McCall became the WBC Fecarbox champion by TKO'ing Darroll Wilson in the 4th round.

to Juan Carlos Gomez.

On May 22, 2009, McCall returned to the ring after a rather long break and won the title of IBA Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion by defeating Australian John Hopoate.

McCall is married; he has four daughters and three sons. One of his daughters, Geneva McCall, is currently a three-time NCAA champion; one son, Elijah McCall, is a professional boxer