The Underrated Resume of Oliver McCall

The Atomic Bull, still active at 46 in a career that goes back to 1985, has had a crazy career.

Most people remember him for his mental breakdown against Lewis, a fight that ruined his career even more than Tyson biting Holyfield. People just couldn't forgive Oliver for that. Losing the belt he won from Lewis to Frank Bruno doesn't help either.

But if you just take a look at all his accomplishments, you might be surprised at how good of a career he actually had.

1991- knocked out undefeated Bruce Seldon and beat tough Jesse Ferguson.
1993- knocked out 30-1 Francesco Damiani
1994- First man to beat Lennox Lewis by KO 2, which has to count for something.
1995- Beat Larry Holmes, which wasn't easy at any age.
1996- 1st-round KO of future titlist Oleg Maskaev, followed by the Lewis rematch, which effectively blacklisted McCall.
2001-KO of top-ranked 40-1 Henry Akinwande.
2007-Beat ranked Sinan Samil Sam.
2009- Decisions over current streaking contender Franklin Lawrence and Lance Whitaker.
2010- Decision over Fres Oquendo.

This is not a Hall of Fame resume. But it makes you think. If he just lost the Lewis rematch in more conventional fashion and not been put on a shit-list for years, he coulda made some more noise. The Lewis fight, where Lennox couldn't even hurt him, was the only official stoppage in his 26 year career. One of the all-time great chins. Too bad he was one of the all-time cokeheads too.

Throw him in with Wlad

Great call.

Good post, clearly some impressive wins on his resume. McCall was very inconsistent though; he has loses to strait up bums at several points in his career too; add one legendary melt down and all those other wins seem meaningless.

I've always felt that if you could somehow subtract Oliver's addiction, that he would have been one of the toughest HWT champs ever. Maybe not the greatest, but the toughest. His chin was Gibralteresque, he had great power & terrific skills. What most people don't understand is exactly how much his addiction affected him & in what ways. His KO of Lewis was something else, but the fact that he did it while rehabing was even bigger. Drugs ran his life for a long time, way before his meltdown in the Lewis rematch. Imagine how much better he could have been without the drugs. Training, timing, concentration, dedication, all would've been better. He could have dominated the division for the majority of the 90's.

I think good points are made here in reference to McCall's resume. It looks impressive on paper. However, go back and check out his fights against Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno and then be honest with yourself.

Anybody seen his kid fight?

gomez1012 wrote:Anybody seen his kid fight?

Elijah doesn't seem to have his daddy's chin.