By Mark Vester
After a near two-year layoff, former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall (52-9, 37 KOs) stopped John Hopoate (11-3, 11 KOs) in two rounds at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. McCall, at age 44, sent Hopoate down twice in second before the fight was waved off.
Hopoate started the fight with a good first round, landing some good power punches. In the second, McCall caught him with a hard right hand that rocked him. McCall would then let his hands go with a flurry of hard punches that sent the Australian fighter down in the first minute of the round. McCall would then jump on him again and unleashed another flurry of punches that sent him down again, and the fight was stopped.
Hopoate's trainer and manager David Millward thought his fighter did not follow their plan and paid the price.
"He's not hurt, he's fine, I thought he had the first round," Millward said to TVNZ. "He didn't listen, he didn't do what he was supposed to do, put the pressure on him and do more work, he didn't do more work. I believe he hurt McCall against the ropes, I don't think he followed through with it.
"Obviously John is very disappointed. He's in his room copping a mouthful from his wife, which is probably worse than what I could ever dish out to him."
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