Would McCall have beaten Lewis again?

[HayeFan]

Let's be honest, shall we?

McCall and Rahman's careers were given birth to in their first Lewis fight, and expired in the subsequent rematch.

They'll both go down in the history books as one trick ponies.

[Kimmy]

They'll both go down in the history books as one trick ponies.

I agree with you but i don`t like too! Not cos of you Hayefan, your cool but its the statement! I think Rahman and McCall were much better than they displayed ( if Rahman KO`s Klit then its a whole new agenda but untill then...)
McCall beat a few heavyweights who went on to win world titles. He had a cosmic chin and when on form was sensational ( win over Akinwande and Lewis! ).
Its shame. Rahman`s chin is too vunerable but what could have McCall been if he had cared?

[paul750]

i think some of you guys are being a little tough on mcCall,i've seen both the lewis fights and mcCall always looked dangerous against lewis until he started to break down and cry, in both rounds of the first fight he always looked very dangerous and was landing good shots, and in the second round of the second fight he was landing again, thats what makes him quitting all the more disapointing

[Guest]

I'm surprised to see McCall being compared to Rahman. Rahman is a technically inexperienced fighter who DID get lucky. McCall was - to my eyes - the dominant man in the first Lewis fight.

[Kimmy]

I'm surprised to see McCall being compared to Rahman. Rahman is a technically inexperienced fighter who DID get lucky. McCall was - to my eyes - the dominant man in the first Lewis fight.

I agree, McCall has always struck me as untapped talent! He had so much potential but lifestyle ended him as a great. Rahman, although i decent heavyweight contender did seem to be a one trick pony.

[Sir_Jose]

McCall's breakdown had little to do with how he was performing in that rematch. He was and probably still is a troubled guy who had just come out of rehab prior to that fight.

What's interesting is that Lennox did not clamor for a rubber match. McCall wanted a third fight, and even vowed to donate his purse to charity, but Lewis would have none of it. As it stands, they are 1-1.

Notice how he never gave Rahman a third fight either. But after kicking Tyson's ass he attempted to sue him when Tyson refused to fight him again.

There is a reason why he never gave Rahman and McCall a rubber match and that is because Lewis was a champion who did not like to take chances. This is the reason he retired after the Klitchsko fight and will never come back. He knew Vitali would give him a tough fight 99/100 times. Vitali's chin is rock solid, he's taller than Lewis, his defense is good for a modern heavyweight, and he throws consistently hard shots. Lewis wants no part of that. Lewis wants meaningless fights with a shot Tyson so that he can say he "beat Mike Tyson". Perhaps he will come back some day to fight a crude Samuel Peter for a few million dollars.

Lewis's conduct as champion was shameful. He fought half of his battles in court, and then tried to wear the mantle of a great warrior. His ability was tops for his era, but he did not know how to behave like a champion, hence his unpopularity.

You really need to channel you Lennox Lewis hate into something more constructive.

Your actually trying to claim Lennox Lewis avoided fights with Rahman and McCall because he was scared of them.

He didn't give McCall a third fight? Oh I dont know maybe because McCall was dropped by King, Burned every bridge possible at the networks, Was to busy doing superman railes of ******* and was certifibly INSANE!!

Just some reasons as to why a thrird fight never came off.

You sat and watched the rematch of Lewis/Rahman and in your little head you said to yourself you know there is still unfinished bussiness here a third fight needs to happen? Lewis losses gets an imediate rematch, puts on one of the most dominate heavyweight performances in recent memory and produces one of the most brutal KO's every captured on film and you still think he had something to prove...amazing.

By the way Rahman would go on to lose in his very next fight

[snap the jab]

this is way OT, but that Triumph sketch that explosivo420sd has a link to in his sig is possibly the funniest thing i've ever seen on television... not sure if they have the entire thing on that link or not

[HayeFan]

Oliver McCall.

Significant Losses:
James (Buster) Douglas 28-4-1
Frank Bruno 39-4-0
Lennox Lewis 29-1-0
DaVarryl Williamson 20-3-0


Significant wins:
Bruce Seldon 18-0-0
Lennox Lewis 25-0-0
Larry Holmes 61-4-0
Oleg Maskaev 6-0-0
Henry Akinwande 40-1-1

Ok, I've left out his earlier losses as well as his wins against journeymen and part-timers.

Now let's take a closer look at those 'significant' wins.

Bruce Seldon - 1st round KO losses to Bowe and Tyson. It's possible that his early loss to McCall derailed a potentially bright future. If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you.

Larry Holmes - Aged 46 at the time.

Oleg Maskaev - His 6th fight, went on to lose to David Tua, Kirk Johnson, Lance Whitaker and Corey Sanders (all by knockout). Only significant win came against Rahman.

Henry Akinwande - The man made famous by his Lewis hugathon DQ loss. Actually not a bad fighter in his day, pre Lewis he was considered quite a good prospect. He went downhill fast after the public turned it's back on him, a wasted talent. He approached his 2001 fight with McCall 4 years into decline, and still managed to take McCall into the 10th and final round, needing a knockout to win.

What can we surmise from that? The only significant win on McCall's record that isn't floored by baggage is against Lewis.

I'll spare you an analysis of his losses.

I liked McCall, he had character. If we were talking about McCall in 1996, I'd have less to say about this argument, but in 2005, McCall's career is at an end and anyone talking about potential needs to recognise the fact that the window in which to convert that potential into 'actual' achievement has expired. That said, he was beaten many times against good and bad opposition and his only significant win came against Lewis.

The significance of that single win was more of an indication that Lewis had a ch*nk in his armour than McCall being anything more than he was thought to be at the time.

Had Lewis denied him the rematch, this argument would be open to debate, as he didn't, there's nothing more to say about McCall.

1 upset victory at the top level (which was quenched in a rematch) and rumours of him KO'ing Tyson in sparring do not add up to anything more than him being a big puncher who got lucky.

One trick pony.

[Kid Achilles]

Jose,

True enough. There were other factors, things that had nothing to do with Lewis, that ensured these fights never happened. However looking back at the questionable victory over Mercer and the Vitali fight, it isn't difficult to see that Lewis wanted no part of fighting either of these men again. For that reason, the fact that Lewis-Rahman III or Lewis-McCall III never happened is a bit more curious than you are admitting.

My problem with Lewis has always been his attitude. He was a little too proud of his embarassing win over McCall, and his refusal to give Vitali credit for a fight he was winning was disgusting. When you factor in his insistance that beating a shot Tyson was significant (it was about as significant as Jack Johnson beating an old Jeffries) it's difficult to like the guy.

I do respect his ability in the ring, but he could have done a lot more in his career. He could have rematched Mercer, he could have forced the third McCall fight, and he could have returned to prove himself against Vitali.

He did none of these things, and that is why I think he is absolutely deserving of the contempt he receives from boxing fans.

[paul750]

i'm not sure hayefan, to me a one trick pony is someone like david tua who cannot get into position to land big punches against the likes of lewis, i've only seen mcCall's fights against lewis,so i'm only basing it off that, but he always looked to be in with a chance up until the point where he broke down, lennox lewis was a great champion, but there where certain fights where he got out of jail and that was one of them McCall was fearless, there was a point in the second fight where he just walked through lewis's punches, and started to land some big shots himself, lewis seemed very weary of him and i can understand why, i think there is a difference between the mcCall and rahman fights because lewis won nearly every round he fought with rahman, i just think mcCall was always in with a shot against lewis