7th February 1997 - The Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas - Lennox Lewis vs Oliver McCall 2 for the vacant WBC Heavyweight Championship
Oliver McCall shocked the world three years earlier by stopping the highly favoured Lennox Lewis in the 2nd round to win the WBC Heavyweight Title. It was Lewis' first professional defeat and came after a huge overhand right from McCall dropped him. Lewis just about managed to beat the count, but the referee waved it off.
McCall made one successful defence, beating Larry Holmes in a hard fought contest before losing his title to Frank Bruno. Two years and two wins later, McCall had the chance to win his belt back, as did Lewis, in their 1997 rematch.
Lewis was in control from the opening bell, using his jab effectively and following up with crisp right hands. McCall seemed to be getting increasingly distressed and at the end of the 3rd round, he refused to go to his corner. He spent the minute between rounds pacing back and forth and appeared to be crying.
McCall spent the entirety of the forth round covering up and trying to block Lewis' shots while still pacing up and down - McCall only threw 2 punches in the 3 minutes of the round. Something was seriously wrong, viewers and commentators were both concerned and completely baffled by what they were witnessing.
At the end of round 4, referee Mills Lane escorted a tearful McCall to his corner. McCall came out to meet Lewis in the 5th but only threw a single punch before the referee stopped the fight. McCall promptly made his way to the dressing room while booing echoed around the building.
McCall's purse was withheld and he was eventually fined $250,000 dollars for his performance. Rumours circulated about a possible fix but most who witnessed it concluded it must have been some sort of mental breakdown. In the post fight press conference McCall tried to play it down, saying it was all part of his tactics but no one was buying it.
McCall's battle with addiction was public knowledge by the time he lost to Lewis. He had claimed to be a drug addict since his teens and his career was regularly marred by arrests and trips to rehabilitation centres and sadly, two months after his loss to Lewis he was admitted to a Psychiatric Hospital.
McCall hasn't fought for a major World Title since that heartbreaking night in Vegas but even now, just a month shy of his 55th birthday, he's still going. His most recent fight was May of last year and he says he has no intention of quitting.
His son, Elijah is also a professional Heavyweight at present with a record of 12-3-1 (11 wins by KO). His Father has been heavily involved in his training, although he wasn't in the corner for his son's 1st loss due to serving time in prison. The 23 years since McCall's loss to Lewis have seen him incarcerated and in rehab several times but he seems determined to stay on track these days, wanting to put things right.
Back in 2012, his son Elijah was stopped in the 3rd round by Andy Ruiz Jr, who was relatively unknown at the time. After seeing his son lose McCall climbed into the ring and challenged Ruiz Jr to fight him.
The fight hasn't materialised yet, but strange things happen in sports. McCall is currently ranked 65th in the world and with a couple more wins, who knows?
McCall's current record is 59-14 (38 wins by KO). He seems happy and in good shape nowadays. Whatever happens in the future, we hope McCall stays clean and finds peace.
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