Friday’s clash between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson has sparked enormous controversy in recent months, but ‘Iron Mike’ is not the only heavyweight from the 1990’s to be on the verge of a comeback – in fact he is just one of many, with Oliver McCall becoming the latest champion of old to return to the professional scene.
Aside from Tyson, it has been recently confirmed that heavyweight duo Shannon Briggs and Ike Ibeabuchi are set to return to boxing, at ages of 52 and 51-years-old respectively.
However, what separates Oliver McCall from the pack is that his latest outing was as recent as 2019, meaning the granite chinned 59-year-old will end a five-year spell of inactivity, just a fraction of the quarter of a century since Ibeabuchi last stepped through the ropes.
Trained by legendary champion Joe Frazier, McCall had a tough start to life in the heavyweight division and lost his second official contest to Joey Christjohn, before eventually losing an additional four fights prior to his shot at the heavyweight crown.
Consequently, McCall entered the ring to take on undefeated WBC champion Lennox Lewis as a major underdog, but ‘The Atomic Bull’ pulled off a monumental upset to halt the British-Canadian within just two rounds and become a shock champion back in 1994.
30 years ago, Oliver McCall defeated Lennox Lewis by TKO in round 2 of 12 to win the WBC heavyweight title. Big upset.
pic.twitter.com/r4tV4jXvqv— 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑱𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔 (@KOJournals) September 24, 2024
McCall would defend the belts against an ageing Larry Holmes the following year but his reign came to an end at Wembley Stadium when he was outpointed by Frank Bruno in a famous moment in British boxing history.
The Chicago-born big man would later lose the 1997 rematch to Lewis in confusing fashion in a second world title challenge and never returned to the heavyweight throne, but remained in the division for years to come, banking wins against lowly contenders.
In 2014, McCall became one of, if not the only fighter, to avenge a defeat of his sons, a testament of his insane longevity, although in 2019 McCall decided that enough was enough and called time on his 34-year career.
Yet, McCall has since decided that he is not done yet and will return to action to fight Stacy Frazier (16-22), who has also not fought since 2019, in a four-round bout on a card in Nashville.
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Former opponent of IBF super-middleweight champion William Scull, Sean Hemphill (16-2) will also appear on the ‘Country Box’ card, on Tuesday November 19th, with tickets available for purchase here.
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