Oliver McCall to return to the ring at 61 years old.
Lennox Lewis is almost universally considered the greatest British heavyweight of all time, and there are those who believe that even if you remove nationality from the equation, he still sits at the top of the heavyweight tree.
Whatever you happen to think, Lewis is one of the best big men to ever do it. He was a three-time world champion, a two-time lineal champion, and the undisputed champion of the world.
He almost cleaned out his era’s entire division, and he defeated every man he ever faced in the ring. Upon defeating Vitali Klitschko in 2003, he retired as the lineal heavyweight champion.
However, like all other heavyweight champions not named Rocky Marciano, Lewis did lose in the ring. And like Mike Tyson, Joe Louis, and several others before him, he suffered some huge upsets.
The first of these was to Oliver McCall.
McCall was known as “The Atomic Bull”, and the American is credited with possessing one of the best chins in boxing history. Never knocked down a single time in his career, McCall was the only man tough enough to be a regular sparring partner for Mike Tyson.
Still, going into his WBC heavweight title fight with Lewis, McCall was a big underdog. He possessed a 24-5 record, having lost to fringe contenders and beating only a handful of truly decent names.
Lewis was 25-0 and world champion, holding wins over top players like Frank Bruno and Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock. He was showing signs of the brilliance we now know he had.
But on that cold night at Wembley Arena in 1994, McCall would break the hearts of all Britons in the house. Early in the second round, he landed a left-right combination that deposited the legendary Londoner flat on his back on the canvas.
Lewis made it back up in time, but his legs told the story of a man who was still hurt, and Mexican referee José Guadalupe García thought better of allowing the action to continue.
McCall had shockingly become world champion, a status he would hold for one more fight before losing the title to another Briton in Frank Bruno.
He would reel off two more wins before rematching Lewis for the belt again, this time vacant. And in a bizarre scene, McCall would suffer a mental breakdown in the ring, refusing to fight and losing by 5th-round TKO in the only stoppage loss he ever suffered.
McCall would fight on after this, and he never really stopped. In fact, Oliver McCall would end up fighting for so long that he split a two-fight series with Marcin Rekowski, who had actually previously beaten Elijah McCall, Oliver’s son.
That was in 2014, and it was thought that McCall had retired after a 2019 victory over Hugo Lomeli. However, McCall would return in November of 2024 to stop the 16-22 Stacy Frazier.
This win, just four days after Mike Tyson returned to the ring against Jake Paul, made McCall the oldest former heavyweight champion to win a professional boxing match. At this point, he was 59.
McCall was not done there. In early 2025, he beat Gary Cobia. And in June of the same year, he drew with the 7-17-2 Carlos Reyes at 60 years old.
Recently turning 61, it has been revealed that McCall will be returning to the professional ring under promoters Country Box, who are targeting a date of the 2nd of June.
Concerningly, McCall’s team have stated there are no immediate plans for him to hang up the gloves.
McCall’s career started over 40 years ago. In that time, he has had 78 fights. He currently possesses a record of 61-14-1 (2).
It is anyone’s guess as to why he keeps on fighting at such an advanced age. At his best, Oliver McCall could take a punch like almost nobody else.
But the fact is, he is way older than any man who should be boxing professionally. His win count matches his age, and it is very unfortunate to see him continue on like this.
Here’s hoping that he will walk away from the sport before it’s too late.
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