Ex-boxing champ Oliver McCall, 60, fights to bizarre draw 31 years after KO of Lennox Lewis
More than three decades after capturing the heavyweight title, Oliver McCall is still competing.
McCall, 60, and longtime journeyman Carlos Reyes, 47, fought to a split draw on Tuesday evening in a six-round affair at the Texas Troubadour Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee. Reyes (7-17-3, 5 KOs) entered the night on a 13-fight winless streak that stretched all the way back to 2015, however a late surge earned him the draw (58-56, 56-58, 57-57) against the former heavyweight champion.
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McCall (61-14-1, 40 KOs) is best known for his 1994 second-round upset knockout over then-WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. McCall dropped out of the heavyweight title picture after his infamous 1997 rematch with Lewis, wherein McCall suffered a mental breakdown mid-fight, refusing to engage with Lewis and even turning his back and walking away from the action on multiple occasions. Referee Mills Lane eventually stopped a tearful McCall in the fifth round, awarding Lewis a TKO victory.
Despite that bizarre setback, McCall continued to make frequent in-ring appearances for the next 17 years until hanging up the gloves for the first time in 2014 at the age of 49. His retirement lasted just four years, though, and McCall made an under-the-radar comeback in 2018, beating Larry Knight. He then proceeded to stop Hugo Lomeli before taking another five-year absence from the sport.
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But at 59 years old, McCall announced he was making a second comeback this past November — the same month as Jake Paul's heavily-scrutinized fight with 58-year-old Mike Tyson. McCall recorded two inside-the-distance victories over Stacy Frazier and Gary Cobia in his second comeback, but on Tuesday night, he didn't have it all his own way for the first time in more than a decade.
McCall started the contest aggressively, landing short uppercuts on the inside and heavy straight punches at long range on a cagey Reyes in the opening round. Reyes was more active in the first minute of Round 2, pushing McCall back but having little success in terms of scoring punches. McCall connected with a left uppercut just before the halfway point of Round 2 and ended the stanza with a clean right hook.
After being outworked for much of the third round, McCall buzzed Reyes with a counter right hand in the final 20 seconds. Reyes continued to pressure McCall in Round 4, but again it was McCall who connected with the more eye-catching punches — albeit there were fewer of them.
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There was some confusion in McCall's corner before the fifth round, with his corner team asking the timekeeper which round was coming up. McCall's team seemed unaware that the contest was scheduled for six rounds rather than four rounds.
Bizarrely, in the final two frames, McCall seldom threw a punch. The former heavyweight champion appeared heavily fatigued and chose to move around the ring with a high guard, aiming to see the final bell.
McCall's earlier efforts, however, were enough to earn him a draw in the eyes of the three scoring judges.
Former two-time heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs was ringside for the contest, with the Triller TV commentary team suggesting a McCall vs. Briggs showdown could be in play for later in 2025.
Briggs, 53, will end a nine-year hiatus on July 1. Briggs and McCall's fights are being promoted by Jimmy Adams Promotions and hosted in the same Nashville venue just a few weeks apart.
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