Absolutely ! He was is a gentleman and a true sportsman. Never made excuses after losing to Ali and also took his final unjust defeat against Shannon Briggs with dignity , wishing Briggs the best of luck in the future. Love old George
George is unbelievable. He took the opportunity to shine a light on mental health and how it affects many lives. He handled the situation with love and compassion. Also saying he wanted to go up and hug Oliver and tell him everything is going to be alright. And telling his family members to embrace him. He used his platform as only he could. I hope more of us can strive to be as great a human as George is. Love you George!
Mental health? That was baloneyMcCall was badly hurt in Round 3 which sickened him and made him quit. The mental health debacle was bollocks as McCall had his purse withheld and had to concoct a plausible story, he had you all fooled, he has since admitted to being hurt & the interview can be found in The Ring magazine archive.
They were talking about holding up his purse, and that's not right. He fought, he became emotionally ill during the fight, and he stopped fighting. He deserved to be paid and I hope he was
Fair plat to George. The guy just had a breakdown In front of the world and all want to kick him when he's down. George understands the real struggles. He has empathy.
@lilcurt195 wel he was crying in the ring. I think that was moreso a breakdown of sorts. But yes a slap from lewis could make anyone not want to fight!
@@lilcurt195Guy literally had hundreds of hours sparring with prime Mike Tyson, he was never down and he couldn't take Lewis punches? Don't be silly...
@@lilcurt195Any link to verify this statement? or just some professional psychologist opinion? Saw this live, and although what anyone in the audience thought at the moment was also an assumption, word in the arena was that Oliver did have a nervous breakdown. Only person who knew for sure was McCall then his handlers afterwards, to my knowledge he has not talked about this incident publicly nor given a reason as to why he did what he did that night.
This fight is one of the many reasons why the 90s was easily the most......'bizarre'.......era in heavyweight history: George Foreman winning the title at age 45, Andrew Golota's two disqualifications against Riddick Bowe, "fan-man" landing during the Riddick Bowe Evander Holyfield fight, Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield's ears, etc., etc. Absolutely hilarious and strange to see Oliver McCall have a mental breakdown in the middle of the fight; awesome stuff. McCall truly was a 'loose cannon' and in some ways a psycho. He was tagged pretty well by Lewis on more than several occasions but was never even hurt. McCall, in fact, never went down in his long career in any fight he ever fought.
I will say McCall was never stopped never dropped in a fight, had a chin of granite. Usually tough. But his outside the ring problems consumed him. Drugs, trouble with the law, etc. it’s remarkable that he still became heavyweight champion of the world.
McCall was badly hurt in round 3 by a series of right hands which sickened him & made him quit, the interview can be found in The Ring magazine archive. McCall admits to being hurt by a Lewis right which made him turn away & quit, his mental state was such that he probably realised he was going to lose & simply walked away.
@@peterhaye8537 yeah, he wasn’t right mentally before the fight anyway. Lewis was way more prepared the second time and boxing is mental more so than physical, getting blasted by Lennox didn’t help the cause either. The man lost his mind.
damn, McCall took a beating here but wasn't hurt at all even when taking shots with his hands down, his chin was unmatched but his defensive skills were also very underrated I think
McCall was badly hurt in round 3, Lewis caught him with several right hands which took all of the fight out of him, he's since admitted it in The Ring magazine archive, Lewis & Bruno were the only fighters to ever hurt him.
@@BoxingFightsByGaryWilson True. Even Oliver couldn`t keep taking those kind of shots. He realised early on he was facing the first stoppage of his career.
@Boxing Classics By Gary Wilson he still didn't come close to getting knocked down. He was tanking everything later on in the fight with both his hands down.
Absolutely, i liked McCall, he was great on the front foot but if you caught him with a big punch early on, he would often lose interest, he did the same thing with Bruno in their fight.
Everybody is hating on Lennox but he was actually just holding back because he seen McCall was going through something and wasn’t defending himself. It looked like he was just trying to look for a stoppage and not KO him cold even though he could’ve. He showed him some mercy here.
I believe Don King wanted to freeze Lewis out of the picture so much that if his man wasn't going to win he wanted him to do anything to make Lewis's win look bad so there would be no clamour for the unification with Tyson or Holyfield. Remember this fight happened because Tyson vacated the belt to avoid Lewis. Same story with the Akinwande fight to make Lewis look bad and the Holyfield scorecard draw and is the reason Lewis wouldn't fight Ruiz when King took his WBA belt off him.
King tried very hard to freeze Lewis out, Lewis v Butler was an elimination bout for the WBC title which Lewis won, he then had to beat Morrison & Mercer before King would give him a shot. Lewis gets no credit for his victory over McCall as too much emphasis was placed on McCall having a breakdown which was nonsense, McCall gave up when he knew he wasn't going to win the fight.
Stop blaming Don King for everything. The FBI, ever heard of Operation Crown Royal?, tried everything they could to put Don in jail and couldn't do it. Any shady thing and they would have scooped him up. Stop listening to idiots. Do your own research.
This is the first time I've ever been touched so hard emotionally by a professional boxing fight. I could actually feel Oliver's pain because ive been there before more than once in life. Yes I know he struggled with drugs , but there was something going on deep down inside of that man. Something that had owned and tormented him for a long time. Before he could ever become sober from drugs he had to be set free and healed of that monster that was doing the damage in his life. The ( heart of the problem ) not just the drugs alone which SO MANY people over the years have made the mistake in thinking . Man it really broke my heart to see this man cry so hard in that ring. It was very obvious he was in some bigtime emotional pain. Larry Merchant was a complete asshole for making the comment of the man's fight purse should've been held up . Man that's bullshit
Larry Merchant was good at that, he was on or over the limit with a lot of his comments over the years. Always came across as a real arrogant prick to me.
When a fighter has a granite chin and is as physically strong as Oliver McCall it is extremely difficult to tell if they are hurt or in trouble. But NO fighter can keep absorbing bombs from Lennox Lewis, the way Oliver was here. I think Oliver realised there was no chance of victory. I think he realised that in round 2 or 3. And also he began to realise he was going to be KO`d or stopped. That is something Oliver could not contemplate. When Lennox was on top of his game, it was difficult in the extreme to land a decent punch on him, never mind beat him.
Oliver McCall was a very tough man. Granite chin among the toughest heavyweights, Ray Mercer was solid as rock as well. I dont see this victory as avenging a loss for lewis. Lewis is a great champion without a doubt although he was gifted a few decisions in my opinion.
This is the best that I've seen Lennox Lewis -watching his entire career on youtube from the beginning up till this fight- since the early 90s. He still doesn't throw many combinations and ties his opponents up every time they come into close range (either as an intelligent psychological ploy/and or because he's not good or confident enough to exchange punches with opponents at close range). By now, however, perhaps Emmanuel Steward's training was having full effect on Lewis's boxing skills: His jab in this fight was about as good as I have ever seen up through this point of his career and his right crosses and hooks were as fast and deadly as I have ever seen.
Lewis was a cautious counter puncher which didn't make for a particularly exciting style, though he did score several great knockouts during his career., Ruddock, Golota, Grant & Botha to name a few.
To me it look like he became frustrated in round 3 & gave up. Could have been other factors as well but I think the main thing was he couldn’t do much with Lewis.
I truly hope they didn’t hold his salary. The man clearly had a mental breakdown in front of the world. As he always does, Big George Forman displayed true compassion, and genuine sympathy for Oliver. Forman is an incredible man. I hope Oliver today is in a peaceful place in life.
There was nothing wrong with McCall, if you watch his fights, he cries & becomes emotional every time he enters the ring. The likelihood being he realised at some point he wasn't going to beat Lewis & became frustrated & quit. George Benton was interviewed after the fight & stated how McCall's training camp had gone well & how he had shown no signs of any issues or difficulties whatsoever. People make too many excuses for McCall.
Lewis broke McCall down, making him quit yet receives absolutely no credit for doing so, the entire emphasis on this fight is McCall's supposed breakdown & it sucks, Lewis made him quit, catching him with a series of right hands in the third round, McCall had serious jelly legs, good showing no doubt.
Dude was badly hurt in the 3rd round, especially at 1:07 or so, legs fully wobbled. He wanted out and Lewis gets no credit which is so annoying. Lewis is the best ever in my opinion
@@darrellfort1668"He never won the belt from Bowe?" Bowe refused to fight him, literally threw the WBC belt in the trash rather than face Lewis. And as far as him being tested for PEDS, the athletic commissions tested him the same as they did his opponents. That's just a ridiculous comment! 😂
It’s great how all the American fighters who got whooped by Lennox were passed their prime, because as the Americans all know, while Tyson and the like got older, Lennox stayed the same age? 😂😂
The inhumanity of everyone besides George and Mills is upsetting !! God bless George and Mills Lane. The others on the broadcasts are typical bad people who just want a show instead of having empathy.
There was nothing wrong with McCall, he cried during the ring walk of every fight he had, he was an emotional charge but that was the way he fought, he realized at some point he wasn't going to win & basically quit, in fact he admitted he was badly during the third round & it sickened him, people make way too many excuses for McCall.
It had to have had an effect, knowing his former trainer went over to train the man he's now fighting. But the reality is, he should know himself. He took the fight.
McCall the Sissy.He robbed our Lennox of a revenge KO.He pussied his way out of the ring sobbing.He did the first few rounds ok and he ko`d him in the London fight so dont give me that mental cracks garbage.He just gave up in the most embarrassing way.
DK pulled Oliver out of a rehab a day or two before the fight and somehow convinced Oliver to get in the ring against his wishes…. This was wrong! And I hope boxing finds a way to prevent something like this from ever happening again!
Not true, McCall had been in training camp for 2 months prior to facing Lewis in their rematch, his trainer George Benton was questioned as to whether they had encountered problems with McCall in training & Benton replied, "None at all".
McCall cried every time he fought, there was nothing wrong with him, he obviously realized at some point he wasn't going to win & quit, he admitted he was hurt in the third round which sickened him, people make way too many excuses for McCall. The guy lost to Frank Bruno, he was an average fighter at best.
This was just awful all around. The pain obvious pain McCall was in and the realization he didn't want to fight but couldn't quit either. His corners exasperation , begging him to fight back and tell them what's wrong. The ref not knowing what the hell to do. Everything being made worse by the crowd going crazy. Thank God Lewis was a good hearted man because there are boxers out there who just would have Killed McCall. Look how many times he could have crushed the back of his head. Wouldn't have even been his fault since McCall kept turning it to him
There was nothing wrong with McCall, he knew he got lucky first time around & realized after three rounds he wasn't going to win & basically quit, he had to play the mental health card as the commission had withheld his purse & he needed excuses at the ready. McCall has since admitted that he was badly hurt in Round 3 which sickened him & made him quit, the interview can be found in The Ring magazine.
When your Mind and Heart are not in the Game. -- Really Seems McCall Knew after 2 Rounds Lewis was on a Mission and going to Dominate the fight all the way. McCall just lost the Will to step it up. He was a completely different fighter from the first fight
There was nothing wrong with him, McCall always cried & appeared emotional when he fought, he was obviously hit with the realization that he wasn't going to win & elected to quit. What did you expect Lewis to do anyway, hold hands....
@@user-ww2yb2xo3k Ridiculous... I'm not the type to rage on a person who wasn't well, it was clear that he wasn't well at that moment. It certainly wasn't a real victory for Lennox, if he is intelligent he will surely have understood it. In that state he would have lost to anyone, if he wanted a rematch, this is not a real victory if one is honest with himself
"Lewis wants to blame his weight on the fact that he's grown an inch since he last fought. I think if you believe that I could probably sell you some ocean side real estate here in Vegas". 😅😂
Yeah him and his fans like to come up with excuses why he lost he wasn't focused, the stoppage was premature, lucky punch etc. But don't want to say the same thing how unfocused McCall and Rahman were for the rematch. They act like over there in England they are an exception to the rule of not being biased. Quite comical actually
In hindsight it's natural to feel bad for his mental state, but there's just too much at play in boxing outside the ring, beyond just the seats purchased and television coverage, advertisement etc, there are millions upon millions of dollars in bets. The life of the crowd cheering during a fight aside from rooting for your guy is mostly anticipation of winning bets, big money, and the mental state of the fighter is completely irrelevant to everyone involved.
There is an interview with McCall featured in The Ring magazine, where he admits to being hurt in Round 3, Lewis caught him with a serious of right hands which sickened him & made him quit. He admitted to only being hurt twice in his career & it was the two Brits from London, Lewis & Bruno.
That was the impression McCall gave me, he kind of tried early on but lost interest when Lewis began to connect in round 3, not sure whether McCall got lucky in their first fight or not, it's kind of a question mark.
@@BoxingFightsByGaryWilson Obviamente tuvo suerte en la primer pelea. En la revancha podria haber llegado hasta el final, para perder como perdio Mercer. Mccall tenia una chIn de acero, no creo que Lewis lo hubiese noqueado, tal es asi que la chin de Mccall oculto el poder y la capacidad de Douglas que en su siguiente pelea sorprendió al mundo al noquear al invicto TYSON
@@rodocar2736 McCall didn't have the fighting heart of someone like Mercer, rock chin but push him back & he didn't want to know, Bruno caught him early & he backed off for the most part, McCall was basically a tough journeyman with a sparring partner mentality.
There was nothing wrong with McCall, he spent his entire career crying into the ring, he knew after three rounds he wasn't going to win & basically quit. The commission withheld his purse & he had to come up with a viable reason as to what happened, his trainer George Benton said his training for the fight had gone well & McCall had shown no sign of having any problems prior.
"When you've got reach you can do whatever you want." Really, George? Do you mean you can have someone throw a right hand over the jab, and knock you out, like McCall did to Lewis the first time?
Doubtful, McCall was nothing more than a tough journeyman & his initial victory over Lewis was seen largely as a fluke, he was never expected to beat Lewis to begin with. The Americans make way too many excuses for McCall, who was never in Lewis' class for the most part....
Yet Lewis was knock out with a couple of punches and then knock out again by another journey man as you call them. Lewis was a fraud just like Bowe said, he defeated nothing but journey men and decreased "have been's" in their worst part of their carreers such as Tyson and McCall, he even had to buy the referree in the Olympics to beat Bowe. @@peterhaye8537
He got lucky first time around & deep down he knew it, which is why he quit, he admitted in an interview with Ring magazine he was badly hurt in Round 3 & it sickened him.
