A mugshot of McCall
At 47 years old most fighters have hung them up and walked away from the sport, though some do fight on. One man who continues to fight is former WBC Heavyweight Champion Oliver "The Atomic Bull" McCall (56-11-0-2, 37).

McCall is a name that all boxing fans will know for one reason or another. He famously stopped Lennox Lewis in 1994 to claim the WBC Heavyweight title and then even more famously broke down in tears in their rematch in 1997. As well as the bouts with Lewis McCall has faced a who's who of Heavyweights including Frank Bruno, Larry Holmes, James "Buster" Douglas, Bruce Seldon, Tony Tucker, Francesco Damiani, Oleg Maskaev, Henry Akinwande and Juan Carlos Gomez in a career that dates back to 1985.

McCall now looks forward to his next bout which takes places in the next 24 hours as he battles unbeaten Italian prospect Francesco Pianeta (25-0-1, 14). The 27 years old Pianeta had just turned 1 when McCall made his professional debut and yet McCall struggles on in battles inside and outside of the squared circle.

Whilst McCall has taken part in almost 60 professional bouts so far inside the ring his biggest battle has been with cocaine which has plagued, especially in recent years where he twice been arrested with it in his possession. As well as the cocaine issues McCall has had numerous run ins with the law which helped derail his career a number of times.

Whilst once a very good (and very under-rated) fighter McCall is now a fighter who is looking his 47 years and is sadly showing signs of being genuinely "shop worn". It's a sad tale, and we really don't know how good McCall could have been had it not been for his out of the ring issues




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    Haven't You Given Up Yet?

    To some boxing is like a drug and fighters become addicted. This blog looks at the fighters who are still competing well into their late 30's (or above) despite their best years being well behind them.

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