Was McCall ever cut or bruised?

[ChrisPontius]

It seems that he is just impervious to being punched, physically that is.

I didn't see his recent fight with Gomez, but from what i read he took quite a beating during the first 8 rounds. Now Gomez is not a huge hitter but any boxer will bruise and cut you up if they land enough. And McCall is 42! From what i've read, after the fight Gomez's face was swollen while McCall looked fresh as a fish asif he had won a landslide decision.

The only time i've seen McCall close to being staggered was in the 3rd round of the rematch with Lewis, one of the hardest punchers in history, and that seemed to be more of a balance related thing which lasted half a second at best.


It is interesting because Chuvalo had no trouble staying on his feet either but he didn't have the skin that McCall has: he was swollen pretty badly after 4 rounds with Frazier.

[mcvey]

It seems that he is just impervious to being punched, physically that is.

I didn't see his recent fight with Gomez, but from what i read he took quite a beating during the first 8 rounds. Now Gomez is not a huge hitter but any boxer will bruise and cut you up if they land enough. And McCall is 42! From what i've read, after the fight Gomez's face was swollen while McCall looked fresh as a fish asif he had won a landslide decision.

The only time i've seen McCall close to being staggered was in the 3rd round of the rematch with Lewis, one of the hardest punchers in history, and that seemed to be more of a balance related thing which lasted half a second at best.


It is interesting because Chuvalo had no trouble staying on his feet either but he didn't have the skin that McCall has: he was swollen pretty badly after 4 rounds with Frazier.
I beleive he sustained a fractured cheek bone against Frazier,as you say both had great chins ,and McCall great skin tissue apparently!

[Langford]

I have never seen McCall bruised/cut. I have not seen all of his fights, but he has never looked like he's been in a fight. I did watch Gomez v. McCall (wrote about it in Euro) and Gomez looked had both eyes swelled up, a bloody mouth, and a puffy face. McCall looked like he had just walked into the ring.

McCall is a freak of nature when it comes to that.

I know the punch you speak of, in the second fight, that would have absolutely knocked out most any fighter, McCall just sort of looked like he had been slapped. He was defenseless at the time right, just standing there?
Amazing.

[Langford]

I think bruno actually left McCall with a 'mouse'. Can't remember whether it was above or below the eye.

haven't seen this one, good fight?

[The Kurgan]

haven't seen this one, good fight?

Slow paced, but in technical terms and in terms of drama, pretty exciting. I remember being more riveted then (I was about 6) than for any boxing fight before or since.

[Langford]

Slow paced, but in technical terms and in terms of drama, pretty exciting. I remember being more riveted then (I was about 6) than for any boxing fight before or since.

I will check it out. :good

[Claypole]

McCall has a way of rolling with punches, it's like he has a natural talent for dissipating the power.

[ChrisPontius]

Slow paced, but in technical terms and in terms of drama, pretty exciting. I remember being more riveted then (I was about 6) than for any boxing fight before or since.

Wow, i thought you were older.

Can you confirm that mouse under his eye?

[ironchamp]

Has Mcall ever been in a fight in which he is consistently nailed with clean shots. What fight would you say that epitomizes McCall's durablity to take a shot.

[mcvey]

I think bruno actually left McCall with a 'mouse'. Can't remember whether it was above or below the eye.
It wasnt a mouse, it was a hamster,a going away consolation prize.

[punchy]

McCall has a way of rolling with punches, it's like he has a natural talent for dissipating the power.
A skill lost with most modern fighters.

[ChrisPontius]

A skill lost with most modern fighters.

Watch Toney, Mayweather, Chagaev, Ibragimov, Povetkin, hell, even Peter, maybe not as skilled as most but he does use it and upper body movement. They all roll with punches one way or another. There are some statues that stand there and get hit like Briggs and Valuev but that is exception rather than rule.

[ChrisPontius]

Has Mcall ever been in a fight in which he is consistently nailed with clean shots. What fight would you say that epitomizes McCall's durablity to take a shot.

Well during the Lewis fight he took a lot of clean shots during the first 3 rounds. After that he stopped fighting and he took little less per time unit but still quite some got through.
He was also given quite a beating early on by Bruno but it wasn't Hagler-Hearns if that's what you're looking for.

I haven't seen the fight but from what i've read he got a bad ass kicking during the first 8 against Gomez as well. Not a huge puncher but the fact that he is unmarked is remarkable for sure. He also sparred 250 rounds with a near-prime Tyson without being floored and from the footage i've seen, Tyson wasn't going easy during sparring.

[Raashid]

McCall's durability is extraordinary, possibly more so then Ray Mercer. I have seen highlights of the rematch with Lewis, who connected fully with McCall's chin with combinations at the time of the stoppage, but at no time was he on shaky legs and his eyes were crystal clear.
At the post-fight conference he said his tactics were rope-a-dope and was waiting for Lewis to punch himself out!

[Mendoza]

It seems that he is just impervious to being punched, physically that is.

I didn't see his recent fight with Gomez, but from what i read he took quite a beating during the first 8 rounds. Now Gomez is not a huge hitter but any boxer will bruise and cut you up if they land enough. And McCall is 42! From what i've read, after the fight Gomez's face was swollen while McCall looked fresh as a fish asif he had won a landslide decision.

The only time i've seen McCall close to being staggered was in the 3rd round of the rematch with Lewis, one of the hardest punchers in history, and that seemed to be more of a balance related thing which lasted half a second at best.

It is interesting because Chuvalo had no trouble staying on his feet either but he didn't have the skin that McCall has: he was swollen pretty badly after 4 rounds with Frazier.
McCall had a great chin, but it’s a tad over rated these days. The fans who think McCall was virtually bullet proof from punches need to see his fights vs Seldon and Douglas.

McCall was in fact visibly rocked twice by Bruce Seldon. Seldon defiantly hurt him before getting knocked out. McCall was also in a bad way late in his fight with Buster Douglas. He was hurt here too. Douglas had a chance to finish him, but didn’t.

McCall has some mental / emotional problems. While I wouldn’t call him retarded, he is on the slow side for sure. McCall has not been cut that I recall, but he definately has a fear of being cut if you listen to his post fight interviews.

[ChrisPontius]

McCall has some mental / emotional problems. While I wouldn’t call him retarded, he is on the slow side for sure. McCall has not been cut that I recall, but he definately has a fear of being cut if you listen to his post fight interviews.

If you are basing that final conclusion on the interview he gave after the first Lewis fight, when he proudly showed off how he came out unmarked, then i think you're wildly exaggarating with "a fear of being cut". Show me a man who likes to get cut, though. I think a fear of getting cut only appears after you've lost a fight on cuts, i.e. Quarry or Cooper.

[Superheavyweight]

He was caught off balance and frustrated by Gomez in their first fight.

And he almost tripped over his own 2 feet against Akinwande… that’s the closest I’ve seen McCall go down.

hCc-QaMYjgM

[patscorpio]

ive noticed that in alot of fights that mccall has lost his opponents come out looking far worse than him. his fight that he lost against davarryl williamson...he looked fine but i thought davarryl looked completely beat up..the same thing with the fight againt bruno...he lost but bruno was left beaten up with a detached retina

[Mendoza]

If you are basing that final conclusion on the interview he gave after the first Lewis fight, when he proudly showed off how he came out unmarked, then i think you're wildly exaggarating with "a fear of being cut". Show me a man who likes to get cut, though. I think a fear of getting cut only appears after you've lost a fight on cuts, i.e. Quarry or Cooper.

McCall is looney and has something of a sprring partner syndrome. I've seen McCall go gun shy vs a badly gassed Frank Bruno who could barely hold his arms up after the final bell. If McCall pressed it, he might have won via TKO.

I have also seen McCall be extra cautious vs an older Larry Holmes. McCall broke down in the ring in the re-match vs Lewis. Why did he do this? I dunno. A man with his power with a top chin should let his hands go. Things like this lead me to beleive he fears something. Is it being cut? Maybe not, but something is up.

[ChrisPontius]

He is mentally fucked up for sure. It's actually interesting that the two guys with the best chins that Lewis fought, McCall and Tua, both pretty much lost motivation when they got tagged hard for 3 rounds. Apparantly, having an iron chin does not mean the other guys' power is neutralised.

I agree that McCall is pretty crazy. Can you tell me more about a spring partner syndrome? Never heard of that one.

[Mendoza]

He is mentally fucked up for sure. It's actually interesting that the two guys with the best chins that Lewis fought, McCall and Tua, both pretty much lost motivation when they got tagged hard for 3 rounds. Apparantly, having an iron chin does not mean the other guys' power is neutralised.

I agree that McCall is pretty crazy. Can you tell me more about a spring partner syndrome? Never heard of that one.
If should read sparring partner syndrome, not spring partner syndrome!

A sparring partner syndrome is a term in the boxing business describes a fighter who's in there to give someone else work, cover up, and not take too many chances. In other words he’s a paid sparring partner. Sometimes fighters who have served as sparring partners as McCall has fights this way in their own fights instead of trying to win them. Hence the term fighter so-and so has a sparring partner syndrome.

McCall was a weak minded fool gifted with great strenght, durability, and good athleticism. McCall won many of his fights on natural ability alone. If McCall’s head was screwed on right, he could have been a very good fighter. But McCall was McCall. His problem was he lacked the focus and will to win that many great champions had. Taking a punch phsycialy was not McCall’s problem in my opinion. He just did not put himself in position to win enough. Something was not quite right with him.

By the way, the only reason McCall is boxing now is for the money. McCall just got out of prison, and has no other way to make a good living for himself. McCall will do whatever Don King says. Don King does not have an easy job. I’d love to see a cartoon like cloud above Don King’s head that reveals his thoughts when he’s working with the fighters on the contracts, or watching the fighters fight. If we could see Don King's thoughts, he's hoping a loony brid like McCall wins a title, then a big pay day vs one of his guys looms.

Can McCall still knock guys out? Yep.

[barneyrub]

Has Mcall ever been in a fight in which he is consistently nailed with clean shots. What fight would you say that epitomizes McCall's durablity to take a shot.Bruno staggered him and hurt him enough that the thought of it during the Lewis rematch and the possibility of that match going the same way is what he said frustrated him that night and caused him to act the way he acted. Mccall definatley had a swelling around his eye from Bruno.
Mccall was also hurt in the Lewis rematch in the first 3 rounds before he started acting funny. You saw a shot of his face after eating an uppercut and the craziness and frustration soon followed.
After he started dropping his hands and acting funny he never really took many shots, Lewis stood off thinking he was trying to lure him into a trap and the shots he did throw at that time were glancing at best.