My conversation with Oliver McCall

That's awesome. How many people could claim they beat Holmes and Lewis!

 

A lot of guys 6 3 and above do not slip punches well and or have decent footwork much less endurance...not a putdown just an observation...some do...but perhaps they need such things less anyway

 

That's awesome.

Please to note that you mentioned small heavyweights, he assumed 6-1 to 6-3, even Ali and Foreman. Those dudes were not small.

 

I met Oliver a couple of summers ago ... he was in Eric Molina's corner when Molina fought Deontay Wilder and I met him briefly at the weigh-in. He was very cool. Hope he sticks around your gym!

But your story reminded me ... last summer, my brother calls on the Fourth of July and invites me to meet him for lunch. Says I REALLY need to come, and I'm not doing anything else and it's at a place right down the street, so sure.

Meet him there and he says someone else is coming to join us. A couple of minutes later, in walk two guys ... and one of them was Ernie Shavers!!! He was passing through, my brother knows the guy he was with so my brother invited them to lunch. He hung around to take pics with everyone.

His fists are ENORMOUS, like the size of small canned hams, haha, and he's still very fit and looks like he could knock down a wall.

Quite a thrill. Boxing is a small world and it's amazing how many top current and former fighters you run across if you stay around it (especially if you go to fights and the weigh-ins and gatherings like that when you get opportunities).

 

Curious how he thinks he would have done against early heavies like Jim Corbett and Jess Willard, et al. Marciano too.

 

You have a nice opportunity there to learn. I hope it works out for you.

I also hope that Oliver is doing well and that he has beat his demons, as well as any of us can.

 

Get him to show you how to develop a chin like his.

 

Awesome stuff.

When I used to do boxing training the closest I ever came was an amateuer prospect from my home town. I was a HW then and he was about FW.

Never been so shown up in the ring in all my life.

He would counter the second I'd decided to throw a punch and his feet were so quick. I'd see him circle and throw that straight right down the pipe knowing in about half a second I was gonna get buzzed.

He never hurt me but it was quite disorienting fighting someone that much quicker than me.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Keep us posted on how this develops. He's the same age as i am, 51, i had a decent amateur career, but didnt box from the age of mid twenties to mid forties, i resumed training as part of getting into some shape again and at the age of 47-48 i was sparring and felt great.Post 50 is real hard, especially as a big guy 230 pounds, a few days off , you lose your condition quickly and it feels like your starting over. You look in the mirror and it's telling you things you dont like !
Good luck to him. Fighters are often real good guys and i think its hard for them to adjust after their career is over.

 

Great thread Enjoyed it