McCall was really pretty limited aside from decent power and a rock for a chin. Plus he fought like a sparring partner. He went through the motions as often as not until he caught lightening in the bottle in the first Lewis fight (engineered by Manny Steward) which is his only great achievement at world level. Douglas had size, length, and talent to do a number on Tyson plus the aggressive mindset that night in Tokyo to go all out and set the pace for victory. He was jabbing Tysons head off from round one. McCall couldn’t replicate that. Oliver would doubtless last the distance, would show sporadic activity and Tyson would look lethargic on his way to a pretty dull (by Tysons standards) but wide UD.
If McCall truly believed he could win and his mental demons were not to the fore, then yes he could have wrecked Tyson. It took Douglas to melt the invincibility aura (aided by Tyson himself), just having Tyson in opposite corner went long way to fighters on road to defeat even before a punch thrown.
No, reason being Douglas fought the absolute best fight of his life because of the circumstances, His mother passed away. He finally fought to his ability. Which he never did before, and would never do again. Mccall was never as talented as Douglas was. If Douglas had the dedication of Holyfield we probably would be mentioning him as a top 10 ATG. Mccall at the top of his ability would still be considered just a good contender.
Good points buddy. It's that thing about working out Tyson s mind as well in the ring and the Bulls! Not an easy feat.
I doubt it. Tyson may have been completely off his game, but he was still Mike Tyson. McCall is too deliberate a fighter to have exploited a woefully unprepared Tyson. There are some fighters Tyson would simply be able to beat with his eyes closed. McCall is one of them. What happened in Tokyo was that Douglas just had the movement and style had to trouble the unfocused Tyson, whereas a Bruno or a McCall wouldn't be able to exploit his lack of focus.
Tokyo Tyson vs. McCall definitely gets clocked. Tyson was there to hit in that fight, and that would be very easy for McCall. Douglas was not a big puncher in comparison to either man and it took him 10 rounds to chop down and KO a version of Tyson that was not himself. McCall would have been able to capitalize much earlier. McCall would have been able to pull Tyson into a slugfest, and in this case it would have been disastrous. McCall was way tougher than Tyson, and although Tyson was the harder puncher, on this night, McCall's probably would have been sharper. In fact, I would conjecture that on any night that these two engage in a slugfest, McCall would always win.
McCall lacks the attributes and the fortitude to pull off an upset against a fighter like Tyson. He has slower hands, less power and is less technical with limited lateral movement. He's a sitting duck.
It took Douglas’s greatest effort to beat Iron Mike. What makes anyone think McCall could have that same night, because that’s what it would have took. McCall’s greatest night. I say no.
I agree entirely with your assessment of McCall. I'm sure everyone would agree that McCall only outdoes Tyson when it comes to toughness, but that's not a skill, is it? However, when I made that remark, I was referring to an all-out-war. No moving around, jabbing, boxing, bobbing and weaving. Just two guys exchanging bombs. I think McCall would come out the better man. Tyson had more power, McCall had more chin.
I don't think McCall could sustain the kind of pressure needed to stop Tyson. Mike had a really good chin himself and I don't see him getting one punched.
