Did McCall really have a "breakdown" or was he just frustrated (or just a bum) ?

Supposedly Don King had plucked him off the streets to fight Lewis and Mcall hadnt even been in training. King had worked to get the title shot and Mcall was the only one he felt could beat Lewis but he was suffering from crack addiction. He forced him into the fight. There is an interview with Oliver about how he was busted with crack just before the fight.

 

Well I dont know, being on crack and being in a fight you dont want to be in and getting punched in the face by a 250 pound man would probably make me have a breakdown too.

 

You say he was winning against Holmes, it was a close fight that i strongly believe Larry would of won if he had not faded due to getting tired.

McCall took over when Larry faded but up until then it was relatively even.

 

I think the problem may have been he was not on the crack, not being on it. I reckon he was suffering withdrawal, was up for the fight, started to get schooled and wasnt in a happy place

 

Whatever the case may be, Smoking crack and fighting Lennox Lewis dont go together in any way.

 

The guys a nut job. Plain and simple. He cried against Lewis, Maskaev (won this one by KO1) and I think he cried for the Bruno bout. He has done it a few times.

Bad life plus crack = insania.

 

Turning away is a bit of a trick McCall uses because if his opponent leaps in when hes turning away McCall is at an angle that he can quickly turn into him with a counter and put them down and out. Against Lennox it either wasnt working and he gave up or he was going through mental trauma

 

McCall always cried before and at times after the fights. He said it was because he had to pump himself up and turn into a different person during the fights. I don't see the sense in that but I guess it worked for him.

I believe this was the only time when he cried during a fight though. He was certainly out of it but credit to Lewis for handling business under bizarre circumstances.

 

McCall is smarter than you make him out to be, against Lewis he and Steward saw Lewis jumped in and looked for him to do that to land the right counter that would win the fight. If you look at the holmes fight he manages to create angles with those little shuffles he does