Having secured his mandatory position in the WBC, McCall should get a shot, but this will probably not be for a long time, given that Maskaev has to fight Peter next, and then the winner must fight Vitali Klitschko. He is thus the mandatory third-in-line. I think especially at his age, activity is key (and his record shows 2 fights already this year, 4 in 2006, 5 in 2005). Although I think it will be Vitali, he can't even be sure who he will face when he does get his shot, so there's not even much point in having a massive training period to perfect his assault on the champion. So, given all this, I think McCall definitely needs to have a couple of fights while he waits to challenge for the WBC belt. So who do people think he should fight? Personally, I think it would be very good for him to fight Rahman; he will always be a bit of a name thanks to his stroke of luck with Lewis, and I've even seen people saying round here that Vitali ducked him! I expect he's still pretty highly rated with the WBC, being only a few fights past being its champion, which makes him an appropriate opponent for the WBC mandatory contender. It would also be nice to see how McCall matches up against a somewhat past his prime past champ, in that respect like himself, to see whether McCall really is a step ahead of where we'd expect such a fighter to be. Personally I think he is, but it would be a good confirmation, that he really he is not just better still than guys who were never quite championship class, like SSS, but also that he is better than the class of has-been champions. I also like how the fight would play out for McCall; I've never highly rated Rahman; I though the Lewis win was due to shockingly poor conditioning on Lennox's part, for the high altitude at which it was fought. The properly prepared Lewis destroyed him in the rematch. As such I picked Maskaev against him, as someone who had punctured through the facade before, and could do it again. He still always has that puncher's chance that came through against Lewis, but McCall's legendary chin should neutralise that. As such I think McCall beats him handily and confirms his current status as a top and deserving contender. It's a good couple of names, a fighter I like ought to win, and it'd be relatively meaningful, more so than the wins Holyfield has been trying to parlay into another title shot. What do people think?
I don't think McCall will risk losing his mandatory position by fighting someone who might actually beat him. I agree that he needs to stay active, but he'll probably fight gatekeepers and cabdrivers of the same ilk as he beat on his way to the mandatory eliminator.
I think McCall Rahman would great, and probably a pretty close fight. The two Lewis Conquerors, going at it. Great idea. But as has been said, I don't think McCall would risk losing his titleshot by fighting a risky opponent like Rahman, even though McCall may be able to beat him, at this point, its probably not a wise risk for McCall to take for a mere stay sharp fight.
Rahman is my opinion was outboxed in his last fight with Sykes and got lucky with the scorecards. He is completely out of the picture at this stage. McCall did better against an out-of-shape SSS but not by much. I do not see his in the big picture as well.
McCall look great in fight with SSS. If he fights like that he will beat Rahman, Tua, Mesi and some good fighter with good names. It will be good to see with Vitali Klitschko.
This would be interesting. Almost a gimmick fight. They could bill it as the ultimate showdown between the only two men ever to beat Lennox Lewis, the last great heavyweight champion. It would be media spin, but it would make for a good hype job. As for the fight, it's tough to say at this point- McCall would be the favorite in a brawl, but he is extremely old, and Rahman is the better boxer when he comes in any kind of shape.
For me; I'd have very little worry that McCall would win this fight. I think as well, this would be an option of something more than a stay sharp fight, in that it has plenty of elements to be hyped very well. It could be both a nice little earner in itself, and something that would dramatically increase public interest in McCall's eventual title shot, so it should have a lot of reward to go with the risk that some think it represents.
