Yes, iron chin but glass heart. Weird combination. If McCall had the heart of Holyfield and didn't have so many drug/mental health issues, he might've been a top 5-10 HW. He has the size, talent, and athleticism but would fit right in with so many of the slackers from the 80's.
I'm pretty sure you don't get the job as a prime Tyson's sparring partner unless you can take a punch. As McCall tells it, Mike never knocked him down but he did knock Mike down once. McCall seemed to have an iron chin. Another one of those guys with every physical component to be a truly great fighter, but without the dedication/discipline to do it. Smoking crack doesn't really go well with training.
You know Glass City Cobra, McCall had a punch, chin, he took out Lennox Lewis very easily but you are correct on heart and mental issues.
There is no better candidate for best chin EVER. He fought forever & into boxing old age, never even dropped, in sparring or a fight. While a few fought more big hitters, he did battle with many big modern HWs. He was not a clinch-a-holic nor defensive master. Just never being dropped, especially at HW, & during a long career, is extremely unusual. I can't fathom how his chin is overrated. That the breakdown stopped his second fight with Lewis does not prove any vulnerability, any more than when Chuvalo was being wailed away at by Foreman. Other candidates? Well if they were not HWs & fighting modern sized HWs, it is highly unlikely that their chin could be as good or better-if not specifying just relative to division. Anybody else? Almost everyone got dropped. Some never fought as long or as much. Nobody can withstand a top puncher just standing umprotected, but This content is protected This content is protected
He was an incredibly durable fighter and had tons of heart for a reason that most of you are missing. McCall cut his teeth and made his name as a sparring partner for a lot of the top heavyweights. When he was starting out, he made most of his money by coming to camps for guys like Tyson and more than holding his own which ended up getting him uddercard fights. It takes tons of heart for a guy to not only carve out a living this way but to also make himself into a world champion and top contender well into his 40's. His downside has always been his substance abuse issues which he has battled his whole life. His heart should never be questioned.
Do you think a single, or several 10s even exist? If so why are they better than McCall? See my post above please. I'm open to someone possibly having even more granite, but it is a hard case to make when you examine who & how long people fought, their sizes & power, who & when someone dropped them (consider if slips were legitimate too) throughout a whole amateur, pro & sparring career. There are maybe a couple Giants who are candidates, but how much was their chin tested? Someone like Valuev was very hard to reach effectively. Not being dropped in part due to defensive skills, constant questionable hugging, or whatever prevents a beard (or body) to be tested adequately means that there is less evidence for chin prowess than someone who soaked up tons of punishment.
One of the greatest chins - definitely! No one can dispute that. A better question is: "Did he have the greatest chin?". IMO - Yes.
No and McCall saying he wasn't knocked down by Tyson isn't convincing me at all. Neither is the second Lewis fight because plenty of HW's hit harder than Lewis and I imagine they all drop an out of his mind McCall.
There are some questions that your comment leaves. First, what reason do you have to doubt that McCall told the truth? Unless you can point to a history of lies or exaggerations, since Tyson & others are overwhelmingly likely to correct him IF it was false, should we not start with the presumption that in over 300 rounds of sparring just with Tyson, McCall was never dropped? Also Lewis hit very-extremely hard. Maybe "plenty" of HWs hit harder than Lewis if you consider a raw # from the start of any boxing. Just like "plenty" of men are over 7' tall-but it is close to one in a million that are at least 7'. Since Lewis was not making a dent in McCall, unless you presume guys hit *dramatically* harder than lewis-which i do not think is possible... In the fairly short time before the fight was called off I see no indication they would have dropped McCall. but anyone can be dropped IF offering no defense against among the hardest hitting men on the planet. I could understand if you thought mcCall did not have the BEST chin ever-although I think the case is very good that he may well have... But you did not address that McCall had a VERY long career & was never dropped anywhere. Into relative old age. FIghting modern sized HWs. Generally not clinching excessively OR being a defensive wizard. So since never being dropped as far as we know is VERY rare-& almost non-existent among guys fighting big modern HWs, let alone as many rounds & as old as Oliver... How can you deny that This content is protected the best chins ever?
