Oliver McCall says God will be in his corner when he fights Lennox Lewis fo= r t he title. He may need him, says Kevin Mitchell
HAVING been dropped on his head as a baby, Oliver McCall seems to have been= in
a state of almost permanent, thumb-sucking belligerence ever since. This i=
s a n admirable quality if restricted to a boxing ring, say, but a nuisance oth= erw
ise, which is why the fighter’s CV contains several contests not recognised= by
The Ring magazine but fully annotated in police stations from Chicago to N=
ash
ville.
The man they call “The Atomic Bull” was made for boxing’s china shops. Two = yea
rs ago, Lennox Lewis’s chin tinkled and cracked and McCall snatched away hi= s h eavyweight championship – at least that portion of it presided over by the = Wor
ld Boxing Council and influenced by Don King. They meet again this weekend.= Al
legedly.
Away from work, McCall’s demeanour is radically different, a fact borne out= by
his behaviour after the Lewis fight. The champ could not contain his excit=
eme
nt and celebrated with the sort of gusto normally associated with a roomful= of
elephants on speed – a not altogether misleading comparison, given McCall’=
s p referred recreational chemicals.
Ollie, who might consider changing his nom de guerre to “Another Fine Mess”= , w ould seem to belong to the George Best school of sporting ethics: he thinks= a=20
balanced diet is a beer in one hand and a joint in the other. Having not be= en=20
able to answer the question: “Where did it all go wrong?”, McCall, like Bes= t,=20
was cast into a vacuum when the clamour faded.=20
Three weeks after he lost his title to Frank Bruno in September 1995 on a n= igh
t of dispiriting under-achievement, he was left to ponder a return to life = on=20
the periphery of heavyweight boxing, and went on a spree of eye-popping pro= por
tions.
The former heavyweight champion of the world – notionally a figure regarded= wi
th some respect and awe – was said to have been mugged by three men in a le= ss=20
than salubrious part of St Louis in the early hours of the morning. The obj= ect
of their desire, according to police, was his loser’s cheque worth nearly =
$1,
5 million, stuffed down his sock. Police arrested two suspects, recovered t= he=20
cheque and were bemused when McCall refused to press charges. “What robbery?” McCall =
ask
ed. “I love St Louis.”
McCall was strangely subdued in the Bruno contest, in stark contrast to his= ma
nic appearance against Lewis. Still, after he had failed to provide a compl= ete
drugs sample for the British Boxing Board of Control, suspicions were natu=
ral
ly roused as to his chemical legality in the ring. The fighter took except= ion
and threatened to sue. The board have never announced further details of t=
hei
r concern=20 and McCall has never sued.
McCall met up with the law three times in 1996. It started in April in Wins= ton
-Salem, North Carolina, where he was committed to a drugs and alcohol rehab= ili
tation centre after being arrested for possession of marijuana. Back on his= ow
n patch in Chicago the following month he was picked up again for possessio= n a nd put on 18 months’ probation.
All was quiet until Christmas, when he turned up in Nashville and celebrate= d Y uletide with a spectacular performance in the lobby of the hotel housing se= ver
al boxers who had arrived for the January 11 show which saw Henry Akinwande= fi
rmly establish himself in the heavyweight picture by humiliating Scott Welc= h o ver 12 rounds.
McCall threw a Christmas tree, ashtray and whisky glass past startled patro= ns,
the police were called, placated the boxer and started to leave. McCall wa=
nte
d more, though, and spat at the officers. He was charged with vandalism, di= sor
derly conduct and resisting arrest. As a consequence, he becomes the first = box
er in the history of the sport to prepare for a world title under virtual h= ous
e arrest,=20 with his drugs counsellor, Don King, and God making up an interesting coter= ie=20
of supporters.
It is not an unusual development in the boxing game that McCall should call= on
a higher influence to help him through – King, after all, has been there f=
or=20
him before when he needed his signature. God is new on the scene. “Oliver i= s a warrior,” McCall says in third-personspeak, “a real warrior, with God behi=
nd=20
me, with God in my corner. Lennox Lewis can have all the best trainers – Em= anu
el Steward , Eddie Futch, Angelo Dundee, Lou Duva, all together – he’s gonna get knock= ed=20
out.”
Given the concern of Home Box Office, whose money is funding McCall’s bout = for
the vacant WBC title with Lewis at the Las Vegas Hilton, any version of Mc=
Cal
l turning up would be a relief. Rumours swept Las Vegas last week that McCa= ll=20
had already pulled out, and Akinwande was ready to relinquish the WBO versi= on=20
and take on Lewis. King’s camp issued a denial – with a subtle rider. “Oliv= er=20
is already on his way to Las Vegas for the fight. As far as we know the fight is stil=
l o n.”
What future now, for Oliver McCall, a man with a hell of a past? Good luck,= Ol
lie.