Just watching this reminds me of the time I was in an amateur boxing match a few months after my wife had died. My head just wasn't in the ring. I ate a lot of shots simply because i didnt care anymore. Walked out with a case of concussion and never fought in a ring again. I m okay now. I hope Oliver is okay too.

I met Oliver Mcall when he was in the UK to fight Frank Bruno. I was just a young kid, about 13. He was taking his daughter to the fairground. I recognized him and built up the courage to go up to him and say hello and ask for any autograph. The guy was VERY friendly and kind and spoke to me for about 1 minute. I’d never seen a man that big and powerful looking, I remember how powerful he looked, he was jacked as F, and the dudes hands were absolute huge

I remember this. Glad the ref stopped it when he did. Mccalls corner are a disgrace and should have thrown in the towel. Glad Lennox had the foresight to see something was up and not batter him.

Dude had to have been going through some serious shit. This was Mike Tyson's favorite sparring partner because he never complained that Tyson hit too hard.

I can’t believe they let him keep fighting and then fine him and suspend him….. that’s so messed up because he clearly had something wrong with him

I felt sorry for Oliver in this fight 😞

What stands out to me is that even though he refused to fight back, he still didn't get dropped by those blows...

This was so sad. And to hear one of the guys in his corner try to urge him on by saying "This is for your daughter". When almost everyone could see something was not right, mentally; Was deplorable.

This got me teary Only him feels his pain . No one else . A lot of us are like this . Bless him

Mental illness is a terrible thing

I remember watching this and thinking at the time he was having a nervous breakdown. I knew of his problems with crack but to see it all unfold in a championship fight like this was pretty sad.

forget just boxing this was one of the most bizarrest moments i'd ever seen on TV... remember seeing him at the ORLEAN'S hotel ballroom in vegas for his son's boxing match and some idiot started yelling LENNOX was looking for him...people are so ignorant

Can't help but feel sorry for the guy.hope he's OK. If I was declared the winner of that fight I would have found it really hard to be happy about it.

This was criminal to make McCall fight that night. Even the biggest toughest men on earth can fall to mental problems. Don King literally pulled him out of a mental hospital under threats ( according to McCalls account) to fight. God bless both the fighters.

It is obvious he suffers from panic and anxiety, and that he had a full blown panic attack in the ring. The struggle is very real.

[1] Lennox Lewis is a real Gentleman holding back when McCall turns his back with gaurd down [2] Oliver Mccall has a Chinband Body made of Armour like Ali. [3] Lewis could have done serious extra damage but refused to hit a Man not protecting himself Great Job Lennox! You were winning anyway. No need to hit a mans blind side. 😤

You know...have to give great credit to both of these guys. Credit to Lewis for recognizing the guy was having a tough time, and not attacking him while he was walking away not defending himself. Many boxers would of really went after him. Credit to Oliver, for not fighting, being hit, and he didn't go down! Crying, upset, whatever...the guy was on his feet, and not phased by the punches in any way, other than emotionally. I like that dude! 😁

Here’s what’s disturbing. His corner saw he was in some type of distress and sent him back out there.

McCall was Scary in the 4th, because he got to the point you can hit him with the kitchen sink and 2 wrenches, and he wasn't going anywhere. I recall watching years ago, and waiting for him to pounce on Lewis with hands AND feet, abandoning all rules! 🔧🔧😐

I watched that fight when it originally aired and I personally feel that Lewis was the luckiest man on the planet that MaCall didn't zap out and beat him to death in the middle of the ring. MaCall was shrugging off everything lewis threw as if it didn't matter.

This is so sad, I hate to see the pain he is in.

I remember watching that fight when it took place, In my humble opinion McCall could have taken Lennox out had he been in the right mental state, it's Obvious to me McCall had the chin to weather this Storm but not the Mental clarity

I remember this fight . Oliver McCall came to the ring all fired up, and he was fighting fine when he just stopped all of the sudden. The most strangest thing I've ever seen in sports.

Many don't understand the magnitude of the dark forces behind sports gambling.

That was just sad

I was a little kid sitting in a basement in Indiana watching this live and my mind was blown

I always had respect for Lewis after this, he could have teed off and really hurt that man, but he knew something wasn't right.

Did you see the referee laughing at the beginning lol😂

A child that was never loved 😢😭

Lewis is a very underrated fighter in my opinion. He was great.

When the fix is in & you've been told in no uncertain terms by Don King to throw the fight. You feel as though you can win. But you're thinking about how difficult it would be to walk without kneecaps.

I Believe That Lenox Has Not Been Given The Kudos He Has Earned.

Deep respect for Lewis. He held back immensely. He was full of power and energy still and could have easily ko'd and really hurt that poor man. What a champ Lewis is. New respect for him after watching that. I even noticed when he did throw he wasn't trying to go through him. He would connect because he's in the ring doing his job, but he controlled the power like a pro

I watched this live… it was heartbreaking in real time! Still so sad to watch after all these years!

Lennox is such a low human being. I would be ashamed to " win" that way!!! He was soo happy to hit him when he was turning his back, clearly not fighting 😱. Despicable character.

His love one was being held hostage that night. He was forced to take a dive

Lewis showed a lot of class. He could have really hurt him while he was just out of it like that.

i suffer from anxiety and depression and remember this fight,it was hard to watch because Oliver was in the midst of a full breakdown and for it to happen in a WTF is terrible 😞

I think Lewis didn’t necessarily hold back, he was scared of McCall and thought he was just playing games. He knew from the last fight he can be KOd by one punch so he was cautious and smart in his approach against a bewildered McCall

He had something going on in his personal life and mental health issues when he won all that money from first bout money sure do change a person no discipline

One of the heavyweight legends and boxing icon of the 90's, mad respect for Lennox "The Lion" Lewis.

Never seen anything like this in professional sports , a man beginning to cry in the boxing ring

Lewis remained a gentleman even though McCall was having a breakdown.😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

It looks like they threw the fight and he didn’t want to do it and tried to show what was going on

@5:11, “don’t do this to yourself” means take the dive and don’t expose the fix. your career will be over or worse. “Do this for your daughter” means, just go down and get paid. His corner didn’t throw the towel in because they knew full well nothing was wrong with him. He wasn’t having a mental breakdown, he was disgusted with the fix and so upset and angry that he chose to expose it. Why should he take a dive to an opponent who couldn’t even hurt him when his hands were down and he wasn’t defending himself in the slightest? It’s crazy how people are so quick to believe the mental breakdown explanation simply because the ring announcer suggested it. @4:58, the guy looks like he wants to cry too. because he knows his fighter can win, but the outcome is already decided. He knew he couldn’t win, but he refused to simply lay down. Very sad to watch.

Clearly this man was threatened in some way to throw this fight. Somethings not right, he wasn't scared, he just wasn't throwing punches I feel for an outside of the ring reason. Very suspicious looking.

That was one bizarre fight

That sad. He should not have been in there and when McCall wasn’t fighting back and started to break down the referee and/or his corner should have stopped it. He could have been killed or permanently injured. It happens more than most people know.

Hopefully he got the help he needed. Would like a follow-up video on what he's up too today.

It already happened. I think it's great when somebody gets leveraged so badly that they basically agree to forfeit something that they worked hard for. This is corruption. And that is still happening like this debacle

You mention in your video that during the first fight the ref called it off despite the fact Lewis got back on his feet. Lewis was really unstable and clearly could not continue. A big win for Oliver.

Oliver had one of the best chins in boxing 💯

Goes to show you boxing isn't just physical, you have to be 100% mentally on point and your emotional condition should be just as good.

The ultimate battle is with oneself.

One of the things that made Ali so great was his compassion. When he fought Quarry and saw that he was not able to fight back he refused to hur him and waved for the ref to stop the fight. Lewis was trying to knock out a defenseless man and still couldn't do it.

One of the best ever nicknames for a boxer "The Atomic Bull".

The amount of guilt and second hand embarrassment I felt watching this is profound. The poor guy. I hope nobody laughed at him. If so, damn you fkd up.

I remember this fight. Always wondered why Oliver was acting this way. I was screaming "FIX!"

How strange! I had never seen this before now.

I’m sat watching this in tears. Is this just the algorithm kicking while I’m down. I don’t wanna live right now

Damn that's crazy, I've never heard of this fight, has anyone else ever had a "breakdown" in the ring? Poor guy

Lewis was not taking advantage of the situation!!! He had to box and Mills had to stop the fight!!

Much respect to Lewis for the way he handled the fight! He could have taken McCall out hard several times. He just chose to not hurt the guy! Class!

Oh that reminds me of ol Gregory in grade school … he was around 6 foot tall … missing his front teeth, but soon as any second grader started hitting on him , he’d break down in tears!

Ref should have stopped the match wayback

I remember watching this and thinking “ that dude can’t think of anything but getting to a crack pipe”. Not judging, I’ve been there, not even sure if that was the problem but that’s what his eyes were telling me.Kills your spirit and motivation. Drugs are bad.

I really watching this live with my dad. I was only about 13yo but thought it was terrible that they let this go on for so long. No one in his corner was looking out for him.

Very uncomfortable to watch someone have a breakdown in such a highly stressful situation. Keep fighters safe

I think if stable that guy would of whipped lewis ass

It was like he was on Xanax or a sedated spirit in a foreign body. Recall watching this as a kid-Just as confused now as I was then. Ultimate FEAR & or disinterest smh

It's strange because he seemed completely into the fight until he couldn't find success at hitting Lewis whilst Lewis was getting through Mccalls defense which seemed to frustrate and annoy him

Macalls corner men should be ashamed of themselves, they should have stopped the fight obviously didn’t care for their fighter

Shame a true warrior falls to drugs

That was strange. Don't recall this match up at all.

I heard about this guy... Word is this guy had an Iron Chin. Lenox punches weren't fading him at all.

Today, 21 February 2023 I watched the "highlights" of this phantom "fight" apart from newspaper headlines, that took place nearly 30 years ago, and I gained a monumental respect and admiration for the true champ Lennox Lewis! So-called "Gentleman" Gerry Cooney in the early 1980s played the "White hope" to the hilt by being fed old, over-the-hill mainly Black fighters, and laughing all the way to the bank, however, here's a real GENTLEMAN in the person of Lennox Lewis! George Foreman, about whom some in his corner tried to make noise about "fast count" at the Zaire Rumble in the Jungle in 1974, never failed to appreciate Muhammad Ali for pulling his punches and refraining from delivering the coup de grace as the rumbling defending champion was going down with arms akimbo and totally exposed to an Ali deadly and potentially damaging uppercut. Thanks to Lewis, a true champion -- and shame to Oliver McCall's handlers who, for the love of lucre, heartlessly allowed this fight to take place despite the ominous signs! 'nuff said.

Somebody made that man throw that fight, seems like one of the trainers was in on it

How could they let it continue after the 4th? That was a hard watch. I hope that guy got better.

Mann, this really hurts to watch. Boxing is a helluva way to make a living....

Poor Oliver... Top bloke. Saddens me every time I see this... Glad he's in a better place now.. *Barry*

Been there.. wasn't a boxer, played basketball.. the edge isn't there when drugs take it out of you..become a shell

I’ve never seen a boxer cry during a fight…

I started laughing soon as this came on

Mafia paid him to throw fight early an didn’t want to do it

The poor guy…I hope you make a full recovery and enjoy life buddy

This was my 1st live boxing event. Between rounds when he was walking around the ring I figure we don't see this on commercial breaks.

Oliver was capable of absorbing incredibly powerful blows. Lennox threw and landed enough bombs to take out six top fighters in this bout. McCall`s chin was steel reinforced with titanium.

I used to hate Lennox Lewis but he was merciful that night

Felt sorry for McCall. He seemed to be unmoved by Lewises heavy shots in the beginning. But then he broke down. I could feel his pain of anxiety and that made me so sad. A well-done to Lewis too.

That was easier than a walkover. One of the most boring title defence fight.

This is right around the time boxers starting hiking there boxing trunks all the way up to the belly button. A goofy look and a highly questionable tactic.

"His girl took the last piece of watermelon hiding in the fridge and starts crying after remembering" = Title.

People allow what information and perspective are there, to mislead them. When you say, " maybe there's something ain't right and something really strange that isn't being identified" that means you actually are cultivating the capacity to combine perspective, experience and critical thought. There's no one within 100 feet of this ridiculous event gonna tell it like it is.

Normally in a boxing ring that is one place you can let your demons out but they just overwhelmed the champ

That's the look of a fighter who was tolld to take a dive but couldnt

You seing the boxer but don't seing the man, you seing the man but don't seing the boxer 🥊

This happened too early, two decades early.

Without Mike Tyson in the ring, this is pretty much what all heavyweight matches look like. Not worth anyone’s time.

The fighter threw the fight. He was force to lose the fight. An investigation should have been conducted. The crying part was because he did not want to take a dive, he realized he could beat the other fighter. The face on his trainer and assistant knew what went down! 🥊

Lewis didn't win this rematch, McCall buzzed out. Had he have had his wit's about him, he'd have beaten Lewis again. It wasn't anything like the Rachman rematch, where Rachman was actually there and wanting to fight, McCall was in a different zone, yet never got remotely hurt. Despite not even defending himself.🙄