Former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall still appears in the US heavyweight rankings at the age of 60, an unusual entry that immediately raises questions about how those rankings are calculated.
BoxRec currently ranks McCall 51st among American heavyweights and in the top 250 in the world, which puts the “Atomic Bull” ahead of several energetic fighters.
Below McCall are DeAndre Savage (No. 54), Josh Popper (No. 59), Curtis Harper (No. 61), Ed Latimore (No. 70) and Tyrrell Herndon (No. 83).
What stands out about these spots is that many of these players have been much more energetic in recent years, while McCall’s appearances have been constrained. Several of them also faced noticeably stronger opposition.
Oliver McCall’s ranking anomaly
McCall, whose professional career began in 1985, has a record of 61-14-1 with 40 knockouts and remains one of the most recognizable heavyweight champions of the 1990s.
The Chicago native defeated Lennox Lewis to win the WBC title before building one of boxing’s longest-lasting careers.
Despite turning 60, McCall still wrestles occasionally under the Country Box banner. His last appearances were in Nashville, Tennessee, where he recorded wins over Gary Cobia and Stacy Frazier and a draw with Carlos Reyes.
McCall fought just three times in six years and drew once. The level of his opponents doesn’t even register on any significant scale compared to some of the fighters listed around him, especially Tyrrell Herndon, who could reasonably be rated higher simply for surviving a seven-round loss to Deontay Wilder.
The anomaly raises a broader question. Is this just a quirk of the ranking system or something that requires further explanation?
It is known that BoxRec uses a points-based formula, but it is unclear whether the calculations are currently fully automated and whether human supervision still plays a role in determining the order.
Country box
Mike Tyson Rating
For context, Mike Tyson’s return to Jake Paul – when Tyson was two years younger than the current McCall – placed the former undisputed champion at No. 74 in the United States and No. 338 in the world.
That ranking was about a hundred places below McCall’s current global standing, even though Tyson’s return attracted much more attention and faced a much more vital opponent.
McCall turned professional at the age of 19, meaning the former heavyweight champion is still appearing in the rankings more than forty years after his debut.
On this basis, the existence of a plain nostalgia factor can probably be ruled out.
Instead, the situation indicates that algorithm-based rankings can sometimes produce results that do not reflect activity or opposition.
Whether the breakdown reflects a system working exactly as designed or an anomaly worthy of closer examination is a fair question.
About the author
Phil Jay is a seasoned boxing journalist with over 15 years of experience covering the global fight scene. As editor-in-chief of World Boxing News since 2010, Jay has interviewed dozens of world champions and covered boxing’s biggest nights in the ring. View all articles by Phil Jay.
“Well, he has his team there and I’m not criticizing anyone, but in both fights his tactics weren’t good,” Peter said in an interview with Sport Boxing.
“It worked out badly because look, if we have a little guy here who can throw, let’s say, a welterweight who can throw a thousand punches, and we have a heavyweight, will a heavyweight fighter throw a thousand punches with him? No.”
“Or maybe he’ll step in and take one good shot? Absolutely.”
“So basically yes, the strategy was just wrong. It doesn’t mean Usyk was better than him. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t say anything. You misunderstand the tactics and they are wrong.
“And you know, when you look at Usyk’s structure and what he does, when he distances himself and tries to box an elite boxer who is lighter than you and who is giving away pounds, he will ping you all over the shop. That should be noticed,” Peter Fury said.
Tyson Fury announced his return earlier this year and is expected to have a preparatory fight before the start of his scheduled series with Anthony Joshua. Queensbury promoter Frank Warren recently confirmed that Fury’s next opponent could be announced in the coming days, with the long-awaited fight against Joshua expected to take place later this year.
Usyk remains at the top of the heavyweight division and has been ordered to fight WBC interim champion Agit Kabayel. Warren also confirmed that negotiations for the fight are ongoing.
Fury’s third meeting with Usyk has not been announced. Peter Fury, however, remains convinced that the strategy used in the first two fights determined the result.
Jorge Kahwagi achieved something almost impossible in professional boxing. The Mexican politician retired with a perfect record of 12-0, knocked out every opponent he faced, and finished his entire career in just 15 rounds.
On paper, this looks like one of the most devastating runs the sport has ever seen. In fact, many boxing fans wondered if they even believed it.
Perfect record
Kahwagi turned professional in 2001, despite having no boxing experience. Over the next fourteen years, he set an undefeated record, won regional titles, and never once heard the final bell.
Twelve fights brought twelve victories. All twelve victories were by knockout in just fifteen rounds.
The numbers are tough to understand even now.
Several of Kahwagi’s opponents entered the ring in defeat. Others seemed hopelessly outmatched.
But the record continued to grow as the politician and businessman rose through the cruiserweight ranks without ever being seriously tested.
By the time he retired in 2015 after returning from a ten-year hiatus for one final fight, Kahwagi owned one of boxing’s most remarkable undefeated records.
Why fans never bought it
The controversy surrounding Kahwaga was not in itself. This is how some of these victories turned out.
His last fight against Ramon Olivas remains the fight most frequently mentioned in discussions about Kahwagi’s career. The break came after seemingly minimal contact, prompting criticism from fans and observers.
Doubts have already surrounded previous victories, including the victory over veteran Roberto Coelho.
Whether these doubts were justified or not, the damage was done and many fans never accepted Kahwagi’s record at face value.
WBC
Boxing has seen this before
Kahwagi’s record may be extraordinary, but in boxing there is always controversy when it comes to results.
As WBN reports, while John Riel Casimero faces a fight-fixing investigation in 2025, debates continue to arise in the contemporary era about what happens inside the ropes.
Long before that, Roy Jones Jr. denied winning Olympic gold in Seoul despite dominating Park Si-hun in what many still consider the greatest heist in boxing history.
More than thirty years later, Park returned the medal to Jones.
The Kahwagi case falls into a different category, but the result is often the same. Once fans stop believing what they’re watching, the debate never really stops.
Still one of the strangest
Few fighters retire with a perfect record, and even fewer retire after every knockout victory.
Kahwagi handled both, finishing his entire professional career in just 15 innings, and those numbers remain remarkable.
More than a decade after his retirement, the debate surrounding his record has never really died down.
That’s why Jorge Kahwagi’s perfect 12-0 record remains one of the strangest in boxing history.
About the author
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.
One of the most coveted fights in boxing right now is the lithe heavyweight clash between unified champion Dmitry Bivol and WBC ruler David Benavidez for the undisputed 175-pound crown.
However, two-division world champion Teofimo Lopez believes that the fight could end in a “massacre”.
“The Mexican Monster” has since won the unified cruiserweight crown, but maintains he would be willing to cut weight to face Bivol and claim the undisputed honors.
Speaking on Inside The Ring programLopez renamed Benavidez the “Massacre Monster” when discussing the potential fight, believing the age difference between the two lithe heavyweight champions could be crucial to the outcome of the fight.
“I’m going to call Benavidez a ‘massacre monster’ because, man, [that performance against Ramirez] it was nasty. It’s really nasty, really.
“He [Benavidez] enters its flowering period, while the other [Bivol] is on the way out. You have to think about these things too.”
Bivol fulfilled his IBF obligation by defending his belts against Michael Eifert last weekend, but the WBO ordered him to face mandatory challenger Callum Smith in order to retain the WBO belt.
As a result, it appears that a potential Bivol-Benavidez clash will have to wait until 2027, with Beterbiev also being considered for the trilogy.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
Opinions & Features1 year ago
MMA1 year ago
Results1 year ago
Results1 year ago
Video1 year ago
Analysis1 year ago
Video1 year ago
Results1 year ago