By James Slater: Unbeaten but largely untested Polish heavyweight hope Mariusz Wach will take a major step up in class on November 5th at The Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, as he will face former World Boxing Council (WBC) ruler Oliver McCall in a scheduled 12-rounder. At stake will be the WBC International belt held by the 31-year-old “Viking.”
Tickets for the fight have now gone on sale (via Globalboxing.com, and the fight is up on Boxrec).
Wach, a giant of a man at a little under 6’8” and around 250-pounds, is unbeaten at 25-0(13) yet he has never before been in with a guy as tough, as experienced and as dangerous as “The Atomic Bull.” McCall, 56-11(37) may be 46-years-old now, but he is still in possession of the granite chin that has served him so well throughout his long, up-and-down career. McCall is also coming off a good win over the much younger Damian Wills, who he out-pointed over ten back in August.
There was talk of the former WBC king going over to New Zealand to fight Kali Meehan, but he now goes in with Wach.
McCall has fought and defeated giants before (Lance Whitaker most recently) and the veteran knows all about pacing himself in a fight and he knows how to land punches that count. This will be the acid test for Wach, no doubt about it. A distance fight looks a good bet. McCall has never even tasted the canvas, let alone stayed there, while Wach has the confidence every unbeaten fighter carries.
Wach has been ten-rounds once but he has never been taken 12. This could change next month. How will the giant’s stamina hold up if he is taken into the later rounds? Will McCall suddenly grow old overnight in this one? Which fighter will have the most desire to win?
McCall, if he comes in in the best shape he can be in – and there’s no reason to think McCall will turn up just for a payday here – could upset an up-and-coming fighter some expect to go far. There was even talk a while back of Wach going in with Wladimir Klitschko at the end of this year (that will not happen now, seeing as Wladmir will next face Jean Marc Mormeck). All the big plans the Pole and his team have will go out of the widow if McCall has his way.
A tough fight to pick, seeing as how we know so little about Wach (his biggest win to date came against a grossly overweight, never that good in the first place Kevin McBride, who he KO’d in the 4th back in July) – I lean towards McCall pulling off a close, perhaps debatable, points win.
Certainly, Wach will make one huge statement if he can become the first man to halt McCall.