Elijah McCall Interview

The heavyweight boxer Elijah McCall(2-0-1) who is the son of former WBC champion Oliver McCall, was recently interviewed by Charles White ahead of this fight coming up on May 22nd where he will fighting on the same card as his father. This is how the interview went:


CW: What’s up Elijah? How you been man?

EM: I’m doing good.

CW: You turned down a football scholarship to take up boxing. What drove you to do that, and does your father approve?

EM: It was my own decision you know, from the past that is what I always wanted to do. And I got the urge more as I got bigger and matured. And once I asked my father he didn’t approve much, he just wanted me to go my own way but then he saw that I was really serious about it.

CW: What was it like to see your father knock out Lennox Lewis?

EM: Oh it was a great experience. I remember my dad jumping up and down in the ring. And then seeing my mother and my grandmother up there. Everybody was real happy and I just dreamed of doing it myself one day..

CW: Do you have any amateur background?

EM: No.

CW: Does your father train you?

EM: Yes I’m trained by my father.

CW: What does your daily training routine consist of?

EM: A whole lot of floor work; you know trying to get my ring generalship together. And more trying to stay consistent with what we are doing. Running. And sparring. We are sparring each other a lot, so I can get more relaxed in the ring because I didn’t have that amateur experience. That’s just it, trying to be more consistent with my punches and my technique. And my mechanics, my boxing mechanics. I feel like I have it, but I just have to be more consistent in what I am doing to bring it out of me.

CW: You are now 2-0 with one draw as a professional fighter, what happened in that fight with Morales, where you received a draw?

EM: That was more of an experience thing. Before the fight a lot of people were coming in that previously fought him and telling me that he was going to run around and move a lot and stay on the outside. And coming in I was just trying to cut off the ring and stuff, trying to get on the inside because he was going to move around, but he did the total opposite on me and closed the distance. He held on a little bit. The referee allowed him to hold and everything, but his tactics against me were just really to close the void between me and him and not allow me to create the distance I need to put the power on my punches. He did a real good job with that, and I had never had a chance to experience that. It kind of confused me a bit, and so I didn’t really catch on until the third or fourth round. I still thought I won the fight, but I could have done better if I had just stuck to my game plan.

CW: Many fans have seen your fight with Yohan Banks on youtube, what was it like to dispatch such a big guy so quickly?

EM: It was kind of funny because big guys like that; I like to chop them down. The smaller ones I really don’t take as a challenge because they are my size and kind of weak. The bigger ones are the ones that I want to hit and show them that this is my house and I got the power. So going in and taking them out so fast let’s the people know to give me my respect as a McCall and I am bringing the power, same as my dad.

CW: You have a fight coming up May 22nd on the same card as your father, what does it mean to you to be fighting on the same card as your dad?

EM: It is an honor, a real blessing to be fighting on the same card. I never dreamed of this happening. I always thought that I would be the main event, with my own card, with my dad being in the corner watching with my family around. Being the undercard and not the main event, I am just opening up. I am setting the stage and starting the night off, so I’ve got to start the night off with a bang and my dad will end the night with a bang. It is a wonderful feeling for all of this to happen.

CW: Do you know anything about your opponent Chad Davis?

EM: Not really other than he is from Phoenix, Arizona (laughs).

CW: How has training camp gone for this fight?

EM: Training camp is going really good. I am in great shape and my punches are coming along very well, I am very sharp right now. My movement is a whole lot better, my upper body movement. I am getting more into moving my upper body because I am not going to run through everybody that I get a chance to fight, so I’ve got to polish my skills off a little more. You know, upper body movement, getting more angles in so my knockouts look more spectacular.

CW: What weight do you plan on coming in at?

EM: 220 lbs.

CW: What are your ultimate plans and goals for professional boxing?

EM: My ultimate plan for boxing is to be the heavyweight champion of the world. The belt that I want is the WBC belt. That is the belt that my dad had and the belt that I claim the ultimate belt. There is nothing less for me. I don’t want to be a journeyman fighter or a contender, you know, I just want to be the flat out best, the champion.


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