Lennox Lewis was KO’d by a fighter for the first time who wept in the ring in the rematch three years later

Lennox Lewis is one of the all-time greats in boxing, but even he suffered the occasional shock knockout loss from time to time.

With wins over legends like Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, he is rightly seen as a Heavyweight legend in boxing circles.

The British-Canadian fighter has the distinction of beating every fighter he faced, including winning rematches against anybody who ever put an L on his record in the ring.

This included his 1994 fight with the unassuming Oliver McCall, who came out of nowhere to hand Lennox Lewis the first loss of his professional career.

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Lennox Lewis was beaten for the first time by Oliver McCall in 1994

Lewis looked unbeatable in 1994 when he stepped into the ring with the unfancied McCall.

The British fighter was the WBC Heavyweight champion, having been awarded the belt after Riddick Bowe was forced to vacate it in 1993.

He put on three impressive defenses against Tony Tucker, Frank Bruno, and Phil Jackson before booking a Wembley Arena bout with the unremarkable American Oliver McCall.

Despite his perfectly acceptable 24-5 record, McCall shocked Lewis in just the second round of their 24 September 1994 bout after an aggressive start to the first round.

McCall dodged a wild right hand from the champion before landing one of his own, dropping Lewis to the canvas in a massive shock in London.

Lewis managed to get to his feet, but he was clearly shaky on his legs. Despite answering the referee’s count, he was deemed unable to continue, and McCall earned an unlikely victory and world championship title win.

Oliver McCall was sent to a psychiatric ward for his exploits in the rematch in 1997

Initially refused a rematch, Lewis went on to beat IBC Heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison for the world title in one of the four fights he won in the build-up to a 1997 return against McCall.

While the first fight was shocking, this was downright weird. The previously impressive McCall was controlled throughout the first three rounds of the bout, offering very little in the way of offense.

He began acting strangely, refusing to return to his corner after the third round, and began circling the ring until the beginning of the fourth round.

McCall spent the fourth round avoiding Lewis, as he dropped his gloves and turned his back to the champion in a bizarre performance.

He did the same in the fifth round, this time weeping openly as he cried while refusing to do any sort of damage to an angry and bemused Lewis.

The referee finally saw enough and awarded the TKO win to Lewis, while McCall was sent to a psychiatric ward for his mental breakdown in the ring.