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Jameel McCline-Big Time Never Came


BoztheMadman
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One of the top heavyweight contenders at the beginning of this century, Jameel McCline for a while looked like he could become a world champion. At 6'6 and typically weighing between 250 and 270, but still in good shape and with a good movement, he certainly looked the part. However, he lacked the big punch and also was not that hard to hit, perhaps. Against the top guys, he could hurt you and knock you down, but not knock you out. At least not until he landed a lot on you. He did score knockdowns against guys like Chris Byrd, Shannon Briggs and Samuel Peter. He also holds a first-round stoppage over Michael Grant, tho that was by a fluke. Fighting between 1995 and 2012, McCline had a long career and has fought many of the best heavyweights of his time, but ultimately fell short of achieving the big goal. The man most credited for that failure is Wladimir Klitschko, who stopped him when he was at his peak, steadily climbing the ranks. After that, McCline would still get a few important fights, but would lose them all.

 

Born into poverty in Harlem on 20 May 1970, young Jameel lived in group homes, foster homes and orphanages before learning to live independently. McCline discovered boxing and planned to become a professional, but went behind bars for 5 years for gun running before that could happen. He therefore had to turn pro at the age of 25, in 1995. He claims he had no amateur experience. His first fight was on 10 October and he won by TKO1 against Brian Nix. He lost his second fight by KO1 to the 6-0 Gary Bell. After scoring another knockout in one round, he fought to a majority draw and then lost again, but this time on points, against Greg Pickrom. He then reeled off 17 consecutive wins, 12 by ko, before drawing against Ron Guerrero in January 2000. After drawing again against Sherman Williams in May, he again went on a winning streak and in May next year he beat Al "Ice" Cole by UD10, knocking him down once. He was then given a fight against Michael Grant, who was making a comeback after being brutally stopped by Lennox Lewis, 21 July 2001 at Caesars Palace. McCline was supposed to be just a stepping stone, another step towards another big fight for Grant. But, it didn't turn out that way. After only about ten seconds, McCline hit Grant with the first punch he threw, a left hook, and Grant hit the canvas, injuring his ankle. He couldn't continue and so, after only 43 seconds, the underdog McCline had won! In his next fight on 1 December, he decisioned the even-larger 6'8 Lance Whitaker by UD12, with the scores of 114-113, 116-112 and 115-112. Whitaker was still considered a solid contender back then. He then got his second important fight against Shannon Briggs, later a WBO-champion, but at the moment considered an underachiever. The fight was on 27 April 2002 at MSG and McCline put Briggs down in round 6 with a left-right and went on to win by another unanimous decision after 10 rounds, 99-90 on all scorecards. He was now ready to take on one of the world titlists, it seemed.

 

His opponent turned out to be then-WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko, standing 6'6 as tall as McCline, but he came in weighing 241 to McCline's muscular 263. Despite the fight being heavily hyped and McCline considered Klitschko's most dangerous opponent so far, both the fight and McCline's performance itself turned out to be a disappointment. It was 7 December at Mandalay Bay and McCline turned in a too cautious performance while Klitschko was also too slow on the offense but still dominant. It wasn't until round 10 that Dr. Steelhammer managed to land a left hook that put McCline down. He got up in time and made it out of the round, but his corner stopped it after that. The scorecards were widely in the champion's favor also, hardly a surprise. This fight pretty much destroyed McCline's aura of dangerousness and made him take a tumble in the ratings of most boxing analysts, as well as fans. He made his comeback by stopping the once-promising but by then a significantly lower rated Charles Shufford by TKO3. He also stopped the 21-0 Cedric Boswell by TKO10 and it would remain Boswell's only loss until 2011. Boswell did better early on with his boxing skills, but McCline turned the fight around in round 9 with a solid right uppercut to the chin which Boswell never recovered from. He also stopped the British Wayne Llewellyn, a journeyman, by TKO1, after scoring three knockdowns. He then challenged Chris Byrd, the reigning IBF-champion and fought him on 13 November 2004 at MSG. Byrd, at 6' feet and 214 pounds was outsized by 6 inches and 56 pounds, but with his cleverness and agility, he got the better of the much slower McCline. Despite putting Byrd down at the end of round 2 with a left hook-right hand combination, McCline was unable to do enough damage to win the fight. The fight was however competitive and Byrd needed a late surge to win by a split decision in the end. McCline then fought the rising contender Calvin Brock, who was 24-0 but at 6'2 and 218 also much smaller than Big Time McCline. Once again, McCline scored a knockdown with his trademark left-right in round 7, but failed to win enough rounds and subsequently lost by UD10. After also dropping a decision to Zuri Lawrence, he scored two first-round knockouts and then beat Marcus McGhee and Rob Calloway by UD10. In July 2006, he won the minor WBO NABO title by UD10 against Terry Smith.

 

He then for the first time took on someone who outsized him significantly: the 7-foot and 322-pound Russian Nikolay Valuev, who held the WBA title. The fight was held in Basel, Switzerland and was the first world heavyweight title fight to be held in that country. McCline brought the fight to Valuev, but got unlucky and injured his knee while throwing a punch in the third round and had to retire after that. That was on 20 January 2007 and on 6 October that year he fought Samuel Peter "The Nigerian Nightmare", who was 28-1 (that 1 coming courtesy of Wladimir Klitschko) and a rising contender and knockout artist. McCline put the shorter Peter down once in the second and twice in the third round, but once again, the smaller man made a comeback and won by the scores of 115-110, 113-112 and 115-111. Next year on 8 March he fought John Ruiz in a WBC eliminator and lost to him by wide scores. It was clear McCline was past his best, but he scored one more somewhat significant victory when he beat Mike Mollo by UD12 in another WBC eliminator. However, he got no offer for a title fight this time. He was knocked out for the second time by Chris Arreola in 4 rounds in April 2009 and from there on, fought only sporadically before retiring in 2012, getting stopped in 2 rounds in his last fight by Magomed Abdusalamov. His record is 41 wins with 24 ko's, 13 losses (3 by ko) and 3 draws.

 

Jameel McCline was a capable fighter but because of his size, lacked the conditioning to fight well in the late rounds, which he most often had to in big fights, due to not being a too hard puncher. He had power, but it wasn't a one-punch kind, definitely. He had rather good boxing skills for his size however and was tough, come forward fighter who was seldom in a boring fight.

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