Oliver McCall vs. Frank Bruno lost his first defence against Mike Tyson and retired shortly afterwards. McCall returned to the ring 6 months later when he beat future WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev. In 1997 he fought a rematch again Lennox Lewis for the now vacant WBC title, which he lost in bizarre fashion as he refused to fight and started crying. Confirmed bouts: Oliver McCall vs. Frank Bruno Oliver McCall vs. Frank Bruno, billed as "The Empire Strikes Back", was a professional boxing match contested on 2 September 1995 for the WBC Heavyweight Championship. After Oliver McCall narrowly beat former champion Larry Holmes in
Frank Bruno the WBA heavyweight title. After once again leading on the cards for most of the fight, he ran out of steam and was defeated by knockout in round eleven. Bruno once again got himself back into title contention with wins over former contender James Tillis and journeymen Reggie Gross and Chuck Gardner. In October 1987 Bruno faced the veteran Joe Bugner in an all British match up. Bugner although long past his peak, was coming off impressive wins over Greg Page, James Tillis and David Bey. Bruno won by TKO in the 8th round, the referee stopping the bout, although