On April 23, 1993, a 34-year-old Francesco Damiani (30-1, 24 KOs) and a 28-year-old American boxer Oliver McCall (21-5, 14 KOs) met in the ring.
Damiani came in to the fight on a 3-fight win streak with a 77% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 7 months and 11 days. McCall was on a 2-fight win streak with a 53% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 2 months and 24 days.
Oliver McCall stopped Francesco Damiani via TKO in the 8th round. McCall improves his record to 22-5 (15 KOs), while Damiani adds a loss to his record at 30-2.
On January 11, 1991, the 32-year-old WBO heavyweight world champion, Francesco Damiani (27-0, 23 KOs), faced a 29-year-old American boxer Ray Mercer (16-0, 11 KOs), in a title defense fight.
Damiani came in to the fight on a 27-fight win streak with a 85% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 2 months and 22 days. Mercer was on a 16-fight win streak with a 68% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 5 months and 6 days.
Ray Mercer stopped the champion via KO in the 9th round of the 12-round world-title fight, winning the first world title of his career, and is crowned the new WBO heavyweight champion. Mercer improves his record to 17-0 (12 KOs), while Damiani adds a loss to his record at 27-1.