While it remains uncertain, Mike Tyson plans a comeback this year in an exhibition match against Floyd Mayweather. If and when it happens, the bout would make Tyson, who turns 60 this June, the oldest active former champion. The boxing great already holds several records, including becoming the youngest ever heavyweight champion and compiling a 40-year professional stretch.

Now, one of those records may face a serious challenge. Oliver McCall will never break Tyson’s standing as the youngest man to win a heavyweight title. However, by planning a comeback this year, the former heavyweight champion, who once defeated Lennox Lewis, may threaten Tyson’s professional longevity record. Just 41 days separate McCall from surpassing it. That possibility came into focus after McCall’s promoter, Country Box’s Jimmy Adams, shared details about his return to professional competition.

“He is fighting again,” Adams told World Boxing News (WBN). “For real, Oliver called me personally to say he wants to go again, and I’m looking to get him a date soon on Country Box.”

Specific details remain limited, but if the fight happens as Adams suggested, McCall would move past Tyson’s mark. Although separated by only a few months, both heavyweights began their professional careers in 1985. Tyson’s journey carried him to the top of the sport before legal trouble and suspension derailed his momentum, leading to his retirement in June 2005.

Nearly two decades later, Mike Tyson returned to the ring to face Jake Paul. The November 15, 2024 bout marked his 59th professional appearance and extended his career timeline even further. Counting only his officially active years gives Tyson a 39-year presence in professional boxing.

McCall, by contrast, built his resume on steady activity. His career peaked in 1994 when he knocked out Lennox Lewis to win the WBC heavyweight title. A year later, he defeated heavyweight legend Larry Holmes. After that run, however, his career settled into a long stretch of bouts marked by notable losses.

His last fight came in 2019, when he stopped Hugo Lomeli in Mexico. Five years later, he returned to face Stacy Frazier in a four-round bout in Tennessee. This past June, he fought to a draw against Carlos Reyes at the Texas Troubadour Theatre, which has hosted three of his recent appearances.

From his 1985 debut through June 2025, McCall’s professional career spans 14,458 days – just 41 days shy of Tyson’s 14,499-day benchmark.

The attempt to topple Mike Tyson that never took off

Still, the record only changes if McCall steps back into the ring. A previous attempt by another heavyweight to rewrite one of Tyson’s milestones never materialized. Moses Itauma, often compared to Tyson, once appeared positioned to challenge the record for youngest heavyweight champion.

That opportunity faded when Itauma, who was still 20 last year, could not secure a title fight.

Speaking with the BBC, the rising contender, who now targets unified champion Oleksandr Usyk as part of his long-term plans, admitted he shifted his focus away from Tyson’s record.

“When I turned professional, it was about chasing that record. Now that record is off the books, I am just trying to take my time with it,” Itauma said last May. “In the first two months of me being professional, I realized that goal was impossible. I was naive when I said that. I said that before I turned professional. I didn’t realize how much you can’t control in this boxing game. You think since I turned professional, the world champions have been Daniel Dubois, Oleksandr Usyk, and Tyson Fury. There’s no way in two years I would have put myself in a position to fight them.”

With Itauma’s pursuit shelved, the spotlight now turns squarely to McCall. One more sanctioned fight would push him past Tyson’s mark and secure his place in boxing history.