How many of you remember that Oliver McCall knocked out Lennox Lewis in 1994 to win the WBC Heavyweight championship?

How many of you know that McCall fought as recently as May 22 in Las Vegas and hopes to pull a George Foreman at the age of 44 and regain the heavyweight championship?

And how many of you realize that McCall called Racine his home for two years?

It's true. One day during the summer of 1979, a 14-year-old McCall sneaked onto a Greyhound Bus headed out of Chicago after a falling out with his father and headed to Racine to live with his mother, who then lived on 3 Mile Road.

After attending Jerstad-Agerholm as an eighth-grader during the 1979-80 school year, McCall started out at Horlick in 1980. When his mother moved, McCall transferred to Park, where he played on the junior varsity basketball team during the 1980-81 season.

Nearly 30 years have passed since he relocated to Racine. He has boxed in more than 60 professional fights and his life has ran the gamut from winning the heavyweight championship to stays at drug rehabilitation centers and a backlog of legal issues.

But ask McCall about his memories of Racine and he responds with warm, gregarious answers complete with remarkable detail.

"I played one football game for Jerstad and then quit because somebody stepped on my finger," he said. "Then I went to Horlick, but we moved to 1209 Winslow, so I transferred to Park."

As a forward on Park's junior varsity, McCall played for Bob Hayes, who went on to coach Case to the 1999 WIAA Division 1 state championship. All these years later, so many names in Park's program that year still ring a bell with McCall.

"On the varsity team," McCall said, "(Tony) Visor was our star player and what's the other player's name? I think his name was Logic."

Matt Logic?

"Matt Logic!" he exclaimed. "There you go! Matt Logic! I remember Matt Logic."

McCall recalls scoring a career-high 31 points against Milwaukee Vincent that season, but his true future as an athlete started to be revealed when he moved back to Chicago in 1981 and pursued boxing. Twice he was the champion of the Chicago Golden Gloves and he turned professional in 1985.

"Back when I had three first-round knockouts in the Golden Gloves in Chicago, my first trainer, Arthur Moore, told me, "Oliver, I haven't met anyone with your natural ability since Joe Louis,' " McCall said. "I thought he just said it because he was training me."

But there must have been a basis for what McCall claims Moore told him considering what he went on to accomplish. After a gradual progression up the boxing ranks, McCall finally made history in 1994 when he knocked out Lewis in London for the heavyweight championship.

"I remember a lot about winning it," McCall said. "One of the things I remember most is me and my family playing cards the night before the fight. Don King came into the room and said, 'You all get out of here and let my fighter get some sleep!'

"There was the time difference in London and I was used to being up late at night. I told Don, 'You just get me that car you promised me. I'm winning that title tomorrow.'

"I weighed 231 ¼ pounds. I was in great condition."

McCall went on to defend his championship by winning a decision over 45-year-old former champion Larry Holmes, but hard times were on the near horizon. Personal issues became the epicenter of his career, with a lowlight coming during a rematch against Lewis in 1997.

In what was one of the most bizarre scenes in professional boxing history, McCall refused to fight in the fourth and fifth rounds and started to cry, forcing legendary referee Mills Lane to call the fight.

A dozen years down the road, McCall feels he's conquered his demons to the extent of maybe even taking a shot at the heavyweight championship again.

"My main goal is to obtain one of those belts like George Foreman did," McCall said. "I believe there's a testimony in that. By the will and grace of God, he's bringing me through some things.

"I have the opportunity by the grace of God to be a champion - still, right now. I really think I can do that."

But even if he can't, McCall is gratified that his place in boxing history is secure.

"I'm in the history books," said McCall, who lives in Martinsville, Va., and is the father of four daughters and three sons. "Just like the people who look back on the Jack Johnsons and the Dempseys and the Marcianos, I'm right there now. Who was Oliver McCall? They'll look back and say, 'Hey was the champion.'

"It's history where, one day, who knows? Five, six, eight generations down the road, my great great great great grandkids could look back and say, 'Oh, my grandfather was Oliver McCall. He used to be the champ.'

"That, in itself, holds more than just winning the title. It's a legacy - something you can leave behind."