McCall stops Akinwande

McCall (right) won it with just 47 seconds left of the fight

By BBC Sport Online's Sanjeev Shetty in Las Vegas

Oliver McCall ended his exile from boxing with a dramatic last round knockout of Britain's Henry Akinwande.

The American landed a perfect right hand to the chin of his opponent who was ahead on the scorecards at the time.

The giant Akinwande, who stands six feet and seven inches, fell slowly to the floor and barely stirred during the ten count.

McCall, who knocked out Lennox Lewis to win the World Boxing Council Heavyweight title in 1994 before losing it to Frank Bruno a year later, is one of the sport's most desperate characters.

In 1997, his rematch with Lewis was stopped in the fifth round because the American refused to fight back.

  Career records after McCall victory

Oliver McCall
W39 (KO29) L7

Henry Akinwande
W40 (KO26) L2 D1

Addiction to drugs and alcohol have ruined his career and his participation in this fight depended on four days release from his parole officer.

A large roar from the crowd greeted this dramatic victory, perhaps in acknowledgement of the difficult times he has endured.

For Akinwande, the loss will be heart-breaking, as he too has spent years on the sidelines battling to overcome the effects of hepatitis.

He held the World Boxing Organisation title during the mid 1990s but has generally been regarded as of boxing's more negative fighters.

In his only other loss, he was disqualified for persistent holding against Lennox Lewis in 1997.

Potent left jab

For the majority of the early rounds, Akinwande controlled the action with his potent left jab as McCall ambled into the range of the giant British fighter.

By round six, McCall was finding the range with his wide hooks and seemed to trouble Akinwande, who suddenly seemed short of stamina.

Round nine was the best of the fight, with Akinwande controlling the first half of it with his jab before the American landed two straight rights that seemed to hurt the British fighter.

Akinwande needed only to hold on for another 47 seconds until McCall backed him to the ropes and landed as good a right hand as one could hope to see.

McCall's record improves to 39 wins, seven losses with 29 knockouts, while Akinwande's record falls to 40-2 with one draw and 26 knockouts.

In the first fight of the night, Venezuela's Yober Ortega claimed the vacant World Boxing Association Super-bantamweight title with a fourth round technical knockout of compatriot Jose Rojas.