In 1916, he took on Young Ahearn in another title bout, and rematched with George Chip in a non-title fight, forgoing knockouts in both bouts, but not gaining an advantage in the decisions of the New York Times.
His strenuous schedule with top contenders had begun to wear on McCoy.
Through 1916, he fared better achieving several knockouts against opponents who were of less caliber, before taking on a critical bout with 1926 World Middleweight Champion Harry Greb on April 30, 1917.
 The Pittsburgh Post had Greb winning every round in a match where McCoy seemed clearly outmatched, but was unable to gain a knockout, even in the tenth round where he attempted in vain to land the telling blow.

McCoy finally lost his Middleweight Title on November 14, 1917, in his home city of Brooklyn against Mike O'Dowd, losing by a 6th-round knockout.
The New London Day noted that McCoy was simply unable to fend off the blows of O'Dowd, writing "The men fought toe-to-toe from bell to bell, not because McCoy wished it thus, but because Mike kept boring in and swinging both hands to the head and body.
 Al tried to clinch after every lead, but O'Dowd forced the champion to break away by the fury of his attack."
The Day further noted that McCoy took punishment in the first three rounds but that by the fourth took much heavier blows to the jaw and midsection.
 McCoy was down more than once in the fourth largely from blows to the face, but managed to knock O'Dowd down once with his signature left hook.
 In the sixth round, McCoy was down twice from head and body blows before finally having his cornermen throw in the towel at a count of six on his third knockdown.

He rematched with future middleweight champion Greb on May 13, 1918, demonstrating his willingness to take on top talent even after his loss of the title, but was again outmatched by his stronger, more aggressive opponent.
Though Greb had already defeated some exceptional challengers, McCoy had suffered through forty-six defenses while champion from the toughest of title contenders.
In 1916, he took on Young Ahearn in another title bout, and rematched with George Chip in a non-title fight, forgoing knockouts in both bouts, but not gaining an advantage in the decisions of the New York Times. His strenuous schedule with top contenders had begun to wear on McCoy. Through 1916, he fared better achieving several knockouts against opponents who were of less caliber, before taking on a critical bout with 1926 World Middleweight Champion Harry Greb on April 30, 1917.  The Pittsburgh Post had Greb winning every round in a match where McCoy seemed clearly outmatched, but was unable to gain a knockout, even in the tenth round where he attempted in vain to land the telling blow.
McCoy finally lost his Middleweight Title on November 14, 1917, in his home city of Brooklyn against Mike O'Dowd, losing by a 6th-round knockout. The New London Day noted that McCoy was simply unable to fend off the blows of O'Dowd, writing "The men fought toe-to-toe from bell to bell, not because McCoy wished it thus, but because Mike kept boring in and swinging both hands to the head and body.  Al tried to clinch after every lead, but O'Dowd forced the champion to break away by the fury of his attack." The Day further noted that McCoy took punishment in the first three rounds but that by the fourth took much heavier blows to the jaw and midsection.  McCoy was down more than once in the fourth largely from blows to the face, but managed to knock O'Dowd down once with his signature left hook.  In the sixth round, McCoy was down twice from head and body blows before finally having his cornermen throw in the towel at a count of six on his third knockdown.
He rematched with future middleweight champion Greb on May 13, 1918, demonstrating his willingness to take on top talent even after his loss of the title, but was again outmatched by his stronger, more aggressive opponent. Though Greb had already defeated some exceptional challengers, McCoy had suffered through forty-six defenses while champion from the toughest of title contenders.
Al McCoy (boxer)