Mike McCallum

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 01 Dec 2003, 19:53

Just watched McCallum v Watson again. It struck me yet again what a fantastic fighter McCallum was, he really could do it all, had every shot in the book, and did it all so seamlessly, so hard to hit him with a clean shot, good power, great bodyshots, always in good shape, even at 33 he was at his peak against Watson. Oh, and he had a great chin too.

Probably the most complete all around fighter of his era, but sadly never got the defining fights that would have made his name, but titles in 3 weight divisions is hardly a bad haul. No wonder Manny Steward said that of all the fighters he ever trained, McCallum was the most naturally gifted. Steward said that with McCallum he would just pick things up so easily and so quickly.

As you can probably tell, I have a real soft spot for McCallum. I would have loved to have seen him against Duran, Hearns, Leonard and Hagler. Leonard he would never have beaten, Hagler I doubt also, but I think Duran and Hearns at light middle or middleweight would have been well within his abilities.

Possibly the greatest ever Jr Middleweight.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 01 Dec 2003, 21:01

To see how great Mike was, watch his get out of jail fight with Julian Jackson, a mini classic.

Greatest fighter of his era has to go to Leonard though hasn't it?

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 02 Dec 2003, 06:02

Whilst Leonard was the better fighter, I think that is mainly because he had more natural gifts than McCallum, he had much greater speed. McCallum for me though, had more of an all-around boxing ability.
,

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 02 Dec 2003, 11:27

McCallum was a very good fighter, BUT I felt he did have some limitations exposed by Sumbu Kalambay in their first fight, when he just boxed circles around him all the way and pretty much outclassed him. I suppose McCallum must've fixed some of those, though, since he did win the rematch.

Some other things about McCallum...

Even as early as his fight with Steve Collins, I felt McCallum showed signs of aging. In that fight, he was pretty much kicking Collins' ass for about 5 or 6 rounds (Collins was a 16-fight novice at the time), and then all of a sudden McCallum just totally ran out of gas and really had to struggle the rest of the way. If McCallum was ever great, I think it was ONLY ever as a jr. middleweight, because he was probably really past his prime even when he first moved up to 160.

Also, McCallum was blatantly robbed in the 2nd Toney fight. That ranks among the worst decisions I've ever seen. McCallum totally dominated the fight. I couldn't fuckin believe the decision when it was announced. And that was when McCallum was DEFINITELY past his prime. You notice Toney would never fight him again until McCallum was totally shot, and Toney even had trouble with him then too.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 02 Dec 2003, 13:39

The Keed wrote:Also, McCallum was blatantly robbed in the 2nd Toney fight. That ranks among the worst decisions I've ever seen. McCallum totally dominated the fight. I couldn't fuckin believe the decision when it was announced. And that was when McCallum was DEFINITELY past his prime. You notice Toney would never fight him again until McCallum was totally shot, and Toney even had trouble with him then too.

Hey Keed, you may want to also copy that little nugget to "Seriously, James Toney has just one real loss" (or whatever the f*** it's called ;)) thread on the Current Scene forum, if you haven't done so already. Toney has more than one dodgy decision on his record. None of which should keep him from being thought of as anything other than one of the finest all-around fighters of his era, but let's face it, there were long stretches in his career where his consistency and desire were sorely lacking.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 03 Dec 2003, 12:03

I think McCallum was great. Never seen the Collins fight, possibly
McCallum was struggling with the weight.

Kalambay was a very good fighter in his own right, but patchy, he really did beat some fighters he wasn't supposed to beat.

McCallum wasn't much of a mover, that was his major flaw, and he could be outboxed, mind you, try telling that to Don Curry.

Steve M · Post by **Steve M** » 03 Dec 2003, 13:54

He still gave Roy Jones a lot of problems early in that fight and he was well past his best.

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 04 Dec 2003, 09:47

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I think McCallum was great. Never seen the Collins fight, possibly
McCallum was struggling with the weight.

I would doubt that... I think that was only his first defense of the 160 pound title, and he would fight at that weight for another 2 or 3 years.

McCallum was already about 33 years old then.

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 04 Dec 2003, 09:49

Eric the Viking wrote:
The Keed wrote:Also, McCallum was blatantly robbed in the 2nd Toney fight. That ranks among the worst decisions I've ever seen. McCallum totally dominated the fight. I couldn't fuckin believe the decision when it was announced. And that was when McCallum was DEFINITELY past his prime. You notice Toney would never fight him again until McCallum was totally shot, and Toney even had trouble with him then too.
Hey Keed, you may want to also copy that little nugget to "Seriously, James Toney has just one real loss" (or whatever the f*** it's called ;)) thread on the Current Scene forum, if you haven't done so already. Toney has more than one dodgy decision on his record. None of which should keep him from being thought of as anything other than one of the finest all-around fighters of his era, but let's face it, there were long stretches in his career where his consistency and desire were sorely lacking.

But Eric, Toney wasn't motivated for that fight, so the loss doesn't count.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 04 Dec 2003, 11:39

The Keed wrote:But Eric, Toney wasn't motivated for that fight, so the loss doesn't count.

Don't forget the oysters. Bad oysters! Keep that up and I'm gonna make chowder out of you!

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 04 Dec 2003, 13:48

Record-related question: McCallum's BoxRecord lists him only having been knocked down by Tiozzo. But Jones Jr. had him down, too. Does anyone know of any other KDs that may be missing from Mike's record? (None of which is meant to say Mike didn't have a very good chin.)

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 04 Dec 2003, 14:05

Eric the Viking wrote:Record-related question: McCallum's BoxRecord lists him only having been knocked down by Tiozzo. But Jones Jr. had him down, too. Does anyone know of any other KDs that may be missing from Mike's record? (None of which is meant to say Mike didn't have a very good chin.)

Don't think so Eric, at least I don't recall him ever getting knocked over in his prime.
Only time I ever saw him hurt was vs Julian Jackson, and he somehow stayed on his feet even then.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 04 Dec 2003, 14:15

MightyWarrior wrote:Only time I ever saw him hurt was vs Julian Jackson, and he somehow stayed on his feet even then.

...And we all know what happened a few minutes later in that fight. Pretty good recovery powers, I'd say.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 04 Dec 2003, 14:38

Note to the eds.: McCallum was down in the 10th vs. Jones Jr.

I've done some more online digging and found that the KDs vs. Tiozzo and Jones are in fact the only 2 of McCallum's career.

Bit of McCallum trivia (not hard, just says a lot about his skills - see if you can answer it without sneaking a peek at the compubox records): which compubox record did McCallum set in 1991?

McCallum won titles in multiple divisions from jr. middle to light-heavy (although interestingly enough he more or less skipped super middle along the way), but I've always thought he was at his best at 154. How would you guys rank him among the best Jr. middles of the past 25 years?

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 04 Dec 2003, 16:14

It was obvious that Jones had an enormous amount of respect for McCallum, who was 40 years old.

After knocking McCallum down, he made no real attempt to

One thing which impressed me about McCallum was how unflappable he was in the ring. Against Curry, he was getting hit by some real hard shots, and I remember his knees buckling, but not for one moment did he look desperate.

I would rate McCallum as the top Jr Middleweight. Leonard and Duran didn't stick around long enough at the weight. For what it's worth I think McCallum would have cleaned Terry Norris' clock.

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 04 Dec 2003, 17:41

Hey Eric,

I added the bit about Jones knocking him down... and yes, the Tiozzo KD was the first KD of McCallum's career (which I also just added), which just goes to show how shot McCallum was by the time Jones decided to fight him. :P

As for your trivia question, McCallum has the Compubox record for most punches landed in a single round from his fight with Nicky Walker.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 04 Dec 2003, 18:38

Fine work as usual, Mr. Keed - thanks.

As for McCallum being shot by the times Jones fought him, notice who fought him next. ;)

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 04 Dec 2003, 18:44

p.s.: Do you have the official scores for the McCallum/Toney rubber match?

Might also be nice to add an explanatory comment about their Cruiserweight bout along the lines of: "When asked by WBU officials whether they wouldn't rather meet at light-heavyweight, McCallum and Toney just looked at each other and laughed." ;)

p.p.s.: For those not familiar with the stat, McCallum landed 93 punches in one round vs. Walker. Ninety-three landed punches! That's more than in many heavyweight 12-rounders...

The Keed · Post by **The Keed** » 04 Dec 2003, 20:01

Eric the Viking wrote:p.s.: Do you have the official scores for the McCallum/Toney rubber match?

No, sorry.

However, I think I do remember reading that the fight was even after 8 rounds, or maybe even that McCallum was ahead. But Toney came on down the stretch when McCallum tired, and this time he clearly won (the ONLY fight vs. McCallum that Toney really ever won IMO).