Recognizing Mike Mccallums Greatness

[Ezzard]

just out of interest

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lio ... &FORM=VDRE

always found it fascinating

[Datsue]

An interview in 2011 and some of the questions and answers McCallum gave.

Best overall: James Toney -- He wasn’t a complete fighter the first time we fought, and I still believe I won that fight. But he learned in that fight and he got better. He grew with each fight. By our third fight, he was a different fighter, a complete fighter. He was someone who could do it all, fight inside or outside, work offense and defense at the same time, just like me when I was younger. I like to think that I helped James mature as a fighter.

Best boxer: Herol Graham -- He was a pure boxer, a southpaw and very elusive. It wasn’t easy to hit him. He was very smart, very skilled.

Best puncher: Julian Jackson -- He hit me so hard! Julian wasn’t just powerful, he was also real quick. I got caught by a right hand in the first round of our fight and I remember thinking “What’s wrong with my legs?” I tried my best to hide it from him. I knew I had to take him out as soon as I could.

Best defense: Sumbu Kalambay -- I fought many good defensive fighters. Toney had a good defense. Graham was slippery. Jones was fast and slick, but Kalambay is No. 1. I can’t forget about him. He’s the first fighter to beat me and it’s because of his good movement. He was always sliding side to side, very shifty. He was a dangerous boy.

Fastest hands: Jackson -- He was quick, man. That’s why he got so many knockouts. Everyone focused on his power and then he’d get you with a punch you didn’t see. They landed on you -- boom! -- from out of nowhere. Kalambay and Toney were also fast. So was Jones, obviously, but I fought him when I was older and had slowed down a bit.

Fastest feet: Roy Jones -- He had very quick feet. He was elusive just because of his footwork.

Best chin: Steve Collins -- I almost said Toney, but Collins had the best chin. I hit him right on his chin all night and he wouldn‘t budge. I couldn’t hit Toney that much and when I did, he backed off. Collins walked through punches.

Best jab: Donald Curry -- I fought many fighters with good jabs. Kalambay could win fights with just his jab. McCrory had a good, hard jab. But Curry’s was the best. I see why they called him “the Cobra” because he didn’t miss with it. He was a bad man with that jab.

Strongest: Michael Watson -- Oh my God, he was so strong. That’s why that fight was so hard. It was a gruesome fight, 11 rounds of back-and-forth hell.

Smartest: Roy Jones Jr. -- I fought quite a few smart boys in my time. Graham was a cunning S.O.B. I remember him sticking his tongue out at me whenever I’d miss a punch. Kalambay was smart and so was Toney, although he didn’t have the experience to back it up when we first fought. But I think Roy may have been the smartest. He was very clever, which didn’t surprise me. I knew he was sharp. It was like he was always one step ahead of me.


Likewise Tony was interviewed in 2009 and named McCallum in several of the questions

Best fighter: Mike McCallum -- That’s an easy choice, right off the top of my head it’s the Body Snatcher. He was the best fighter I fought at middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight. Out of all the fighters I fought, I respect him the most because he made me think about everything I tried to do. Before McCallum I was just runnin’ in on everyone, but he made me slow down and think for the first time.

Best Boxer: McCallum -- Yup, it’s him again. It’s between McCallum and Michael Nunn, but I gotta go with McCallum because he was a master boxer who wasn’t afraid to stand his ground. Nunn was mostly fast. I admit that he outboxed me for about nine rounds, but my body shots slowed him down. I told him during the fight ‘I’m gonna catch you!’ And I did.

Best defense: McCallum: He was right there in front of me, but I had a hard time hitting him with clean punches. I basically came into my own by fighting him. I learned how to be elusive without running around the ring by fighting Mike McCallum three times.

Best jab: McCallum: Mike’s jab was like a piston. There were other guys I fought who had good jabs, like Nunn and Jones, but they just had speed and they just flicked it. Mike popped that jab with authority. He was an old-school fighter.

Smartest: McCallum: Come on, who do you think it is? Who’s the one fighter I truly respect? You got it, the Body Snatcher, Mike McCallum. I fought my share of boxers who thought they were clever like Roy Jones, Michael Nunn, Montell Griffin, and Reggie Johnson, but they were all scared to really fight. McCallum boxed, he fought, he defended, and he didn’t run all over the ring. He could do all that because he was smart.

Lovely post, thank you.

[Ezzard]

Forget Duran…he was finished a long, long time before this timeframe. Every now and then he’d have a miracle result/performance and he’d be taken seriously again and his fan base re-ignited. But he could really only return to the well sporadically. He was an old fat lightweight without a belt (for most of the time).

Hagler…well…there are plenty of guys in that 2 and a half years he could have fought and should have fought. McCallum’s name is on that list. Leonard would always fall back on that “I’m retired” excuse.

McCallum was the next best fighter out there.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Forget Duran…he was finished a long, long time before this timeframe. Every now and then he’d have a miracle result/performance and he’d be taken seriously again and his fan base re-ignited. But he could really only return to the well sporadically. He was an old fat lightweight without a belt (for most of the time).

Hagler…well…there are plenty of guys in that 2 and a half years he could have fought and should have fought. McCallum’s name is on that list. Leonard would always fall back on that “I’m retired” excuse.

McCallum was the next best fighter out there.

Duran is the one that all this nonsense starts with because he dropped a belt instead of fighting Mike. Again, McCallum never went to Middleweight. I don;t care who the fighter is, you can;t duck someone outside of your division. Especially when they never even made a peep about fighting you. I used to get 4 or 5 magazines a month, none of them had McCallum in them saying "I want Hagler!". Never, it just didn't happen.

Mugabi expressed a desire to fight him, and he got him. The fact that is was an ATG slugfest makes me happy he did. Nobody can be faulted for fighting Hearns and Leonard.

[Rover]

Forget Duran…he was finished a long, long time before this timeframe. Every now and then he’d have a miracle result/performance and he’d be taken seriously again and his fan base re-ignited. But he could really only return to the well sporadically. He was an old fat lightweight without a belt (for most of the time).

Hagler…well…there are plenty of guys in that 2 and a half years he could have fought and should have fought. McCallum’s name is on that list. Leonard would always fall back on that “I’m retired” excuse.

McCallum was the next best fighter out there.

And McCallum was not at middle then. He didn't move up until Marv had lost his title.

[Ezzard]

Me too (on the magazines) but there was talk of McCallum moving up. It was mooted in KO and World Boxing that Curry would face McCallum and the winner get a shot at the Middleweight crown…that was being discussed pre-McCrory unification. And it was suggested again in 86 but reportedly Leonard talked Curry out of moving up to 154 permanently.

McCallum maybe didn’t mouth of like a hip hop legend about the fights…I actually don’t know…but everyone wanted to fight them because of the money involved.

Did Hagler duck him? Of course not. None of them actually ducked him. Is he entitled to moan about the fact that he was the best fighter of the era that none of them faced…definitely.

[Rover]

Me too (on the magazines) but there was talk of McCallum moving up. It was mooted in KO and World Boxing that Curry would face McCallum and the winner get a shot at the Middleweight crown…that was being discussed pre-McCrory unification. And it was suggested again in 86 but reportedly Leonard talked Curry out of moving up to 154 permanently.

McCallum maybe didn’t mouth of like a hip hop legend about the fights…I actually don’t know…but everyone wanted to fight them because of the money involved.

Did Hagler duck him? Of course not. None of them actually ducked him. Is he entitled to moan about the fact that he was the best fighter of the era that none of them faced…definitely.

He chose not to move up until Hagler'd lost his title. He's not entitled to moan about not having gotten a shot at the champion of a division when he (McCallum) wasn't fighting in that division.

[Bricks]

Mccallum wants to moan and moan about how the "other greats" didnt want to fight him but the fact is he wanted to be able to fight Duran,Hagler and SRL when he had no business demanding such matches. Those guys were at a stage when they wanted big/and or superfights. Mccallum was a little impatient.

He should have been able to fight Duran as mandatory in 84 but lost out to stablemate Hearns, got a little step aside money and an easy title shot v mannion and a chance to milk some decent money for a couple of years. So whats his problem does he really think he would have got millions to fight duran in 84. If he wanted Hagler so bad he could have given up his LM crown in 84 and taken on John Mugabi and Tony Sibson for example to get himself as Haglers mandatory but even than there was no guarantee he would get a shot. As it is in early 87 Mccallum got good money to kayo Don Curry in a mini superfight, he was than in prime position to capitalise with fights against Hearns or Duran who would have jumped at the chance of another title shot but he blew it by losing to Sumbu Kalambay. By the time Mccallum overcame that blip in 89/90/early 91, Hearns/Hagler and Duran were old news and he got Toney twice . He really than should have went after eubanks and benn by fighting at 168 in 93/94 but he was making money with his LH title in 94 he than got a final payday against JJ in 96.

The bottom line is Mccallum was probably on his best day good enough to compete with Hagler and the others but he whines waaaay waay to much about how the others didnt wanna fight him when he didnt bring a lot to the table.

I mostly agree. Saying Duran "avoided" McCallum to fight Hearns is laughable. Hearns was far more accomplished at that time. I do, however, think there was an opportunity for a Hearns/McCallum unification which should've happened rather than Hearns/Medal. (If Hearns had permanently left jr. middle after Hutchings--which occurred the same month Mike won his title--I also would not make an argument Hearns should've fought Mike at jr. middle.)

Likewise i think its perhaps Mccallums only legit gripe. Hearns should have fought him at 154 in a unification. I agree

[Controversial]

http://www.ibroresearch.com/wp-content/ ... pose02.jpg

A photo of McCallum from June 2012

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Me too (on the magazines) but there was talk of McCallum moving up. It was mooted in KO and World Boxing that Curry would face McCallum and the winner get a shot at the Middleweight crown…that was being discussed pre-McCrory unification. And it was suggested again in 86 but reportedly Leonard talked Curry out of moving up to 154 permanently.

McCallum maybe didn’t mouth of like a hip hop legend about the fights…I actually don’t know…but everyone wanted to fight them because of the money involved.

Did Hagler duck him? Of course not. None of them actually ducked him. Is he entitled to moan about the fact that he was the best fighter of the era that none of them faced…definitely.

He can pretend he was the best fighter of that era if he wants to. That definitely wasn't the case.

[Bobbyptsd]

Me too (on the magazines) but there was talk of McCallum moving up. It was mooted in KO and World Boxing that Curry would face McCallum and the winner get a shot at the Middleweight crown…that was being discussed pre-McCrory unification. And it was suggested again in 86 but reportedly Leonard talked Curry out of moving up to 154 permanently.

McCallum maybe didn’t mouth of like a hip hop legend about the fights…I actually don’t know…but everyone wanted to fight them because of the money involved.

Did Hagler duck him? Of course not. None of them actually ducked him. Is he entitled to moan about the fact that he was the best fighter of the era that none of them faced…definitely.

He can pretend he was the best fighter of that era if he wants to. That definitely wasn't the case.

He did say "that none of them faced". I think he meant the best fighter of that era that never fought any of the aforementioned.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Me too (on the magazines) but there was talk of McCallum moving up. It was mooted in KO and World Boxing that Curry would face McCallum and the winner get a shot at the Middleweight crown…that was being discussed pre-McCrory unification. And it was suggested again in 86 but reportedly Leonard talked Curry out of moving up to 154 permanently.

McCallum maybe didn’t mouth of like a hip hop legend about the fights…I actually don’t know…but everyone wanted to fight them because of the money involved.

Did Hagler duck him? Of course not. None of them actually ducked him. Is he entitled to moan about the fact that he was the best fighter of the era that none of them faced…definitely.

He can pretend he was the best fighter of that era if he wants to. That definitely wasn't the case.

He did say "that none of them faced". I think he meant the best fighter of that era that never fought any of the aforementioned.

I missed that, assuming he means 154, I'd agree. Nunn and Kalambay were better Middleweights imo.

[elmersalsa]

The great Mike McCallum came at the wrong time. He remind me of Lennox Lewis. At least Lennox could say that Riddick Bowe and the greats Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield avoided him in the early 90s.

McCallum was a great fighter. A top 3 jr. middleweight or probably the greatest at that weight class.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

The great Mike McCallum came at the wrong time. He remind me of Lennox Lewis. At least Lennox could say that Riddick Bowe and the greats Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield avoided him in the early 90s.

McCallum was a great fighter. A top 3 jr. middleweight or probably the greatest at that weight class.

Hearns was the greatest. Mike can have #2.

[Rover]

The great Mike McCallum came at the wrong time. He remind me of Lennox Lewis. At least Lennox could say that Riddick Bowe and the greats Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield avoided him in the early 90s.

McCallum was a great fighter. A top 3 jr. middleweight or probably the greatest at that weight class.

Holyfield didn't avoid Lewis. He'd agreed to fight Lewis (the winner of Lewis/Ruddock, actually) if he beat Bowe. He didn't, and obviously wanted to have a rematch with Bowe. He then lost to mandatory Moorer, had his heart issues and briefly retired.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Holyfield never avoided anyone, EVER. Elmer makes things up.

[Rover]

Holyfield never avoided anyone, EVER. Elmer makes things up.

I remember the thread where you and another poster were dogging him about some list he had but couldn't access because he was in the library. Funny shit. I remember they interviewed Holy on the Lewis/Ruddock telecast after Lewis had won, and Evander said, "My word is good." (He was referring to his prior statements he'd fight the winner in his next defense after Bowe.)

[Rover]

McCallum was a truly great fighter who was probably held back a little by his nationality. Had he been American, Latino or British he’d have had the fanbase to have got those fights with Marvin/Ray/Tommy. Then when he fought the likes of Jones and Toney he was over the brow of the hill.

I thought McCallum left once Hearns signed to fight Duran. I don’t believe he was waiting for after their fight. But could be wrong.

By 1987 my guess is that Mike beats any of the fab 4.

I understood it was exactly that. Mike wanted to unify against Tommy, and took step aside money for the Hearns / Duran fight, with a promise of fighting Tommy afterwards, and that was reneged on.

As for that horseshit excuse by some folks about what did Mike bring to the table. What did Stackhouse, Lanas, Thorn, Giminez, Claudio, Suro, and Zambrano, bring to Durans table? Come to that what did Hutchins, Shuler, Medal , and De Witt bring to Tommy's table that was so good compared to MM? How about the wonderful Kevin Howard to SRL's table?

I also tend to think that by 87 McCallum beats at least 3 out of the 4, with Hagler being the doubtful one.

Your silliness amazes me. Duran fought Zambrano after having been brutally KO'd over 19 months earlier. Duran was taking tuneups. By your logic, Duran ducked McCallum when he came back in 91 to fight after over a year off against Leonard.
And there would've been no reward for beating McCallum at the times you mention; he wasn't even a champion. Duran obviously didn't need McCallum to get a title shot.

[Rover]

When you learn to both read, and more importantly comprehend other peoples posts i'll dignify your nonsense with a legitimate reply. You might also like to hone up on your numeric literacy. Duran was out of the ring 18 months, after getting sparked by Hearns, not 2 years. Speaking of the ability to read numbers, you might want to try weights, and dates. Perhaps you will see that between 86, and 89 when Roberto was beating bums, and losing to Simms, MM was fighting guys with his weight fluctuating similar to Durans, so as stated Duran wanted no part of him.

I can read and comprehend fine, but since you want to play this game...
I said "about" two years.
Hearns/Duran was on 6/15/84. Duran came back at the end of January 1986 v. Zambrano.
That's over 19 months.
You stated that "Duran was out of the ring 18 months," and you put no "about" there.
Normally, I'd have just left that alone, but since you decided to get snarky, enjoy.

Nice try, you just keep trying to convince your little self that even 20 months is nearer to 2 years than it is to 18 months.

Ah, since you're responding to me, does this mean that you now think I've learned to read and comprehend other people's posts?
I said "about" two years (19 and a half months, tobe more precise).
You said "18 months"; no "about" there. You were wrong.
And when did I ever argue that 20 months is nearer to 2 years than it is to 18 months? You're the one who brought up the 18 month issue, not I.
19 and a half months is nearer to two years than one, though.
I didn't even say two years, unlike you with the 18 months.
Come on, foxy. I'm loving annihilating you.

[Rover]

Let's take a look further at the timeline:
McCallum was at jr. middle for a good portion of Duran's post-Hearns comeback until he fought Barkley.
McCallum moved up to middleweight to fight Kalambay. Duran would've done nothing for McCallum at this point; he hadn't won a big fight in years or ever at middleweight. So, justifiably, McCallum fought Kalambay for the title and lost.
So that leaves the time until Duran signed to fight Barkley.
Actually, a better argument could be made that Duran "avoided" Kalambay, who'd beaten Barkley and also, unlike McCallum, had a title.
After Duran fought Barkley, McCallum defeated Graham that May.
However, to say Duran avoided him after that is silly because Duran went for the rubber match with Leonard, a super fight.
But please, foxy, don't bring up opponents like Zambrano (where Duran fought as a super middleweight) when McCallum was a jr. middle at that time and would be for well over another year, and he moved up to middle to fight for Kalambay's title, a far more meaningful fight than Duran.

[Counter-puncher]

Hi, Esquire.

nice post, but I have no idea why you think Kalumbay 'could have been McCallum's son' or something.

that's madness.

they were the same age.

[Rover]

Hi, Esquire.

nice post, but I have no idea why you think Kalumbay 'could have been McCallum's son' or something.

that's madness.

they were the same age.

McCallum's younger by almost 8 months.

[Counter-puncher]

An interview in 2011 and some of the questions and answers McCallum gave.

Best overall: James Toney -- He wasn’t a complete fighter the first time we fought, and I still believe I won that fight. But he learned in that fight and he got better. He grew with each fight. By our third fight, he was a different fighter, a complete fighter. He was someone who could do it all, fight inside or outside, work offense and defense at the same time, just like me when I was younger. I like to think that I helped James mature as a fighter.

Best boxer: Herol Graham -- He was a pure boxer, a southpaw and very elusive. It wasn’t easy to hit him. He was very smart, very skilled.

Best puncher: Julian Jackson -- He hit me so hard! Julian wasn’t just powerful, he was also real quick. I got caught by a right hand in the first round of our fight and I remember thinking “What’s wrong with my legs?” I tried my best to hide it from him. I knew I had to take him out as soon as I could.

Best defense: Sumbu Kalambay -- I fought many good defensive fighters. Toney had a good defense. Graham was slippery. Jones was fast and slick, but Kalambay is No. 1. I can’t forget about him. He’s the first fighter to beat me and it’s because of his good movement. He was always sliding side to side, very shifty. He was a dangerous boy.

Fastest hands: Jackson -- He was quick, man. That’s why he got so many knockouts. Everyone focused on his power and then he’d get you with a punch you didn’t see. They landed on you -- boom! -- from out of nowhere. Kalambay and Toney were also fast. So was Jones, obviously, but I fought him when I was older and had slowed down a bit.

Fastest feet: Roy Jones -- He had very quick feet. He was elusive just because of his footwork.

Best chin: Steve Collins -- I almost said Toney, but Collins had the best chin. I hit him right on his chin all night and he wouldn‘t budge. I couldn’t hit Toney that much and when I did, he backed off. Collins walked through punches.

Best jab: Donald Curry -- I fought many fighters with good jabs. Kalambay could win fights with just his jab. McCrory had a good, hard jab. But Curry’s was the best. I see why they called him “the Cobra” because he didn’t miss with it. He was a bad man with that jab.

Strongest: Michael Watson -- Oh my God, he was so strong. That’s why that fight was so hard. It was a gruesome fight, 11 rounds of back-and-forth hell.

Smartest: Roy Jones Jr. -- I fought quite a few smart boys in my time. Graham was a cunning S.O.B. I remember him sticking his tongue out at me whenever I’d miss a punch. Kalambay was smart and so was Toney, although he didn’t have the experience to back it up when we first fought. But I think Roy may have been the smartest. He was very clever, which didn’t surprise me. I knew he was sharp. It was like he was always one step ahead of me.


.

Lovely post, thank you.

mm, some fascinating answers there. interesting to see how strong he says Watson was, to take but one example.