BoxRec

Did Graham vacate the light middle ranks due to weight making? Or was it a case of the middles being viewed as more lucrative? If he had stayed at light middle does anyone think he would have received a title shot earlier then he did at middle? He possibly could have fought McCallum at light middle. That earlier version of Graham might have stuck to his boxing more then the one to face McCallum later. Does anyone feel he would have beaten McCallum at light or does McCallum have to much no matter what?

Floyd wrote:Did Graham vacate the light middle ranks due to weight making? Or was it a case of the middles being viewed as more lucrative? If he had stayed at light middle does anyone think he would have received a title shot earlier then he did at middle? He possibly could have fought McCallum at light middle. That earlier version of Graham might have stuck to his boxing more then the one to face McCallum later. Does anyone feel he would have beaten McCallum at light or does McCallum have to much no matter what?

i wouldnt exactly say mccallum has too much no matter what because i thought graham won that fight. admittedly its been a while but didnt graham put mccallum down and later on in the fight he was harshly deducted a point for a `hip throw`. even after losing this point he still lost on a split.
i seem to remember making lm was killing him so he moved up due to weight issue`s.

Well, Graham was certainly better from about 83-87 than he was by the time he got his world title shots.

However, he didn't fight anyone world class at light middle so it's hard to say how he would have done.He dominated lindell Holmes in his first fight at 160 and was probably in his prime for the fights he had as European lightmiddle champion.

Fights with McCallum,Moore, Ayala etc. would have been very interesting.

I figured it was weight making. Also I thought he just beat McCallum. The point deduction for spinning was idiotic. I just think if he could have stayed at light middle a title chance could have materialized while still in his prime.