MIKE MCCALLUM – THE FIGHTER IN FULL
M cCallum’s legacy as an all-time great is secure. The combination of those whom he beat and those who refused to give him a shot adds to his allure. His chances would have been good against Duran at 154 pounds in 1984, and he and Hearns were familiar enough with each other’s styles to have produced an epic battle.
There, he was in his happy zone, where he could dig into his unlimited bag of tricks in the pocket. But there were many fights where opponents moved away from McCallum. They didn’t want to stay in the kitchen, which forced him to go hunting. In those circumstances, McCallum was a walk-down pressure fighter, and it didn’t look as pretty as when he was slugging it out in the pocket. Foot speed always gave him trouble, and it could take him a few rounds to catch up with an opponent. In addition, he was often the older boxer in his biggest fights; he understood how important it was to pace himself. McCallum, who was brought up during the 15-round championship era, was built to fight all 12 rounds. He wouldn’t get discouraged if he lost a couple of the early ones. M cCallum could struggle with speed. In the first Kalambay bout, he was routinely beaten to the punch and couldn’t track Kalambay down on a consistent basis. The scores in that fight actually flattered McCallum (118-114, 116-115 and 115-114); you’d be hard- pressed to find more than four rounds to give him. He was able to win the rematch by being first and moving to Kalambay’s left; it also didn’t hurt that Kalambay had noticeably slowed down since their first fight. As an older fighter, McCallum lost a wide decision to Roy Jones Jr. McCallum was knocked down in the fight and was never competitive in the matchup. But even if a prime McCallum were to fight Jones, Jones should have been comfortably favored to win. Jones was a style nightmare for McCallum. If a fighter had the speed, skills and endurance to fight on the outside, McCallum could potentially struggle. In the pocket, McCallum was a force of nature, but against Toney, he was fighting a guy almost 12 years his junior
who was, at a minimum, his equal at that range and had the ability to pull the trigger with more regularity. McCallum also lost knockout power after leaving junior middleweight. Of his 36 knockouts, only 10 of those occurred at 160 pounds and above, and almost all of those were in non-title fights against lesser opposition.
granite chin. He knew that he needed to win wars of attrition – not necessarily the preferred style for today’s top boxing talents. One other thing about The Bodysnatcher: It should be remembered that two of his best stoppages resulted from head shots and not body punches. His left hook against Curry was a head
shot with Curry backing up out of the pocket with his hands down. Against Julian Jackson, McCallum scored the pivotal knockdown in the fight with a short counter left hook to the head as Jackson was rushing in. McCallum’s ruthlessness could not be contained to an opponent’s body. He was a well-rounded fighter – not perfect, but he could win in different ways. He’d answer the phone for any assignment, anywhere in the world. He was always ready to work. His brand of ring excellence is missed in boxing today. Rest in peace, Champ.
Unfortunately, few recent fighters have had the breadth of McCallum’s skills in the pocket. Canelo features similar defensive features at mid-range while coming forward, and he also has his share of clever counters, but he doesn’t possess the work rate or doggedness of McCallum on the inside. Errol Spence had the same degree of comfort with infighting that McCallum did, as well as the determination to dig to the body, but Spence wasn’t in the same ballpark defensively and he didn’t have the same degree of creativity on offense. There aren’t too many fighters these days who want to grind out wins in the manner that McCallum did. Although he was a successful trainer in Las Vegas after his fighting career ended, even his acolytes don’t fight the way he did. His style was too taxing and relied on a
Former undisputed champ Donald Curry was taken out with a single punch.
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