Mike McCallum
Titles: WBA jr. middleweight cahmp 1984-1987, WBA middleweight champ
1989-1991, WBC light heavyweight champ 1994-1995
Record: 48-3-1
Born: December 7, 1956 in Kingston, Jamaica
Years active: 1981-1997
Nickname: The Body Snatcher
Of all the great champions in the 80's and 90's that hovered around the
middleweight division it was only Mike McCallum who was never granted one of
the megafights. Hagler, Benitez, Duran (who was stripped for not fighting
McCallum), Hearns and Leonard all fought each other. McCallum certainly had the
skills to compete on their level but never had the backing of the boxing power
brokers to get himself a shot at the big names of the time. Even his parents
did not want Mike to fight, he had to do so against their wishes in his early
teens. In the ring Mike was the complete package and in a age of headhunters
McCallum earned his nickname of "The bodysnatcher" early in his career. It was
the one virtue he had not mastered in the amateurs which did not reward body
work, so he went and learned it as a pro. His lengthy amateur career (240-10)
also meant McCallum did turn pro until the age of 23 and did not win a world
title until he was 27 years old. In the end it did not hurt him since it seemed
McCallum only got better with age. A all around fighter McCallum had no real
weaknesses and often stopped his foes by doubling up on the left hook after a
body blow. I guess you could call McCallum a poor mans Marvin Hagler, like
Hagler he also had a great chin which held steady against the best 2 decades of
boxing had to offer. Also like Hagler he refused to play the politics of boxing
and thus had to earn his way to title shots. McCallum can also be likened to
John Conteh in England because of constant changes in his promotional status
which also prevented Mike from getting title shots. To open his pro career Mike
stopped his first 14 opponents while honing any skills he might have not
developed in his vast amateur career. The best win prior to his first title
shot came when he defeated Ayub Kalule in his 17th fight and only second
year as a pro. Kalule a seasoned veteran and former champ was disposed of in
the 7th round. The win earned McCallum much recognition, it also hampered his
progress as many boxers refused to face him and Mike only fought 3 times in the
next year. 1984 however was a break through year as his mandatory title shot
was in the making. To win his first title McCallum had to fight Irishman Sean
Mannion in what turned out to be a one sided rout. Mannion was a iron chinned
and determined foe, but that was his only asset. McCallum walked away with a
easy 15 round decision. A title defense in 84 against Luigi Minchillo is only
worth a mention because McCallum had to go to the challengers home country of
Italy to defend his title, another sign of little backing McCallum had from
promoters. Mike McCallum would reign for the next 3 years at jr. middleweight
and should be considered one of the three best in the history of the division,
if not the best! Consider that he knocked every challenger out that he faced.
This was done in spite of his limited backing by promoters where he had to
defend against some top boxers such as Julian Jackson, David Braxton, Milton
McCrory and Donald Curry. Julian Jackson would go on to become one of the best
middleweights of the 90's but could not overcome the power McCallum at jr.
middleweight. After McCallum survived a toe to toe first round he landed a
beautiful hook to end it and Jacksons title hopes. Mike's 6th defense of the
title was somewhat surprising to most as he was the underdog to Donald Curry.
The win over Don Curry came via a devastating one punch kayo in the 5th round
after Curry dropped his hands to protect his ribs. Until that point it was a
even fight but in retrospect he would have probably won a decision if it had
come to it. After trouble making weight and running out of opponents McCallum
had to make a step up in weight. His first fight at the weight was for the WBA
title and he was surprisingly defeated on points by tricky Sumbu Kalambay for
the first time in his career. It would be a year, two months and 3 wins over
mediocre opposition before he was to challenge for the title again. When
Kalambay was striped of the title for not facing Herol Graham it was McCallum
who was brought in to fight Graham for the title. Graham was a even more tricky
fighter than Kalambay and thought to have a good chance of winning a decision
on his home turf. Graham a defensive wizard who drove fighters crazy, had
McCallum confused to start the fight. But as the fight wore on McCallum rode
his accurate jab to a points victory. His reign a middleweight just as it was
at jr. middleweight featured wins over excellent boxers like Michael Watson,
Steve Collins and a revenge win over his only conqueror Sumbu Kalambay. The
Collins fight was a rugged affair with both men giving and receiving punishment
with a lot of infighting. Again it was the accuracy of McCallum that won out
over Collins' work rate. In a otherwise forgettable title defense against Nicky
Walker, Mike landed 93 punches in one round which is still a punch stat record.
After his win over Kalambay it was McCallum's turn to be stripped of the title
for not facing Collins in a rematch. But it really made no difference since
McCallum was already set to face James Toney for a unification match. Instead
they fought for only the IBF title. At the time Toney was nearing his peak so
once again Mike faced the best champion and pound for pound entrant. The first
of the 3 fights was a see saw affair where both men landed with regularity. In
the end it was declared a draw. Toney came on strong in the last two rounds to
gain the draw in a fight that Mike dominated early. Definitely a candidate for
the 1991 fight of the year. It left Mike without a title since the WBA stripped
McCallum of the title for taking the Toney fight. In the second fight it seemed
as if McCallum had done enough to win but Toney walked away with a disputed
decision win. Moving on after the Toney affairs McCallum became a three weight
champion when he outfought tough but shop worn Jeff Harding in easy fashion.
Holding on to the title this time was not in the cards as he defended the title
once before a younger and faster Fabrice Tiozzo outworked McCallum in France to
win the title. Looking for money fights to end his career McCallum now looked
towards the big names but once again found he would have to earn his money by
fighting the best. Against Roy Jones the nearly 40 year old McCallum went the
12 round distance and gave a better than expected accounting of himself. It was
still not a close fight but he made Jones work for his win. The fight is
otherwise notable for McCallum being knocked down in the 10th round which was
to be the second and last knockdown of his career. Three months later a final
rubber match with James Toney to settle their rivalry was to be the last ring
appearance for McCallum. After 8 rounds Mike was cut and bleeding from his
mouth and right eye but still even on all cards. Tony the fresher of the two
boxers did win a deserved decision this time out after McCallum faded. It is a
shame McCallum could not have been granted the easy payday and win for the last
fight of his career. Then again nothing was ever given to McCallum he earned it
all. Roy Jones might have said it best when he said "Ray Leonard had a lot of
glamour, but he didn't have the skills of Mike McCallum".
Mike McCallum
Career Record: 48 W, 3 L, 1 D, (36 K.O's)
1981
Feb 19 Rigoberto Lopez Las Vegas KO 4
Mar 3 Rocky Fabrizio Tampa, FL KO 1
Mar 20 Ricky Sheppard Tampa, FL KO 5
Apr 2 Shelvy Wilkerson Tampa, FL KO 5
Apr 24 Danny Chapman New York KO 4
Apr 30 Charles Smith Tampa, FL KO 3
Jun 10 Freddy Creech Tampa, FL KO 3
Jul 19 Bruce "Mouse" Strauss Youngstown, OH KO 2
Aug 27 Tirso Roque Tampa, FL KO 3
Sep 8 Ed Harris Tampa, FL KO 1
Oct 8 Jimmy Heair Tampa, FL TKO 2
1982
Jan 21 Greg Young New York TKO 5
Mar 26 Gilberto Almonte Kingston, Jamaica KO 1
Apr 30 Reggie Ford New York TKO 4
Jun 11 Kevin Perry New York W 10
Oct 22 Carlos Betancourt New York TKO 3
Nov 13 Ayub Kalule Atlantic City TKO 7
1983
Apr 26 Tony Suero Atlantic City TKO 3
Aug 31 Jose Vallejo Atlantic City KO 5
Oct 25 Manuel Jimenez Atlantic City W 10
1984
Mar 11 Hakim Razzak Detroit KO 1
Oct 19 Sean Mannion New York W 15
(Wins Vacant WBA Jr. Middleweight Title)
Dec 1 Luigi Minchillo Milan, Italy TKO 14
(Retains WBA Jr. Middleweight Title)
1985
Jun 15 Marcos Martinez Las Vegas TKO 2
Jul 28 David Braxton Miami Beach TKO 8
(Retains WBA Jr. Middleweight Title)
1986
May 2 Jimmy Shavers Atlantic City TKO 6
Aug 23 Julian Jackson Miami Beach TKO 2
(Retains WBA Jr. Middleweight Title)
Sep 15 Irwin Hines Paris TKO 3
Oct 25 Said Skouma Paris KO 9
(Retains WBA Jr. Middleweight Title)
1987
Mar 21 Leroy Hester Kingston, Jamaica KO 1
Apr 19 Milton McCrory Phoenix TKO 10
(Retains WBA Jr. Middleweight Title)
Jul 18 Donald Curry Las Vegas KO 5
(Retains WBA Jr. Middleweight Title)
1988
Mar 5 Sumbu Kalambay Pesaro, Italy L 12
(For WBA Middleweight Title)
Jun 27 David McCluskey New York TKO 2
Dec 22 Randy Smith Vincennes, France W 10
1989
Jan 9 Ralph Moncrief Nogent, France TKO 5
May 10 Herol Graham London W 12
(Wins Vacant WBA Middleweight Title)
1990
Feb 3 Steve Collins Boston W 12
(Retains WBA Middleweight Title)
Apr 14 Michael Watson London KO 11
(Retains WBA Middleweight Title)
1991
Feb 19 Frank Minton Kansas City TKO 4
Apr 1 Sumbu Kalambay Monte Carlo W 12
(Retains WBA Middleweight Title)
Aug 29 Carlos Cruz Reno W 10
Oct 10 Nicky Walker Las Vegas TKO 6
Dec 13 James Toney Atlantic City D 12
(For IBF and Lineal Middleweight Titles)
1992
May 21 Fermin Chirinos Las Vegas W 10
Aug 29 James Toney Reno L 12
(For IBF Middleweight Title)
1993
Mar 25 Ramzi Hassan Amiens, France W 10
Aug 14 Glenn Thomas London W 10
1994
Mar 4 Randall Yonker Las Vegas TKO 5
Jul 23 Jeff Harding Bismarck, ND W 12
(Wins WBC Light Heavyweight Title)
1995
Feb 25 Carl Jones London TKO 7
(Retains WBC Light Heavyweight Title)
Jun 16 Fabrice Tiozzo Lyon, France L 12
(Loses WBC Light Heavyweight Title)
1996
Jun 22 Ali Saidi Dortmund, Germany W 10
Nov 22 Roy Jones, Jr. Tampa, FL L 12
(For Vacant WBC Light Heavyweight Title)
1997
Feb 22 James Toney Montville, CT L 12