Mike McCallum's legacy if a 4 weight champion

[Nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by Flea Man

What Nightcrawler is saying that he doesn't agree with Mike is one of the best technicians ever and that his ability/dominance/legendary status gets a bit over stated.

I think. I don't quite agree myself, but it's not the most audacious claim I've ever come across either.

this is bang on to what i intended. he was one of the best technicians of the era and one of the fighters all around operators i've ever seen.

the only criticism was that many assume he'd beat the fab 4 or overstate his potential place in history because he was unable to secure many big fights

[Bokaj]

Originally Posted by Nightcrawler

appreciated and i was trying to give the body snatcher a compliment; certainly not undersell him. it wasn't in any way intended to diminish his skills or standing, perhaps my wording was a bit off

Originally Posted by Nightcrawler

this is bang on to what i intended. he was one of the best technicians of the era and one of the fighters all around operators i've ever seen.

the only criticism was that many assume he'd beat the fab 4 or overstate his potential place in history because he was unable to secure many big fights

Fair enough. As for how he'd do against the fab 4, who knows? He was naturally larger than both Duran and Leonard so liking his chances against them seems reasonable, but that's all speculation in the end. As is of course the subject of this thread.

But he was a one skilled customer, with only one loss that I think can be held against him (Kalambay) really, and Kalambay was better than his record suggests IMO.

[Flea Man]

Kalambay's record suggests a very good fighter anyway.

Then you watch his fights

The 2nd fight with McCallum could've went either way IMO. It's one of the best mutual technical fests of all time, with plenty of punches thrown and a variety of different ideas tried out by both combatants. The Sweet Science at it's very best.

[Nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by Bokaj

Fair enough. As for how he'd do against the fab 4, who knows? He was naturally larger than both Duran and Leonard so liking his chances against them seems reasonable, but that's all speculation in the end. As is of course the subject of this thread.

But he was a one skilled customer, with only one loss that I think can be held against him (Kalambay) really, and Kalambay was better than his record suggests IMO.

it's a shame because the only copy i've seen of the kalambay fight is in pretty poor condition but still, most feel that the kalambay of that night would match well with the best of most eras. i was VERY surprised when first viewing him. having read his record than seeing him in action was a very different thing

as for the fab 4, like him against leonard and duran, see him losing to hagler and hearns. benitez is 50/50, for what it's worth

[Flea Man]

Hagler at his very, very best would beat Kalambay IMO but with great difficulty. But as a southpaw, with his chin and all-round skillset, he will be able to cause Sumbu hassle himself.

The other three? Hearns has the best shot, due to his jab.

[Bokaj]

Originally Posted by Flea Man

Kalambay's record suggests a very good fighter anyway.

Then you watch his fights

The 2nd fight with McCallum could've went either way IMO. It's one of the best mutual technical fests of all time, with plenty of punches thrown and a variety of different ideas tried out by both combatants. The Sweet Science at it's very best.

That is some fight. Some of the sequences are just breathtaking. In terms of exhibition of pure skill it probably beats even the Toney-McCallum fights.

[Flea Man]

Originally Posted by Bokaj

That is some fight. Some of the sequences are just breathtaking. In terms of exhibition of pure skill it probably beats even the Toney-McCallum fights.

I agree 100%

[Brownies]

Originally Posted by Flea Man

Kalambay's record suggests a very good fighter anyway.

Then you watch his fights

The 2nd fight with McCallum could've went either way IMO. It's one of the best mutual technical fests of all time, with plenty of punches thrown and a variety of different ideas tried out by both combatants. The Sweet Science at it's very best.

McCallum vs Toney and vs Kalambay are great exemples of boxing at its finest. Nobody gets knocked out and we see guys who really knows what they are doing. That's why I love these fighters and Mike is definitly one of my favorite of all time.

[ushvinder]

I think Mike McCallum is a perfect example of a fighter with an excellent resume but not getting the respect he deserves because he didnt fight the Fab 4. Which is kinda pathetic if you think about it. His wins over an undefeated julian jackson, herol graham and the donald curry win are easily more impressive than thomas hearns wins over duran and benitez. But since the latter fighter has 'the names' he gets more credit. I also think he beat james toney, and he also easily beat collins and watson. I think mccallum is straight up a better fighter than thomas hearns, but since hearns fought the ppv draws, he gets more credit.

[PowerPuncher]

Originally Posted by Flea Man

Hagler at his very, very best would beat Kalambay IMO but with great difficulty. But as a southpaw, with his chin and all-round skillset, he will be able to cause Sumbu hassle himself.

The other three? Hearns has the best shot, due to his jab.

What do you base that on Flea, Hagler never faced anyone similar, maybe Kalambay's superior jab, defence and movement see him outbox Hagler or maybe Hagler's skills and heavy handed aggression sees him get to Kalambay. I'm not sure, I'd obviously go for the stylist though

[Bokaj]

Originally Posted by PowerPuncher

What do you base that on Flea, Hagler never faced anyone similar, maybe Kalambay's superior jab, defence and movement see him outbox Hagler or maybe Hagler's skills and heavy handed aggression sees him get to Kalambay. I'm not sure, I'd obviously go for the stylist though

For what it's worth I feel pretty confident stating that Kalambay at his best was better than both the version of Duran and the version of Leonard that Hagler faced. On the flip-side Hagler you could say that Hagler was better than Kalule (whose win over Kalambay is controversial) and Nunn.