Where does Mike McCallum rank among the best MW?

My guess is probably not very high. He simply didn't have very many fights in that weight class and his two best wins were narrow decisions over guys were past it. It was a decent run, but not enough to warrant placing him among the historically elite at middle. I think when you combine McCallum's achievements at Jr. Middle, Middle, and Light heavy, he does very well on a p4p basis, but probably not soley in any one weight class, with the exception of 154.

 

30-40 probably.

 

As Magoo says, achievement wise he didn't do that much at MW. I don't think the Graham win really was narrow, though, and I think Watson probably was a better win. For me, his two best wins were the Kalambay rematch and the Toney rematch (in which I think he was more or less robbed) which are very good wins, but in the bigger scheme of things there are many MWs who achieved more at the weight.

When you look at his skill and ability, though, I think he ranks very highly. I also think he'd rank higher if he'd moved up earlier, say 1984. If he'd managed to pip Mugabi on the shot at Hagler he really could have made waves. As it was, he had already started to slow down when he moved up.

 

Arguably number 1, he has a better resume than allot that people who supposedly rank in the top 5 and he's 1 of the most skilled MWs of all time.

 

I'd rank him in the top ten for sure.

 

He's alongside Hagler and Monzon for me, ahead of Hopkins. He beat Graham, who Hagler ducked. He beat huge Collins in his backyard, huge Watson in his backyard. He avenged defeat to Kalambay with a master show in the rematch, showing much-improved feinting ability. And he won both Toney fights for me. Unbelievable resume, and unreal natural rythmic smoothness. Oh and the best counterer to the body from range that there's been.

I'd probably put him side by side with Hagler actually, Monzon just below.

 

I haven't seen enough of Ketchel or Greb.

 

Middleweight is such an historic and deep division...maybe top 25?
But on a judgement of a H2H basis? I think McCallum does very well...a superb technician...I think top ten...and very capable of upsetting some people's top five picks. He was that good IMO.

 

Good description. Probably the best counter puncher I've seen, in that he could counter in any fashion at any given moment. Slip, duck, roll and coming back with punches to the head and body.

 

top 10...

 

Resume wise Tiger, Monzon, Hagler and Hopkins should all be above Mike due to their dominant reigns. Robinson as well due to his overall work at the weight. Ketchell I just plain don't know enough about, and wasn't Greb's best work above MW? Walker? Nunn definitely has a shout.

And there are probably more, seeing as Mike never was the undisputed top MW of his time. So it largely comes back to how highly you rate his comp.

 

Top 15 maybe… Technically, all he did at middle was beat Collins, Graham, Watson and split pairs with Toney and Kalambay. That doesn't come within a mile of what Monzon did… or Greb… or Robinson… or Walker… or more than a few others.

Mike had nice skills that appealed a lot to those who appreciate the subtleties but those demonstrations of skill sometimes inflate what he actually accomplished in the minds of some.

 

Nicely put. I do think he on balance got the better of the two fights with Toney, but on the other hand Kalambay got the better of their two fights on balance (winning the first one easily, while the other was close). So I think you're quite spot on.

 

Top 15 Middle, No. 2 behind Hearns at Junior Middle!