Bodysnatcher vs. The 4 Kings (McCallum vs. Marvin Hagler, Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Roberto Durán)

I feel like this same topic has been debated multiple times on here over the years. Bottom line is McCallum had a 20 year career in which he was never stopped and he beat multiple world champions in their own backyard while fighting well over his natural weight. Outside of Hagler he is without question the most durable fighter and most defensively sound. If there is a chink in his armor it's that movers with speed can have success against him as shown by Kalambay. With that said, I think Kalambay would have done very well against the fab four as well.

 

You could not survive Kronk with durability issues.
He would have gotten run right out of Kronk if that were true.
Only punchers were able to stop Hearns and Mike was not a hard puncher he wore people down.
Hearns vs Mike at the top of their games Hearns wins.
Manuel Jimenez staggered Mike pretty good at jr.middle.
The Hearns that fought Shuler at Middle is way too much for Mike.
People bring these posts up like Mike was avoided when he really wasn't and it gets old.
He was a complete headache to deal with to the point managers/promoters didn't bother trying to deal with him. He thought of himself as a big time money fighter and no matter how hard it was explained to him he wasn't he would foolishly price himself right out of fights.
Why do you think he was really never featured on big pay per view cards?
He was a very talented fighter but man he priced himself out of so many fights and now cries he was ducked.
Any momentum he gained with the Curry fight was wiped out when an unknown Kalambay outclassed him rather easily on national tv.

 

I think he beats Duran at Jr. Middle and middle. He would be a very tough fight for Leonard and Hearns but I wouldn’t favor him to win. Hagler was too good at 160 for him

 

Hearns right hand didn't "equally let him down" no matter how one looks at it. It stopped a whopping 48 foes. Not being able to KO peak SRL, a guy most agree is the second best welterweight in history is hardly a disgrace. He dropped him twice in a rematch years later with right hands. Leonard didn't take "what he had to give" in the first fight because he rarely if at all copped the right hand full force. Credit to his greatness. He beat Sutherland 7-2, 10-0 and 9-1 on the cards and had him reeling from right hands in the first and last rounds so i'd hardly say it let him down there either. No-one ko's everyone they fight. He lit Hagler up for a brief spell but Hagler was simply a monster durability wise. He also never did land a replica of the right hand at length from the Duran fight.

Barkley soaked up some big shots, it can happen. He beat Benitez, an ATG, quite comfortably with a brilliantly versatile left hand, great boxing ability and the threat of the big right hand. He was 7-5 underdog so again, hardly a disgrace.

I personally wouldn't call it "laughable" to think him a chance of stopping McCallum. Curry hurt him noticeably twice and Toney had him reeling late. If Hearns never crucified Duran the same thing would be said about the chances of that happening rest assured. McCallum wasn't Hagler. Unlikely but not impossible. Sure, McCallum might just get Hearns too.

You're hardly treating him like your favorite boxer surf! Show some lurve!

 

McCallum beats Duran at 154 by decision. And more clearly at 160lbs. Duran was better pound for pound but not big enough to beat the Bodysnatcher.

Going by the way durable fighters with movement and skill gave Mike hell,he loses by clear decision to Leonard at 154. Closer on the cards at 160lbs.

Hagler's a bit too aggressive for Mike and beats him at 160lbs in a very entertaining fight. Close but competitive decision for Marvin.

Now for the most questionable one. Hearns has the ability to outspeed and outbox McCallum but he needs to adopt his 'Motor City Cobra' mode instead of being the Hitman. He's not going to blast Mike out in a few rounds. It's equally feasible,however,that Mike catches Thomas in the late stages though. I'm going to say Hearns at 154 but Mike at 160lbs.

 

I sure do not like all those wide right hand leads McCallum threw to the body against this caliber of fighters. He threw tons of them from way on the outside and really did not go to the head all that often. Threw a looping left hook to the body as well but not as the lead punch from the outside.

And it isn't as if the guy followed between round instructions and made corrections all that much. Have to against these elites & he is not going to be "on top" of them the way he wants either.

At any rate, against this caliber of opposition, that gets him beat to the punch. He does not have quick enough hands to land much a body attack like that against these guys. I think he gets busted up or swollen from getting beat to the punch and often gets stopped & loses to all.

Bouts against the likes of the Hiltons or Joppy's or DLH's play into his strengths much much better.

 

Hey JT , Maybe so. but he just wasnt a great MW. He got bombed out in 3 rounds twice. He had durability problems whether it was ( injury prone, punch resistance, stamina ) and often against the bigger guys. And I specifically said and referring to Bigger guys, I gave examples of it. Yes Tommy did outbox Murray rather easily. He hit him with everything he had plus the kitchen sink,, didnt really dent Sutherland, I really like that fight as Sutherland took it on 2 weeks notice.. He took the Spinks fight at 175 on 5 days notice , hahaha .. Murray was a tough .. I did pick Tommy over Mike at 154. If he sits back and picks his shots, he out points him imo.. at 160, Mike wins late as Tommy fades, imo.. Its not like Mike didnt see guys with somewhat fast hands,,, He KO'd Curry in 5, , and he was the underdog. Mike was a lot more durable than Hearns ... you got hearns at all weights ? whats your take
? .. btw as the Op asked me . I'm responding as H2H fantasy matchups so to speak .. no timeline in when they fight because Mike and Hagler would have missed anyway at 160 I believe

 

He's live against any of them. Dismissing Mike here is a mistake to me. I think he would beat Duran, it's not inconceivable he clips Hearns like he did Curry, and he could box with Hagler as well. I think Leonard is the toughest matchup for McCallum because Mike could be a little stationary sometimes.

 

got it, thanks... Thats a tough call tho huh .. McCallum who couldn't draw flies or a rematch with SRL ? ... talk about flushing about 8 million down the toilet... I'll take Mike over an '88 version of Hagler ( hes retired so kinda pointless to predict this one ). .Prime Hagler clearly out boxes any version of Mike imo

 

would be the toughest 4 in a row probably in the history of the sport . .Hearns, Mugabi, SRL, McCallum .. oh boy
I think Hagler has a 10 in a row that is so impressive , I dont think I haven't found better yet .. Pac has a 14 in a row that is overall quit impressive as well

 

McCallum fought 36 rounds on close to even terms against James Toney who outside of Hagler was the only natural middleweight out of the fab four. This is the same James Toney that had enough power to get the respect of heavyweight champions like Holyfield, Ruiz and Rahman.

Folks thinking Hearns right hand or anything Duran could do would be successful is just laughable. Don't get me wrong, they are greater fighter's pound for pound than McCallum but none of the fab four is stopping McCallum. Leonard has the best chance at winning via points at JR middle only. Prime Hagler at 160 likely outworks him but no way he stops him.