Could anyone on Mike McCallum's resume have beaten a prime Calzaghe?

I actually think Roy Jones COULD have beaten him. While both men were decidedly past their primes when they met, Jones was completely shot. He still decked Calzaghe and went the distance. Ten years earlier he was an entirely different man. Not sure about any others beating Calzaghe, though Toney would have been a very hard and dangerous fight

 

Roy Jones Jr.

 

Am I missing something here? I thought that a boxer's "resume" was a list of the fighters that they'd beaten. Toney and Jones aren't on McCallum's resume, at least not as I understand the term.

Collins probably has the best shot here of fighters that McCallum beat. He was just as undefeated at 168 as Calzaghe. Maybe a hypothetical Watson who doesn't suffer a career-ending injury has a chance.

 

Only possibles are Toney, Jones and Collins.

I think Joe would be too fast for Toney, Collins wasn't at his best fighting McCallum since he took the fight on short notice and hadn't really hit his stride, that leaves Jones. During his short reign at 168 he never fought anyone with Calzaghe's speed and reflexes. I'm calling it a 50/50 fight with a slight edge to Roy.

 

I still say he wins prime for prime

 

Could and would are two different things.

Also, are you looking at the specific versions who Mike fought, or just prime for prime?


Why on earth couldn’t a prime Roy have beaten Joe?

Joe never did anything in his career to have been favoured, and the most notable facts to review, are that he wouldn’t pursue Roy in his prime when he could have done, and he’s admitted that he’s not sure if he could have beaten him.

So I have no idea why you think like you do, or why you put any stock into their actual fight.

It’s bizarre.


I’ll have to wait to see if you’re talking about prime for prime fights, or the specific versions who Mike fought.

The obvious choices are Roy and James Toney.

Then you have Steve Collins and Michael Watson.

I think a SMW version of Herol was too past his best.

 

How many of Calzaghe’s opponents could have beaten Mike?

That’s an interesting question.


Again, what versions?

Prime for prime?


We never saw Mike at SMW. But he could have fought there.

I think even at 35/36, he’d have been an excellent SMW.


I think the versions of Mike who fought Toney back to back could have been an elite SMW.

I’d take that version over many of Joe’s opponents.


Bernard would be the key opponent.

But again, is this a prime for prime fight?

Or the version of Bernard who Joe fought, vs a LHW version of Mike?

 

To many, resume means everyone who you fought, irrespective of results.

 

It depends which versions he’s referring to.

Collins and Watson COULD have beaten Joe. But obviously the prime, SMW versions.


A prime for prime Roy-Joe fight would never have been 50-50.

Roy was simply operating on another level to Joe, and Joe didn’t have the confidence needed to have beaten him.

Also, Joe was very easy to hit. He didn’t have great reflexes.


Joe never fought anyone with Toney’s skills and style, and he was always susceptible to right hands.

Joe could never have been favoured over a prime Toney fighting to his full capabilities.

He’d have had a chance though, and especially if Toney had underestimated him.

 

This has zero relevance to the thread.


Four years earlier, Roy couldn’t do anything with a Glen Johnson who’d split 3 fights with Clinton Woods.

Yet pre-HW, Roy fought a number of better fighters and barely lost rounds.


A year after Joe, Roy then lost to Danny Green in a single round.


If none of the above is enough for you, Joe said that Roy was shot when they fought, and that he’s not sure if he could have beaten Roy in his prime.

 

Would the referee for this bout be one who calls fouls, for cuffing and slapping, or not?

 

I agree that Collins at his best gives Joe a good fight and could always pull off an upset. He was an underrated fighter.

Jones was only at 168 for 3 years, in that time he looked very impressive against sluggish, slow or outgunned opponents. Outside of a weight drained Toney, he wasn't beating any world class fighters at 168. By the time he moved up to 175 one can only guess how long he'd been using steroids. The real question is how does Joe do against a clean, steroid-free Roy?

 

I'd favour the versions of Kessler at SMW and Hopkins at LHW that Joe fought, over any version of McCallum, though unfair as Mike was prime at LMW and MW at a time when post weigh in rehydration wasn't typically extreme as it would become. I.e. prime Mike is much smaller than the versions of Kessler and Hopkins that Calaghe fought.

I'd favour the RJJ that Mike fought over any version of Calzaghe. McCallum fought Toney at MW, so not a fair fight to pit him vs a SMW Joe, but I'd make Calzaghe a marginal favourite, with little confidence, over a prime Toney at SMW. Iirc, a recent Calzaghe vs Toney poll on here was close to 50/50. Both have the potential to be a stylistic nightmare for the other.