McCallum replaces Hearns against Duran and Hagler?

MInchillo is unfairly forgotten.He wasn't too notable in the grand scheme of things, but he wasn't much worse than the widely praised Vito either.

A really tough steady fighter who do very well today or even in the 90s.

 

Agreed. I don't think he was ever knocked down. Tough as nails and kept coming no matter how much punishment he was taking. A fighter like that is always tough to deal with.

McCallum did a paintjob on him with combinations, but the pressure of Minchillo still bothered him at times. I wouldn't say that McCallum was at his best in 1984 but I don't see anything preventing him from giving trouble to Hearns, Duran and even Hagler.

 

I voted for McCallum to beat both. Granted, the Hagler bout would be very close and could swing both directions, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt since he never got the chance to prove himself against any of the fabulous four.

As for Duran, it would be a case of great big man beating a great smaller man. Duran was too slow at 154 and over, not to mention incredibly inconsistent.

 

Hearns would do that during many of his fights as a temptation for his opponent and a little of a machismo thing. All fighters have mannerisms which look like weaknesses, but his whole career came off pretty well except for 3 fights out of 67.

 

the problem is people are ranking the McCallum who fought Curry in 1987 and Watson in 1990 as the one who would be fighting here. Those were his two most impressive fights. Mike in 1984 only had 20 fights, and I do not see a fighter with 20 fights beating Hagler in 1984 or 5. Wouldn't happen. Marvin would have been too strong. You cannot confuse Minchillo or Mannion with Marvin Hagler. Duran? Roberto might have done ok with Mike. Stylewise is always the case with Roberto. Mike would not have boxed Roberto and moved around, he would have stood in front of him and given him angles and used his jab and handspeed, but even Duran landed a couple of rights on Hearns in their fight in 1984. Mike could have outsped Duran and won with Duran stopped on cuts, but I do not see that as clear cut. I think Duran's right hand could have landed on Mike. That is the kind of fight Duran likes. Mike was fast and technical, but the style is not that easy for Mike.

 

Minchillo would have done well nowadays I agree. Fighting Duran and Hearns and McCallum are too many obstacles.

 

Duran was not that small. Duran's right hand landing on even a heavyweight has some power. Duran fought at 154 as early as 1978 before any of the guys were are talking about. The punch Hearns landed on Duran when he stopped him and before that were huge. It took enough of a punch to stop Duran. Mike didn't have that sort of punch Hearns did. Totally different fight. Not many guy in the 1980's could have stopped Duran, and noone else did. My point is Duran was not this small little fighter who was easy to beat.. He was pretty solid at 154.

 

Duran was a natural LW who ate his way and aged his way into the WW division. He was comfortable at 147 although undeniably physically outgunned by all of his formidable contemporaries. Look at the stats.

The late, great Gil Clancy nailed it in the Palomino fight I think it was, when he said that Duran can compete against the WWs, but that that'd be it because he was box-shaped. He didn't belong in any division over that but he was able to compete against Jr. middles and Middles only because he was physically strong with extraordinary skill and experience.

If someone can name another fighter in history who was fighting as a LW at 26 years old, and who could then go the distance with Hagler and defeat a lesser, though peaking Barkley, I'd be interested to know.

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Otherwise, I like MAG's analysis. Some good stuff there.

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Duran drops a close one to McCallum, but he ain't beating Hagler in '85.

 

I'm not saying Mike would stop Duran, though it's certainly a possibility. He was a powerful brother and a lot bigger than Duran. Not as powerful as Hearns perhaps, but he was scoring a lot of knockouts. Look at how he destroyed a confident Curry with one left hook. Jackson in 2. In addition to that power, he had great technique, ring smarts and a cast iron chin to boot. That's a tall order, even for one of the greatest former lightweights in history.

Oh, and it's true that only Hearns stopped Duran in the 80's, but the man also lost by decision to an over-the-hill Benetiz and Laing... just saying... !

 

Benitez and Hearns are on another level than Curry and Kalule.

 

I'm as big a fan of Duran as anybody but he was not going to beat McCallum. Come on now.