Is it possible to rank Toney over McCallum? Are the two simply not comparable, or do you have a concrete opinion?
Toney has to be ranked above Mike. I think Mike was the greatest jr MW in history. But Toney has accomplished more at differnet weights and has a deeper resume. McCallum Ill say is abit underrated perhaps because of his nationality. He never captured the attention of the US boxing fans the way the locquatious Toney did. H2h Id give the edge to Mike, he never fought Toney in his prime but its safe to assume that he would have beaten him
I don't really think Toney's resume is any better at all, even if it is deeper. I'd rank McCallum higher based on his consistency, and I generally thought he was a better fighter overall.
Toney is a guy who I am a bit guilty of overlooking, I suppose its my own personal backlash against some of the people who overrate him far to much. But I think Mike is better fighter overall for a start. And I dont think his resume is all that, if at all, inferior man for man and as Pea said Mike has him for consistency. Mike presided over a decent middleweight era himself, beating the a lot of the quality fighters coming out of Europe at the time. Taking into account his jnr middleweight wins over Curry, Jackson, Kalule and McCrory, his commendable past prime work at light heavy, his middleweight work which isnt all that far behind Toney's if you ask me and the fact I just reckon he is a better fighter..I cant have him behind James, I have him well ahead actually. Though I should probably review where I rank James alltime, I dont really like him to be honest with you and thats led to me overlooking him in the past.
This is very tough. Probably Toney barely. Mike did lose to Kalambay in 1988 when he was still on top yet he did win the rematch. Mike had that great win with Curry, yet Donald was losing for the second time in 9 months, and Toney knocked out Nunn for Nunn's first loss. I would say barely Toney.
As far as Junior Middleweight I give it to Hearns. Hearns beat legend Wilfred Benitez in what many experts think was his best weight and last weight he fought great at. Wilfred excelled at that weight and beat Duran and gave Hearns a good 15 round fight. Tommy beat Wilfred Benitez and Roberto Duran at 154. Two legends Held the title from 1982-1986 I think beating the two legends make him the winner of all time 154 pound p4p.
In my list, The Body Snatcher by about fifteen places if I remember correctly. Better H2H, better resume, sure Toney has moved up and down in weight but McCallum did more at the weights he fought at. Toney has done admirably at HW considering he's a smaller guy who just happens to be obese, but McCallum has better wins IMO across the board. Also did far better against Roy Jones than Toney did, although that may be down to the fact that Jones had a lot of respect for Mike and he didn't for Toney.
Id have mcCallum above Toney,McCallum was a great fighter always in good shape(unlike Toney)apart from the Jones loss all his defeats were in close fights against top level opposition(unlike Toney).He was also a far better ambassador for the sport than Toney who comes across as a bit of a *****.
I rank McCallum about 15 or so places higher than Toney, but I believe more could be justified. I had Toney winning their first and most important fight, but in terms of all-time career greatness, it's definitely Mike for me. I think McCallum is one of the few fighters who is generally underrated, probably because he was somewhat overshadowed in the star-laden 80s, and also because of the manner of Kalambay's defeat to Nunn. I think McCallum has a strong resume by contemporary standards and his own weight-jumping was impressive. His ability at 154 was superb (I'd fancy him to beat Wright, Norris, and even Hearns there), and he was a very good mw too. Kalambay turned in one of the best boxing performances in history to beat him, but this is largely forgotten because he unfortunately got caught cold by Nunn. I am and always will be a big supporter of James Toney, but I think the Bodysnatcher has to be ranked higher than him, and higher than he often is on these boards.
Good question,I think I'll wait and see what the in put from others is as I haven't a definite opinion on this,hopefully they will be able to help me decide.