I just watched this bout and I have to be honest and say I think Mccallum lost this bout.It was a close bout but I think Kalambay edged Mccallum.Anyone else think Kalambay was on the wrong end of the decision?
It could have gone either way, much like the Toney fights i suppose. The close scores and SD were a fair enough reflection on the fight. Like usual, the British commentators on the version i have were totally biased towards McCallum.Never seen an american version of it.
Very very close fight, could've gone either way. The first was a walkover for Kalambay. But this one...maybe Mike by a point, but i wouldn't argue the other way.
I have that copy too. I think Minter commentated on one of them. I wrote a letter in disgust to the next issue of Boxing Monthly. :good
Always had it close but clear for Mike. I'm a massive fan, should be said. I thought he ran away with the first half and Kalambay didn't do quite enough to catch up.
McCallum definitely edged the rematch by having a better start and outhustling Kalambay in the first half of the fight. Kalambay really didn’t start picking it up until the second half of the fight and he started to frustrate McCallum more to the point that it was looking like the first fight. Not sure why Kalambay started so cautiously in the beginning when he was having greater success later in the fight. Perhaps the first round KO against Nunn made him much more mindful of McCallum’s power to the point that he didn’t want to take chances. He still managed to make it close enough for him to have a case as the winner. Still a great performance from both fighters. While the first fight was a boxing masterclass from Kalambay, the rematch was a great chess match. It would have been nice to have seen a final fight between the two.
I have seen the fight but I never actually sat down and scored it. From memory though McCallum won alot of the rounds in the 1st half of the fight, and he seemed to have built too much of an early lead despite Kalambay coming back well in the 2nd half of the fight. I could reasonably see it as a draw but my impression was McCallum just nicked it by a round or two based on his big early lead.
Kalambay may of started the fight cautiously based on being starched by Nunn early. McCallum was the first world class opponent he had fought since losing to Nunn, so maybe Kalambay wanted to make sure history didn't repeat itself hence the cautious start.
It was that and also McCallum having a better gameplan compared to the first fight. McCallum made some improvements on his strategy the second time around and was able to give him a good lead in the fight before Kalambay started to adjust himself. Just shows how great of a boxing technician both these guys are.
McCallum edged the second. Peak for peak i'd probablly take Kalambay to win a 5 or 10 fight series. McCallum was a very well rounded package but his speed of foot was below the rest of his game. You still had to be a high levelperformer tho as his timing and skillset bridged things quite well.