Just watched this tribute to Mike on YouTube that was posted yesterday. Really good stuff about one of that last true, old school pro's. Mike never made a ton of money, but he was respected by everyone in the sport. He truly was one of a kind. Enjoy! This content is protected
Let’s be honest, there should be a lot more traction towards Mike McCallum at this time, he didn’t get anywhere near enough traction and praise during his career and even after his career, and he still isn’t in death. I’ve not seen one mention of him on Sky Sports News or any of the other main news outlets (in the UK anyway).
He was a great boxer enough to make someone like Toney always sing his praises. McCallum had a lot to do with making Toney that fight the first one was the ultimate stress test to realise Millers vision. MM was a modern day Charlie Burley he was special I never knew him but boxing would be less without him.
Charlie Burley is a great comparison. All of the top fighter's from Burley's era talked about how great he was but the mainstream media ignored him. McCallum was every bit as good or better than the fab four of the 80's but gets zero press. I will go to my grave saying he would have beaten all four of them in the late 80's. He was that good.
He is good odds for Duran, real good odds in the mid 80s. I think MM TKO/KO’s Hearns that’s a bad match up and Steward agreed. If Marvellous and MM met in 87 during that brief period they “could” have fought 0 doubt Hagler gets bumped off by “The Bodysnatcher” MM was on a helluva run… If Leonard met McCallum anywhere from 85 onwards he gets chopped up. Imagine how his career could’ve gone with good promotion… had he fought Duran in 84 (W) Hearns In 85 (W) Hagler 87 (W) and Leonard 87-88 (W) alongside his wins against Sumbu, Curry and Graham that’s what we should’ve seen. Interestingly did you know Hagler retired after watching Robbie Sims vs Sumbu? Leonard had vacated and a new monster had taken roost in place of Hagler. I don’t think it was the rematch I think Marv realised he’d be diving into shark waters… Graham, Sumbu and McCallum had invaded the rankings.
I think after the Mugabi fight, Marvin was pretty much done for. Don't get me wrong, he still would have e beaten a lot of guys but he had been fighting at such a high level for so long, he just didn't look the same and Ray saw it as well and capitalized on it. Sumbu would have been just a horrible fight for Marvin at that point as well.
He was underrated for sure. They made Mike Watson the favourite over McCallum, which of course was a mistake.
I watched that fight fairly recently. What an effort by Watson! He threw everything that he had at McCallum but came up short. McCallum went into a hostile environment and took on a young and hungry lion in Watson and got the W. That crowd was going crazy for Watson but at the end, they respected the effort of both men. McCallum was the ultimate road warrior.
It was definitely an emotional charged fight. Watson's chance to prove himself, he put up a great fight. Was one of McCallum s best performance s imo.
It was a really close fight and not the most aesthetically pleasing fight to watch. From what I recall. Graham held a lot and was deducted a point for hitting McCallum on the back of the head and throwing McCallum down but he did have a lot of success early but McCallum came on strong after beating Graham to the body all night. Close but clear win for MM.
It's worth a watch, and has some great rounds, but overall is more of an interesting clash of styles than a great fight. imo, Graham was lucky to get a split decision. McCallum won clearly, maybe about 8-4, albeit it was a gruelling and very competitive fight throughout. Graham showed his flaws in ring generalship and (over a longer bout) weaknesses in textbook defence and that was the difference between the two on the night. When it came to punch slipping and upperbody movement, Herol was always more of a naturally reflexive, Ali influenced defensive fighter than a truly schooled technician...and that sort of stuff before this fight usually appeared in two tiers...go to town with it and really showboat in an almost proto Hamed way with hands down at waist, deliberately sticking the chin out and all sorts of reckless shenanigans against the lower level/lesser talents like British title/some Euro title guys/non-title fight journemen...or reign it in a lot against more capable or tricky fighters (kalule/Kalambay, kaylor, Sanderline williams), work more from a jab, be smarter with the lead left hands and keep the hands up at least about Napoles'ish height most of the time. For some reason, maybe the home crowd went to his head, he decided to treat McCallum like a Brit title level guy and clown him. Which works fine for a few rounds, but I think it's in the 3rd or 4th, McCallum finally times the big risks he's taking with a left hook while Graham's pulling straight back and staggers him. Instead of realising the fun's over and tightening things up, Graham gets indignant/angry and doubles down on it and also starts trading more. By the 7th-8th it's basically a battle of wills/endurance sort of fight with lots of ring centre back and forth where McCallum's body work and less irregular defence at mid-range wins out. Graham never really establishes a disciplined outside game to take advantage of his strong footwork, even if he makes Mike look bad at times. I do think it's a shame they didn't fight earlier and/or have more than one fight, especially from a Graham perspective as my feeling was he had the more obvious and substantial room for tactical alterations and improvement.
