Should Sumbu Kalambay be in the hall of fame ?

I don’t care for the HOF @McGrain and classics HOL thread IMO is the real deal, I hope it has limited placements because if it doesn’t like the HOF eventually everybody will get it, I like the idea of a HOF where it only has so many spots and as better guys appear the bottom of the best are removed etc.

 

Yes. But not right now neccessarily.

The HOF is 35 years old they have not finished electing all the people who were in the original HOF. Someone not getting in now shouldn't be taken as a permament no. Almost no one in the HOF is a borderline HOFer because for borderline people to get in(except Gatti and Vinny) all the sure things need to be out of the way.

 

I disagree but understand, I think 100 guys at most, make it a very exclusive club.

 

Kalambay too me is like Ike Quartey. Hall of fame talent, but just didn't do quite enough to get in.

 

I don't know. Beat Hero Graham. Beat Iran Barkley for the title. Beat Mike Mccallum and rather easily.
Defended his title against some soild but faded opponents.
Has a win over Steve Collins which was impressive because Sumbu was past his best.
Got knocked out by Nunn in one round.
Its close but he might be a little short.

 

Kalambay didn't really become great (or at least didn't start to rack up wins that would push him towards the HOF) until he was in his thirties. That's his big problem. He came from a country with no pro boxing and didn't get his first pro fight until his mid-twenties (he was born in April 1956), so it was always a race against the clock for him. Didn't start getting fights with world-level boxers until he was almost thirty.

In 1987-88 he was brilliant. Beats undefeated Graham, wins the title in a one-sided fight with Barkley, beats undefeated McCallum in a dominant defense, and defends against decent MWs Sims and DeWitt. That guy looked like a hall of famer.

Unfortunately he just doesn't have a whole lot after that. He was in his mid-thirties trying to come back from the Nunn loss while trying to stave off the effects of age, but he never got the one win that could do it before time ran out. Lost a very close title fight to McCallum at age 34, got a gift against Graham in a Euro title defense, defended against Collins more decisively, and then lost a world title fight to a guy who was worse than either Graham or Collins. That just isn't the kind of stuff that's going to move anyone, except maybe the win against Collins. Even then, you're looking at a boxer whose case is a great two-year run plus a win over Collins before Collins ever won anything.

I like Kalambay and I'd be happy if he made it in. I don't think he has an overwhelming case, but he had an excellent career, especially given that there was a lot working against him.

 

I don't follow it that closely, so since I did not see Kalambay on the ballot in recent years - I assumed He was already in.
At the very least the fact that He's not even on the short list that people can make their selection from - while guys like Lucien Bute, Mikey Garcia, Artur Grigorian, Paulie Ayala and Jorge Arce are there - is a complete travesty.

 

Been saying it for a while but I think Kalambay's resume has a good enough case to be considered when compared to most inductees that were able to get in such as Gatti, Mancini, Pazienza. None of them have been able to beat someone in the same class of fighter like a prime McCallum as Kalambay did.

 

What does it even mean?