Compare the technical skillsets of McCallum and Duran

Without a doubt two of the most technically skilled fighters I've ever seen. How would you compare their technical skillsets?

 

I find it hard myself to find any real difference between them. They were a bit different tactically since Duran (in his prime) had physical assets that Mike didn't. But both could box on the front foot and backfoot, had great head movement and footwork and a very fine tuned arsenal of offensive weapons.

A case can be made that Duran relied a bit more on his reflexes, though. Even when way past his prime McCallum never left himself as open as Duran did against Benitez, Hearns etc at times. McCallum had a tendency to drop his left, but usually held his guard quite compact. He was never teed-off upon with regularity in a fight. Well, Kalambay definitelly had success in their first fight, but in was more with scoring punches than really hurtful ones. Toney had him going in the last round of their first meeting, but hadn't landed very much before that.

 

Duran had more effective footwork, better feinting skills, better defensive reflexes, etc. McCallum the better jab, more comfortable at mid to long range, more of a textbook boxer-puncher, etc. They're not very similar.

 

McCallum certainly didn't have the "instincts" of Duran, he just worked very hard on his technique and was able to anticipate most of the punches. McCallum being taller and mostly working at range separates him from Duran. They weren't exactly carbon copies of each other.

 

When I said I had a hard time seeing any difference between them, I meant in terms of technical quality not styles.

 

I'd perhaps agree on the second, but not the first. I think McCallums footwork was just about picture perfect from a technical standpoint and supremely effective.

But did he really have the better jab, or just the longer one? It was certainly a more integral part of his style, but this was perhaps more down to tactical issues than technical ones.

As I said, I meant similarity in quality not styles.

 

I guess the difference is that Duran possessed more "raw" natural fighting ability while McCallum's was the result of hard work and dedication to his craft.

 

Yes and no. Duran was more natural gifted in terms of speed and explossiveness, but McCallum had a great natural affinity to quickly master complicated technical moves. Steward says he was in this sense the greatest natural talent he'd ever trained. He would grasp techniques instantly that others just couldn't perform, no matter how hard they tried.

 

His feet were quite slow, regardless of how well positioned they were. It's what so often lead to him having issues with speedier boxers. Duran could close and open the distance in the blink of an eye. His feints played a part in that often, mind you.

It was still better. Duran didn't have much use for the jab outside of drawing and gauging, although he was capable of using it as a point-scorer when he felt the need. McCallum's was very well-rounded through and through, and consistent.

 

Duran was much the same way, moreso actually, as a lot of his awareness and fighting sensibilities were quite natural. He just honed them over time.

 

This is down to speed more than technique, though. I'd say Duran had more problems with speedier boxers once he slowed down. Outside of Kalambay, McCallum was never outboxed when remotely close to his prime and he avenged that one. Curry's speed troubled him a bit, but in the end it was a moot point.

Fair enough.

 

Yeah, Duran was naturally gifted here as well. That's what made him so special in his prime. Extremely few combine raw athleticism (speed, power, strength, stamina, chin) with such a natural affinity for technique like Robert did.

 

True but I'm just trying to highlight the difference between Duran and McCallum as best I can. Perhaps it would be better to say that all of what Duran could do cannot be "taught" while McCallum's skills were the result of numerous learned techniques, which he did have a talent for if you can call it that. Of course McCallum was rangy, yet quite strong, had a great chin and decent handspeed, so he wasn't exactly a poor physical specimen but against the fastest opponents his footwork and reflexes did not quite keep up.

 

Yeah, we are in agreement.

I just wanted to highlight that it takes great natural ability to become a great technician. Not that I didn't think you understood that as well, just that it's a point that needs to be made sometimes.

 

I've been told that even after the Kalambay loss, McCallum went onto learn a huge amount of small details on how to better deal with a slick counter-puncher like Kalambay, which he then put to use in the rematch. They were small things that you barely noticed, but that's how McCallum went on about his business. Of course his win had something to do with Kalambay's decline as well, but he did show improvement over the first fight where he was largely befuddled by Kalambay's moves and had no answers for them.