These are two of my favourite boxers and their bout for the WBA Middleweight Title Belt in 1989 was a really good fight. Two of the best underrated middleweights prime for prime going at it. Before reading my own analysis you can watch the fight again if you want to or if you havent seen it. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv1kUSBJAXg&feature=related This is the fight as I saw it: The first two rounds McCallum was clearly befuddled by Graham's style and no amount of sparring with unconventional southpaws seemed to have prepared him for Graham, he was outboxed and made to look quite silly at times. The third saw a change and you have to admire McCallum's ability to adapt, he upped the tempo and began to try and work on the inside for the first time and although not entirely successful he landed the far more meaningful punches and won the round. Graham won the next two with the fifth a controversial one with a knockdown scored by Graham, but was it a slip? Probably. Anyway thats the first round thats difficult to score. I had McCallum coming back to win the next two rounds. In the sixth for some inexplicable reason Graham decided to trade with McCallum on the inside and despite some success, lost the round. I dont know why he switched but he didnt really recover for the rest of the fight. The eighth was another controversial round with Graham deducted a point for spinning McCallum into the turnbuckle but it was a round that could have gone either way and was arguably the turning point in the fight. If you scored it 9-9 in favour of Graham he became favourite, if you scored it 10-8 in favour of McCallum he became favourite. I scored it 9-9. McCallum won the next three rounds for me as Graham began to tire and the Bodysnatcher began punishing him. A real treat was the ninth, I had forgotten how good that round was, Graham began trading with McCallum again and it was actually a great forgotten round and definately the best of the fight. The last round was far from the prettiest with lots of wrestling with Graham impressing at the start of the round and McCallum taking over towards the end, I scored it a draw. Thus I had McCallum emerging victorious 114-113 in a very close battle with a real clash of styles. Please voice your own opinions.
Thanks for posting. This happened before I got into boxing and hadn't seen it. I'd only seen Grahams late comeback fights culminating in his last title fight against Charles Brewer at super middle. I wouldn't disagree with your analysis, or the result of the fight. I think it's a great credit to Graham that he came that close to beating someone as good as the body snatcher, and he can count himself very unlucky to have never held a world title. It's a shame we didn't get to see him against Benn and Eubank.
Absolutely, apparently Eubank sparred with him and although knocking him down he was generally made a fool of by Graham and he wouldnt take him on in the ring. Benn is my favourite fighter ever and although I believe he would take anyone on in the ring and feared no man apart from Jones which he openly admitted too while offering him out I often wonder whether he avoided Graham due to his eccentric boxing style. I certainly believe Graham would have defeated him, it would have been a horrible stylistic match-up for Benn. The early nineties junior middle/middle/and super middle was my favourite time for boxing its just a shame so many of the guys around that time didnt face each other. Anyway heres another couple of clips with Graham discussing Benn and Eubank if you havent seen them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3pILRBdv1s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07b9UhCxuWA&feature=related
I hadnt even realised, happy birthday to him indeed, only a couple of weeks short of my own birthday.
i think graham suffered from complacency at some crucial points in his career. the guy had all the talent in the world, but just seemed to take it for granted and forget that however elusive and skilled defensively you are, you cant take anyone lightly at the level he was fighting at. if the guy had been switched on and ready for 12 hard rounds in all his big fights i dont think we'd be talking about him as the best boxer to never win a world title.
I agree I think he suffered a little with over-confidence and didnt rate his opponents enough, often coming unstuck.
