If they were all at their peaks, which of these great middleweights would peak McCallum have beaten: Marvin Hagler James Toney Roy Jones Jr Bernard Hopkins How good do you think he was? An ATG??
He arguably did beat Toney. I wouldn't favor him over any of the others though. I think he could actually give Jones trouble though, as he a smarter boxer than anyone Jones faced early on and had a very good body attack. I'd favor Jones though. McCallum may've beaten pretty much any of the top 154 pounders though, Hearns included. Very good fighter. Technically skilled, very good and varied attack. Good jab, used his long arms to his advantage in clinches, high workrate. Very good body attack, but it wasn't the brusing body attack of guys like Chavez or Duran, but more of a methodical body head tandem(straight rights to the body, jabs, etc). Definitely an ATG in my book. Very underrated resume.
McCallum IMO was equally good inside or outside. He was a superbly accurate fighter at long range. Just watch his fight with Watson and you'll witness a master at work. Technically he was pretty much textbook and could bring his punches in from all angles; underneath, round the side, and over the top. McCallum defintely has the kind of style which could give Hopkins problems. Probably Hagler as well for that matter. I'd take him to beat a tame Hagler. The kind of Hagler who sat back against Duran over 15 rounds. IMO he has the perfect style and tactical awarness to pull it off. He never quite cracked being a marquee fighter like Leonard, Hearns, Duran, etc. Not as marketable and the fighters he squared off against during the mid-late 80's were not marquee themselves. He never got the breakthrough to earn the money his talent deserved.
My answer to this thread is, Mike McCallum was extremely good, perhaps even one of the greatest middleweights of all time. He lived in the shadows of men like Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran. At the age of 37, Mike McCallum recieved my vote to beat James Toney in their first meeting. Toney, of course benefitted from a draw verdict, but Mike probably deserved the decision. James was undefeated in some 30 pro fights, and coming off a collosal win over Michael Nunn, or at least it was right around the same time from memory. Therefore, any potential claims of Toney being green, will automatically be disregarded by myself. Quality body punching is a rare trait, and so is great stamina and durability in aging fighters. McCallum possesed them both well into old age. Mike also had a very underrated defense. Additionally, He was never KO'd, and defeated many very respectable opponents, including the highly regarded Donald Curry, Herol Graham, Julian Jackson and Sumbu Kalambay. As for his chances against Hagler, Jones and Hopkins, well I can't say for sure that he would have beaten all of them. However, I can say for certain and with full confidence, that none of those guys are getting him out. Jones struggled with an aging McCallum who was basically on the ass end of his career, and fighting out of his best weight class. Toney, as I've already said, should have lost to a past prime McCallum. Hopkins was as tough as they come, but fought in what was arguably a weaker era than McCallum, so I think Mike's chances would have been reasonable. Especially considering that Bernard had never faced a man of McCallum's durabilty, defense, or talent at working the body. Hagler, probably would have decisioned him, due to his more appealing style to the judges of that era, but make no mistake about it, Mike would have been one of his toughest foes, and a rematch, would have been unlikely granted.
McCallum was younger than that in their first meeting I thought. I considered him around his MW prime at the time.
You're right. He was 35 rather than 37. It's been a while since I've checked. Most of this stuff, I'm going by memory on. As for him being in his middleweight prime, I'd say he was very close, but perhaps as an overall fighter, he was slipping a tad, and neverthless, he deserved the decision against Toney in that fight, in my opinion.
He had a great run in both divisions. Perhaps calling him one of the greatest middleweights of all time, was a stretch on my part, but he did very well there, and still could have competed reasonably well against the all time greats mentioned by the starter of this thread in my opinion.
Emanuel Steward called him the most complete fighter he ever trained. At 154lbs he is possibly the best even better then Hearns. Out of the names mentioned him vs Toney is 50/50 as we saw and I would favour McCallum over Hopkins.
35 to be exact. I was confusing him with a later meeting that he had with Toney, but I did a search on boxrec and he was born on December 7, 1956. He fought Toney on December 13, 1991.
H2H he does better against middleweight greats rather than accomplishments. At Jr middleweight he does better in both categorys.
There are quite a few McCallum fights up on youtube now, if you haven't seen them Pacfan. vs Toney http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaXTAzPzyXU Jackson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TJBxxVz4CE Yonker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW8ORLDMv3s Braxton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=steLnwZ0Mzg Curry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kErAfJvy0Us kalambay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shT59e0jeG8
He might beat Toney but not the other three IMO. I think, like Burley, he's become a tad overrated with time. Great fighter undoubtably, but no better than his present reputation IMO. I think he would have beaten Duran, but Hagler, SRL and Hearns would have been a different matter for mine. I put him on a level down from Duran, SRL, Hearns and Hagler.
