McCallum was an ATG who would have given anyone a tough fight. Great skills. His fights with Curry and McCrorry wer classics. Deserves more credit than he gets.
Hearns is my fav fighter but NO WAY does he beat McCallum. Its been well documented that Hearns COULD NOT deal with McCallum in sparring. I know sparring is not a sure indication but McCallum was a master techician. Tommy gets KOd.
I have to dispute that post bill. Hearns at 147/154 gives any fighter in history a very very hard fight,even robinson. If hearns opted to box how does mcallum overcome this? You also realise the speed and power tommy possessed at 154? Remember curry was doing very well before the left hook,and tommy is way more dimensional ,faster,bigger,more powerful,taller and a much better boxer than curry. Tommy never lost at 154,and only lost once at 147,the 160 tommy is a step down in all aspects from the other versions.
mccallum beats anyone at 154 i think. the way he handled julian jackson, KO KING, is stuff of legend.
Yes,excellent,but jackson was green,and is crude and slow compared to hearns,he also could NEVER box like tommy. There is no comparison between hearns and jackson except for one punch power. (and even then hearns kod better fighters,what great fighter did jackson ko really?)
Quote from Mccallum interview below. There is one from Emmanuel quoting Hearn's frustration at McCallum's superior abilties during sparring but I cannot find it. Agreed Tommy was great at 147/154 and to be honest the only guy i see beating a peak hearns is Mike but Hearns has a good chance too. Here is the interview snippet MP: It has been rumored for years that you and Thomas Hearns used to engage in heated sparring sessions at the famed Kronk Gym in Detroit. How much truth is behind this and who else did you spar with over the years? I used to beat on Thomas Hearns. We had great workouts. Sometimes Tommy would get the better of me, and sometimes I’d get the better of Tommy. I think more times I’d get the better of him then he’d get the better of me. We had some great workout and great times. That’s one of the reasons why Tommy wouldn’t fight me. I would say I sparred maybe a hundred rounds with him. The first time I went to Detroit they paid me to work with him. I told them no, I’m not a sparring partner. But they kept say “come on, work with him.” I worked with him a couple of times, and I was getting the better of him than he was of me. I know I was getting to him. From there it became more heated. Those were good times man……
What else do you expect mcallum to say? Hes hardly impartial and unbiased is he? I dont think hearns was afraid of any boxer at 154.
Something even the greatest of fighters get their asses handed to them in sparring sessions. It happened to Larry Holmes a couple of times.
