Sumbu Kalambay vs Tommy Hearns

Kalambay would be in just glad to be there mode, knowing he did not have the power that would really cause 87 Tommy problems.

Hearns WU15

 

That KO maybe boxing's strangest ever, and there have been some weird ones:


Kalambay may not have been quite the same fighter post Nunn, but his chin would not let him down again.

Nunn had a golden period (Tate/Roldan/Kalambay) where he showed good power, more than some give him credit for, but never the sort of power to take out a world class operator with no stoppage losses in 50 fights.

The knockout is not questioned.

There is no evidence (that I know of), of Kalambay being brought.

 

Hearns KO

 

It was a case of Nunn throwing the perfect punch at the right time and landing it.
Nobody bought anybody off.
I was a Nunn fan and was so mad the fight ended like that- I wanted to see two master boxers go at it.

 

Sumbu Kalambay is one of the most underrated and underappreciated fighters of the last 35 years but stylistically Hearns is all wrong for him, it's powerful, swarmer types that gave Tommy trouble at the higher weights (Hagler and Barkley). Seems unlikely that anyone could outbox Hearns at long range which is Kalambay's game.

Hearns UD

 

Think Hearns would decision him. Kalambay is pretty slippery and not that easy to knock out.

 

Hearns gets a convincing decision. It's hard to see him getting out boxed here. You have to hurt and pressure Hearns to beat him.

 

Had an impressive record in Europe, travelled to North America, got smoked, never to be sighted there again.

It happens.

Not sure what his travel arrangements were for that one. Perhaps just didn't allow himself enough time to properly settle in or didn't do enough sparring there. I watched that one as it happened. I thought Kalambay was off the pace before Nunn dropped the hammer.

There was also a big difference in standard between European & North American boxing in those days.

 

Maybe but I feel Hearns began to slip by 1987.

 

Can’t see any pure boxer getting the better of Hearns up to Middleweight at least.

 

If Tommy could win, it would be his best win at MW

if Kalambay won (and he would) it would not be his best win at MW

Tommy getting picked on name factor IMO

 

Someone remind me of Tommy's record at 160.

Kalambay UD 15

 

I just think Hearns was too tall and rangy for Kalambay. That and he had the kind of power to keep him honest. Sumbu on the other hand didn’t have the guns to hurt Tommy

 

Not at the very top. You could (rightly) argue, that the US had a lot more quality overall in the period.


Now although I picked Tommy, and stick to that pick, Seamus makes an excellent point:

On paper, Kalambay with wins over McCallum, Graham and Barkley, far outshines Hearns' Middleweight resume of wins over Roldan and Dewitt (who Sambu beat too).

 

Had a classic fight with Hagler and KO`d Shuler and was never blown out in rd1.