Yes. He was a great fighter. And he's not over-rated or trash-talked by anybody at all. It's completely the opposite, he's under-rated and people speak nothing but great words about a great fighter.
without a doubt one of the greatest all-rounders, with a very good resume and a h2h nightmare for most atg's at 154 and 160. i can't believe his greatness is even up for debate.
Of course McCallum was a great fighter. I still think to this day that he beats Duran at 154...even though it wasn't Duran's weight, but I think he loses to Leonard and Hagler. McCallum imo beats Hearns. McCallum's resume speaks for itself.
Funny you should ask this as I've just finished watching his fight with a young Steve Collins. And the answer is an obvious yes.
It was quite un-orthodox, especially how he always countered to the body, like almost every time, it rarely pops into a boxers mind to throw counters to the body but it never LEFT McCallums mind.
He was avoided like the plague in the 80's....he could have beaten them all, he was that good in his prime...........only the real boxing fans even knew who he was, and none of the big names would give him a shot.:good
Never fought the big names in his prime because they were scared to fight him. Owned Hearns in sparring. That says it all. Still beat top fighters as a veteran. ATG
Around top 70 OAT. A great fighter. Strong resume, excellent skillset, incredible chin. Underrated because he was not the flashiest or most glamorous 80s fighter. I'm a big fan. (and it took one of the very very best displays of boxing in history to convincingly defeat him - Kalambay I)
He was superb against Watson as well. And although I scored the first fight to Toney, I still thought McCallum was brilliant that night making it so close, because Toney in those days was a wonderful fighter. The McCallum of the first Toney fight in '91 would have beaten everyone who has fought at middleweight ever since, excluding Jones and Hopkins.
Sounds like this guy was underrated and avoided by the big names which probably prevented him from a greater legacy?