What's keeping Sumbu Kalambay from the IBHOF?

He was certainly talented enough to get in for sure but he has the same problem that Ike Quartey has which is that lack of big signature win. Hagler, Duran, Leonard and Hearns wanted no part of Sumbu. Way to much risk without the reward. Quartey at least got his chance to fight Oscar although he didn't get the decision.

Winky Wright was avoided for years until Mosely gave him a shot at a payday. Had that not happened he would be remembered the same way as Sumbu.

The IBOHOF is just like the Rocknroll HOF, it's just a popularity contest. Real fight fans know that Sumbu would be a handful for anyone in boxing history at 160.

 

Inept officials.

 

Hagler was at the end of his career and justifiably chasing a pay day with Leonard but Sumbu was very much on the radar.

Sumbu was a mandatory challenger and ended up fighting Barkley for the belt vacated by Hagler.

 

An ocean and about 727 miles of land.

 

The IBHOF have relatively low standards in terms of inductees (Ingemar Johansson, Barry McGuigan and Daniel Zaragoza being decent examples of the modern crop, while there are a shed load of old timers who have no business being in what's supposed to be an elite group), which makes Kalambay's absence even more puzzling. I'd say that Kalambay would have a claim to be part of an even more selective (as it should be) Hall - but by Canastota standards? He should have been in years ago.

To be honest the IBHOF is a bit of a joke and shouldn't be taken too seriously. Haven't bothered with it for a while, so this might not be the case anymore, but last I checked Santos Laciar wasn't in there, either. As mentioned above, popularity seems to be one of their foremost criteria and the way they're going, every pre-War fighter who ever held a title will be in there before long.

But yes, Kalambay remains hideously underrated and I agree completely with the original comment that the Nunn loss was a bit of an anomaly. Not that Nunn won, just how he won. Nunn wasn't a one-punch knockout artist, and Kalambay was usually hard to hit with such a deliberate shot and durable, too. I'm convinced that if they'd boxed another 100 times, a blowout like that wouldn't have occurred again (albeit Nunn would still have won most of them). Kalambay's masterclass against McCallum in their first fight is one of the greatest wins and performances of the eighties (and with another set of judges he could easily have won the second one, too, albeit that was very close whichever way you had it). Beat the undefeated Graham pretty convincingly first time out as well, and did it by outboxing the guy who was supposedly next-to impossible to outbox. Barkley and Collins went on to have their best results / moments after being beaten by Kalambay. And he did all that despite not really making a name for himself until he was over 30 years old.

Him and Laciar both being absent from the IBHOF is daft, but as others have said I think everyone with any real appreciation for the sport knows that the pair of them were pure class and could hang in any era at 160 / 112 respectively, which means a hell of a lot more than the opinions of the dolts in charge at Canastota.

 

Top post, Chris.

 

Only one fight in his career on US TV.

Its an American based thing

 

I don't think because Nunn beat him he should necessarily be in there before Kalambay. Barkley beat Hearns, and Hearns was a first ballot pick. Not to say Nunn was a fluke one punch, but that fight was a little flukish. Nice win, but I loved Kalambay's style. If I were training a fighter. I would not show him Hearns or Leonard or Duran because those guys are just too outstanding. You give your fighter a false sense of reality. , I would show him Kalambay and Genero Hernandez and Floyd. Guys who worked defense and then countered off of that . He won't be as good, but it shows defense and moving and then finding openings. I trained my friend once and this was years ago and he imitated Tyson because Mike was big at the time. I told him, you cannot imitate Mike. Mike is unique and bobbing and weaving and then going to the body to go upstairs works for him but it won't for you, but using fundamentals like Kalambay or Hernandez is a better route. But fighters want to be exciting.

 

What was his biggest fight? Collins? Did McCallum get a lot of live viewers?

 

His biggest fight by far was Nunn of course.

The Collins fight was only shown on Eurosport and not even live

 

His resume is better than some guys who are in.

He had a really good run between 87 and 89 until Nunn starched him.

Nunn should be in and a case could be made for Kalmbay, as well.

 

Barkley beating Hearns in 88 was sandwiched between losses to Kalambay and Duran. Then, he lost to Nunn.

Kalambay and Nunn were consistently on a higher level then Barkley.

Yes, Barkley did win the 160 lb title from Hearns, but overall, they have a better 160 lb. resume than him.

Take away Barkley's wins over Hearns, and his resume is quite thin.

 

I meant his biggest fight that would actually help his case.