Who ranks higher all-time

Thats how Manny talks though. He says like 4 fighters all have the best jab, at one point i think he said Oscar was the best jab fighter hes seen , or something to that effect. He gets really animated in interviews I think it is

 

That can definitely be true about him, I think the only reason I reference this claim so often is because I believe it to be true, too. Lol

 

Toney

 

McCallum. The names and context of his wins was just more impressive.

 

McCallum was a clean athlete who won over the Championship Distance, was never stopped, and crushed the likes of Julian Jackson and Donald Curry when it mattered. (We in New England were extremely proud of Sean Mannion going the Championship Distance with him, then he stopped Luigi Minchillo in 13 rounds, achievements which can never be duplicated. Defeated or drew with a number of world title claimants. Loved Ray Robinson and studied his films assiduously. Excellence and widely respected by his opponents and peers, like RJJ.

 

I love both of them. I think it's close either way, both amongst the most skilled fighters I've ever seen. Both had great resumes but if I had to pick one it would probably be McCallum for his consistency and his losses were to top fighters and most of them when he was clearly past it while Toney had some bad losses to average guys like Thadzi for example. If Toney had Mike's discipline it would probably be him but that's an alternative reality and what if s don't count, so taking everything in consideration im going with Mike on this one.

 

Toney but McCallum was locked out of getting the big fights for years.

 

yes, but I don't think Manny thought Mike would beat him. I think he would have given him a tough fight.. Tommy had so many guys to fight (more than most as we know) that he did not need Mike, and yet Mike needed Tommy and Marvin and Roberto and Ray.. Yet they had each other to fight. I see what you saying..

 

nice comments. What Emanuel said in my mind was he was 50/50 to beat any of them, and he was most natural a fighter he ever said. Quite a compliment. Sounds like Emanuel was saying it would have been a great fight. And the workouts were amazing. The problem is that Tommy had so many tough fights that another drag out fight with Mike would not help him with his legacy which surrounds Hagler,Duran,Leonard and Benitez. It would have sped up his decline since Mike McCallum didn't punch tremendously hard, but he landed so clean, most guys would be worn out after fighting him.. So the fight was probably not recommended. Had Tommy lost most people did not respect Mike as much as the other legends Tommy fought.

 

I agree with you that Mike needed Hearns more than Hearns needed him. For as great as McCallum was, he never was a box office draw like Tommy was. I also agree it would have been a good fight. I just think McCallum had the style,skill and testicular fortitude to beat Hearns. I don't think k for second that Hearns could knock McCallum out and I don't think Tommy could outbox him for 12 rounds either. I think McCallum would have worn him out and stopped him late. Reading between the lines, I think Manny knew there was too much to lose fighting McCallum.

 

At the end of the day, Manny did the right thing for Hearns which was his job. He knew how good McCallum was, so did Futch and the Duvas.

 

It's unfortunate for Mike. And I always said he is like the modern day Charley Burley. As Burley said about SRR not fighting him. I dont blame SRR for not fighting me, there is no money in it. And that's the sad story of Mike McCallum's career, he wasn't a draw and sometimes was paid only like 10 grand for fights starting out. There is no way any of them were going to fight Mike or be matched with Mike, High risk , low reward.
Tommy hit harder than mike and was the better fighter on the outside. Mike was more durable and much better mid range in the pocket than Tommy. 12 round fight, A disciplined Hearns probably outpoints him. Tommy ditches his gameplan and wants to slug it out with the more durable better chinned McCallum, he loses. 15 round fight, Mike wins there as well .. so fair to say this is and always will be a 50 - 50 fight for me.

 

I think James Toney was the greater fighter, but not by much. Mike McCallum was a wonderfully gifted boxer, and I agree he never really got the breaks that he deserved.

I think Leonard, Hearns and Hagler beat him but they would be very very competitive fights. I agree with Manny that Mike would beat Duran.

 

nice post. I personally think Tommy at 154 was too fast for Mike and if he fought with his jab and used combinations and speed and not gone for the knockout he would have won a decision. The Minchillo fight shows some differences. Maybe split,decision but I think Thomas wins it. I think Mike was his own detriment when it came to changing trainers and not building a base, and maybe moving up in 1988 was not a good move after his bigget win and he did was Donald did a little, won his biggest fight at 154 against Donald and moves up.. Donald beat Milton and moved up. Both of them compromised publicity to move up and try to win another title, although Mike did much better than Donald moving up.

 

I'll leave my bias for James Toney out of this:

IMO Mike Mccallum mainly because at the end of the day, Mccallum is the absolute greatest JMW of all time. As in that is "his" division and the 2nd greatest JMW doesn't even come close to his domination at that weight. Then he has MW and LHW. titles The only reason he's not a 4 division champion is because I'm pretty sure he never even campaigned at SMW.

James Toney (one of my 10 favorite fighters), despite the fact that he was more well known, and a far bigger name and has a 2-1 record against Mike simply never achieved that level of dominance in any division he campaigned at. You can call him # 1 where he campaigned at any given time but he didn't conquer his divisions as conclusively. There is no division that I would say Toney was the greatest ever or even an argument for being the greatest (or top 5, or even top 10). Those are just a couple things that separate them.