Mike McCallum is often overlooked when the greatest fighters in history are discussed, but it’d be fitting if his death led to followers of boxing revisiting his fights and appreciating how great he really was.
It’s not an exaggeration to write that McCallum, who died at the age of 68, is one of the pioneers of modern-day boxing. He was a great champion at junior middleweight, middleweight and light heavyweight. I used to love studying footage of him and watching his fights.
He was nicknamed “The Bodysnatcher”, partly on account of how good a body puncher he was, but he was a tremendously gifted fighter beyond that – one who was very intelligent, and blessed with some of the most solid fundamentals we’ve ever seen. Anyone trying to become a better boxer would have benefitted from watching McCallum – which isn’t something that can be said about all of the greatest fighters. Roy Jones, for example, succeeded to the extent he did largely because of his athleticism. But McCallum’s fundamentals and intelligence, combined with his punch selection and ability to remain calm at close-to-mid range, produced some of the most beautiful-looking violence witnessed in a boxing ring.
McCallum’s fundamentals also complemented his natural power. He knew how to turn over his shots with the right amount of weight; how to flawlessly set up body punches. He knocked out the heavy-handed Julian Jackson in 1986, when Jackson was undefeated and at his most feared, which contributed to McCallum being avoided as he was. It’s been suggested that someone of the calibre of Tommy Hearns avoided McCallum; McCallum was established in the 15-round era, and progressed into the 12-round era and fought some of the greats then, too. He really was that good.
The Jackson win is among those that really stand out. Against such a dangerous puncher he was calm enough to stay at close range to make Jackson miss and then make him pay. Most of Jackson’s opponents were so wary of his power that, at close range, they were just making sure they weren’t getting hit cleanly; McCallum combined composure and positioning to turn defence into attacking Jackson’s body. It was a special performance.
His first fight with James Toney, in 1991, was another of my favourites. I’d watch, and appreciate, the performance of both of them, and try to take away from them what I could. Their IQs, positioning and craftsmanship was so high, even though McCallum, by then, was past his very, very best. The knockout of Donald Curry in 1987 was also spectacular, and graceful.
I met McCallum a handful of times in gyms in Las Vegas. We never spoke for more than 30 seconds on any of those occasions, but I knew and respected who he was, and I respected that he was a low-key guy who didn’t talk about his career unless it was brought up.
But it was that and that lack of being given the very best opportunities at his very peak that denied McCallum from being as revered as Hearns and others from their era. He’s one of the most under-appreciated fighters we’ve even seen.
I truly believe that he was worthy of sharing the ring with Hearns, Marvin Hagler, “Sugar” Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran – the celebrated Four Kings – and if he had, on a given night he’d have been capable of beating any of them. He just as easily could have lost to them, but he was good enough that it’d have been that close.
Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin are among the most celebrated fighters of the modern era, and he was at least as good as they were, too. He was capable of competing with the very best in history. I hope that his death contributes to his standing being reassessed.
