Mike McCallum
Encyclopedia
Mike McCallum is a retired boxer
. Nicknamed "The Body Snatcher" for his fierce body punching. McCallum won world titles in three weight classes.
, he fought almost exclusively in the USA. He first became a world champion in 1984 by defeating Sean Mannion to win the vacant WBA
light Middleweight
title. McCallum would defend that title six times, winning all six fights by knock out.
His first prominent opponent was future world champion and Hall of Fame
inductee Julian Jackson
, who McCallum fought in his third title defense. McCallum survived some punishment in the first round and came back to stop the undefeated Jackson in the second round.
McCallum really came to prominence when he knocked out former WBC
welterweight title holder Milton McCrory
and former Undisputed welterweight champion Donald Curry
in 1987. Curry was ahead on all three scorecards going into the fifth round when McCallum knocked him out with what some have called a "perfect" left hook.
In 1988, he moved up to middleweight
, suffering his first defeat, a clear unanimous decision, in an attempt to win the WBA middleweight championship from Sumbu Kalambay
. In 1989, McCallum defeated Herol Graham
by a close decision to win the now-vacant WBA middleweight title (which had been stripped from Kalambay for signing to face IBF champion Michael Nunn). He defended the title three times, defeating Steve Collins
, Michael Watson
, and Kalambay in a rematch.
McCallum fought IBF
middleweight champion James Toney
in 1991. McCallum was stripped of the WBA title before the bout
. The fight ended in a draw, and McCallum lost the second fight by a majority decision the following year. Some felt that McCallum won both fights.
McCallum moved up in weight again and won the WBC light heavyweight
title by outpointing Jeff Harding
in 1994. Being in his late thirties, he did not hold the crown long, losing the title to Fabrice Tiozzo
. He attempted to regain the vacant interim title against Roy Jones Jr, but lost by a wide decision. In his last fight, McCallum lost a rubber match
to James Toney in the cruiserweight division.
McCallum had a professional record of 49-5-1 (36 knockouts). He was never knocked out as a professional. After McCallum retired, he moved to Las Vegas
and became trainer. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame
in 2003.
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. Nicknamed "The Body Snatcher" for his fierce body punching. McCallum won world titles in three weight classes.
Amateur career
Claimed an amateur record of 240-10- 1974 - Competed as a welterweight in the World Championships in Havana, losing by a 3rd round TKO to Clint Jackson of the United States.
- 1976 - Represented Jamaica as a welterweight at Montreal Olympic Games. Results were:
- Defeated Damdinjav Bandi (Mongolia) points
- Defeated Robert Dauer (Austria) points
- Lost to Reinhard SkricekReinhard SkricekReinhard Skricek is a retired boxer from Germany, who represented West Germany at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada...
(West Germany) points
- 1977 - National AAU Welterweight Champion, defeating Marlon StarlingMarlon StarlingMarlon "Magic Man" Starling was a two-time US world champion boxer.Starling was born in Hartford, CT in 1959. He turned professional in 1979. After 25 straight wins, he lost his first fight. He lost a 12 round decision to Donald Curry in 1982. Starling had a rematch with Curry in 1984, challenging...
in semifinals and Roger LeonardRoger LeonardRoger Leonard was a professional boxer from Palmer Park, Maryland. He is the older brother of boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard, who he introduced to boxing.-Amateur career:Nicknamed "The Dodger," Leonard had over 100 amateur bouts...
of the Air Force in the final. - 1977 - National Golden Gloves Welterweight Champion
- 1978 - Welterweight Gold Medalist at Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.
- 1979 - National Golden Gloves Welterweight Champion, defeating Doug DeWittDoug DeWittDoug DeWitt was a middleweight boxer.Known as "Cobra," DeWitt, who was also raised in Yonkers, New York, started boxing at the age of 15, and by the time he was 18, the young DeWitt had turned pro and was on his way to three middleweight titles during a 12-year career, which included bouts with...
and Robbie SimsRobbie SimsRobbie Sims was a former middleweight boxer out of Brockton, Massachusetts. A southpaw born November 5, 1959, he rose to prominence as a middleweight contender after defeating Roberto Durán in a split decision on 6/23/86. Sims lost to Sumbu Kalambay in a shot for the WBA title in 1988.Sims was...
. - 1979 - Welterweight Silver Medalist at Pan-American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Results were:
- Defeated Claudio Pereira (Brazil)
- Defeated Edward Green (United States) TKO 2
- Defeated Javier Colin (Mexico) TKO
- Lost to Andrés AldamaAndrés AldamaAndrés Aldama Cabrera was a Cuban boxer, who won the light welterweight silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics and the Welterweight gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics....
(Cuba) KO by 2
- 1979 - National Golden Gloves Welterweight Champion.
- 1980 - Lost to Alex RamosAlex RamosAlex Ramos is a former middleweight boxer from the 1980s. A native of Manhattan, New York, he is Puerto Rican by his parents' side. He was nicknamed "The Bronx Bomber", after Joe Louis, whose nickname was "The Brown Bomber"....
in New York Golden Gloves.http://cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/mccallum.htm
Professional career
Mike McCallum turned professional in 1981. As a professionalProfessional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
, he fought almost exclusively in the USA. He first became a world champion in 1984 by defeating Sean Mannion to win the vacant WBA
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
light Middleweight
Light middleweight
Light Middleweight , is a weight division in professional boxing, above 147 pounds and up to 154 pounds ....
title. McCallum would defend that title six times, winning all six fights by knock out.
His first prominent opponent was future world champion and Hall of Fame
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...
inductee Julian Jackson
Julian Jackson
Julian Jackson is a retired professional boxer and former three-time world champion in the light middleweight and middleweight divisions...
, who McCallum fought in his third title defense. McCallum survived some punishment in the first round and came back to stop the undefeated Jackson in the second round.
McCallum really came to prominence when he knocked out former WBC
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
welterweight title holder Milton McCrory
Milton McCrory
Milton McCrory was a professional boxer in the welterweight division.- Amateur :Milton had a reported amateur record of 105-15.He lost in the 1979 National AAU finals to Lemuel Steeples and in the Olympic Trials to Johnny Bumphus.- Pro career :Known as "Ice Man", McCrory turned pro in 1980 an won...
and former Undisputed welterweight champion Donald Curry
Donald Curry
Donald Curry is a retired boxer from Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Nicknamed the "Lone Star Cobra," Curry was the Undisputed World Welterweight Champion and the WBC Super Welterweight Champion.-Amateur career:...
in 1987. Curry was ahead on all three scorecards going into the fifth round when McCallum knocked him out with what some have called a "perfect" left hook.
In 1988, he moved up to middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
, suffering his first defeat, a clear unanimous decision, in an attempt to win the WBA middleweight championship from Sumbu Kalambay
Sumbu Kalambay
Sumbu "Patrizio" Kalambay is a Zaire-Italian former professional boxer who held the WBA middleweight championship. He was born in Zaire, moving to Italy during his youth, which is where he still resides.-Professional career:...
. In 1989, McCallum defeated Herol Graham
Herol Graham
Herol 'Bomber' Graham was born in Nottingham, England on 13 September 1959 and is generally acknowledged as one of the best British boxers of the post-war era never to have won a world title....
by a close decision to win the now-vacant WBA middleweight title (which had been stripped from Kalambay for signing to face IBF champion Michael Nunn). He defended the title three times, defeating Steve Collins
Steve Collins
Stephen Collins, more commonly known as Steve Collins, is a former professional boxer. Known as the "The Celtic Warrior", Collins is the former WBO middleweight and super middleweight champion....
, Michael Watson
Michael Watson
Michael Watson, MBE is a retired British boxer whose career ended prematurely as a result of near-fatal injury sustained in a WBO super-middleweight title fight defeat by Chris Eubank in September 1991....
, and Kalambay in a rematch.
McCallum fought IBF
IBF
IBF may refer to:*International Boxing Federation is one of several boxing organisations* International Bandy Federation former name of Federation of International Bandy , an international governing body for bandy...
middleweight champion James Toney
James Toney
James Nathanial Toney is an American professional boxer who has held world titles in the middleweight, super middleweight, and cruiserweight divisions. Toney currently fights in the heavyweight division in boxing and also now competes in mixed martial arts.-Boxing career:Toney's amateur boxing...
in 1991. McCallum was stripped of the WBA title before the bout
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. The fight ended in a draw, and McCallum lost the second fight by a majority decision the following year. Some felt that McCallum won both fights.
McCallum moved up in weight again and won the WBC light heavyweight
Light heavyweight
In boxing, the light heavyweight is a weight division above 168 pounds [12 Stone or 76.204 kilograms] and up to 175 pounds [12.5 stone or 79.38 kilograms]), falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight...
title by outpointing Jeff Harding
Jeff Harding
Jeff Harding is an American actor from New England most famed for his narration of popular books into audio format. Notably, he has read The Da Vinci Code, The Bourne Identity, Kane and Abel and Secrets Of The Code...
in 1994. Being in his late thirties, he did not hold the crown long, losing the title to Fabrice Tiozzo
Fabrice Tiozzo
Fabrice Tiozzo is a retired professional boxer in the light heavyweight division. His record is 48-2 .Tiozzo was a two time light heavyweight champion as well as a one time cruiserweight champion....
. He attempted to regain the vacant interim title against Roy Jones Jr, but lost by a wide decision. In his last fight, McCallum lost a rubber match
Rubber match
According to Paul Dickson's The New Dickson's Baseball Dictionary , a "rubber game" is "The last and deciding game of a series when the previous games have been split; e.g., the seventh game of the World Series." This tie-breaking sense of "rubber" apparently originated in the English game of...
to James Toney in the cruiserweight division.
McCallum had a professional record of 49-5-1 (36 knockouts). He was never knocked out as a professional. After McCallum retired, he moved to Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
and became trainer. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...
in 2003.