Mike McCallum

Mike McCallum
Statistics
Real name	Michael McCallum
Nickname(s)	The Bodysnatcher
Rated at	Light middleweight Middleweight Light heavyweight Cruiserweight
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Reach	74 in (188 cm)
Nationality	Jamaican
Born	(1956-12-07) 7 December 1956 Kingston, Jamaica
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	55
Wins	49
Wins by KO	36
Losses	5
Draws	1
No contests	1
Medal record Men's boxing Competitor for  Jamaica Commonwealth Games 1978 Edmonton Welterweight Pan-American Games 1979 San Juan Welterweight

Mike McCallum (born December 7, 1956) is a Jamaican former professional boxer. He held the WBA light middleweight and middleweight titles, as well as the WBC light heavyweight title. A slick, hard hitting, iron-chinned technician in the ring, McCallum is regarded by many fans and critics alike to be one of the most underrated fighters in history, and also one of the best of all time. He earned his nickname of "The Bodysnatcher" due to his ability to land vicious body punches in fights. His final fight was against old nemesis and three-weight world champion James Toney, against whom he lost by unanimous decision after twelve rounds. McCallum retired in February 1997 after a professional career spanning sixteen years, three world titles and four weight divisions. He defeated seven champions in Ayub Kalule, Julian Jackson, Milton McCrory, Donald Curry, Steve Collins, Sumbu Kalambay and Jeff Harding.

McCallum currently resides in New York City. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003.

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 Skricek (West Germany) points
• 1977 - National AAU Welterweight Champion, defeating Marlon Starling in semifinals and Roger Leonard 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 DeWitt and Robbie Sims.
• 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 Aldama (Cuba) KO by 2
• 1979 - National Golden Gloves Welterweight Champion.
• 1980 - Lost to Alex Ramos in New York Golden Gloves.

Professional career

Light-middleweight

Mike McCallum turned professional in 1981. As a professional, 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 two-weight world champion 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.^[1]

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.^[2]

Middleweight

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 split decision ^[3]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 controversial majority decision the following year. Some felt that McCallum won both fights.^[4]

Light-heavyweight

McCallum then moved up two weight divisions and won the Interim WBC light-heavyweight title against Randall Yonker, then won the full WBC 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. At 40 years of age, he attempted to regain the vacant Interim WBC title against Roy Jones Jr in December 1996, but lost by a wide decision.

In his last fight, McCallum lost a rubber match to James Toney via a unanimous decision in a cruiserweight bout.

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 a trainer. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003.^[5]

Professional boxing record

49 Wins (36 KOs), 5 Losses, 1 Draw
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	49-5-1	James Toney	UD	12	22/02/1997	Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
Loss	49-4-1	Roy Jones, Jr.	UD	12	22/11/1996	Tampa, Florida, United States	For vacant Interim WBC light-heavyweight title.
Win	49-3-1	Ali Saidi	UD	10	22/06/1996	Dortmund, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Loss	48-3-1	Fabrice Tiozzo	UD	12	16/06/1995	Lyon, Rhone, France	Lost WBC light-heavyweight title.
Win	48-2-1	Carl Jones	TKO	7	25/02/1995	Millwall, London, England	Retained WBC light-heavyweight title.
Win	47-2-1	Jeff Harding	UD	12	23/07/1994	Bismarck, North Dakota, United States	Won WBC light-heavyweight title.
Win	46-2-1	Randall Yonker	TKO	5	04/03/1994	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Won Interim WBC light-heavyweight title.
Win	45-2-1	Glenn Thomas	UD	10	14/08/1993	Hammersmith, London, England
Win	44-2-1	Ramzi Hassan	UD	10	25/03/1993	Amiens, Somme, France
Loss	43-2-1	James Toney	MD	12	29/08/1992	Reno, Nevada, United States	For Lineal/IBF middleweight titles.
Win	43-1-1	Fermin Chirino	UD	10	21/05/1992	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Draw	42-1-1	James Toney	PTS	12	13/12/1991	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	For Lineal/IBF middleweight titles.
Win	42-1	Nicky Walker	RTD	5	10/10/1991	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	41-1	Carlos Cruzat	UD	10	29/08/1991	Reno, Nevada, United States
Win	40-1	Sumbu Kalambay	SD	12	01/04/1991	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Retained WBA middleweight title.
Win	39-1	Frank Minton	TKO	4	19/02/1991	Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Win	38-1	Michael Watson	KO	11	14/04/1990	Kensington, London, United Kingdom	Retained WBA middleweight title.
Win	37-1	Steve Collins	UD	12	03/02/1990	Boston, Massachusetts, United States	Retained WBA middleweight title.
Win	36-1	Herol Graham	SD	12	10/05/1989	Kensington, London, United Kingdom	Won vacant WBA middleweight title.
Win	35-1	Ralph Moncrief	TKO	5	09/01/1989	Nogent-le-Phaye, Eure-et-Loir, France
Win	34-1	Randy "Manster" Smith	UD	10	22/12/1988	Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, France
Win	33-1	David McCluskey	TKO	2	27/06/1988	New York City, United States
Loss	32-1	Sumbu Kalambay	UD	12	05/03/1988	Pesaro, Marche, Italy	For WBA middleweight title.
Win	32-0	Donald Curry	KO	5	18/07/1987	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Retained WBA light-middleweight title.
Win	31-0	Milton McCrory	TKO	10	19/04/1987	Phoenix, Arizona, United States	Retained WBA light-middleweight title.
Win	30-0	Leroy Hester	KO	1	21/03/1987	Kingston, Jamaica
Win	29-0	Said Skouma	TKO	9	25/10/1986	Paris, France	Retained WBA light-middleweight title.
Win	28-0	Irving Hines	TKO	4	15/09/1986	Paris, France
Win	27–0	Julian Jackson	TKO	2	23/08/1986	Miami Beach, Florida, United States	Retained WBA light-middleweight title.
Win	26-0	Jimmy Shavers	TKO	6	02/05/1986	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	25-0	David Braxton	TKO	8	28/07/1985	Miami, Florida, United States	Retained WBA light-middleweight title.
Win	24-0	"Ferdinand" Marcos Martinez	TKO	2	15/06/1985	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	23-0	Luigi Minchillo	TKO	13	01/12/1984	Milan, Lombardia, Italy	Retained WBA light-middleweight title.
Win	22-0	Sean Mannion	UD	15	19/10/1984	New York City, United States	Won vacant WBA light-middleweight title.
Win	21-0	Hasim Razzaq	KO	1	10/03/1984	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Win	20-0	Manuel Jiminez	UD	10	25/10/1983	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	19-0	Jose Vallejo	TKO	6	31/08/1983	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	18-0	Tony Suero	TKO	3	26/04/1983	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	17-0	Ayub Kalule	RTD	7	13/11/1982	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Kalule retired at 3:00 of the seventh round.
Win	16-0	Carlos "Cano" Betancourt	TKO	3	22/10/1982	New York City, United States
Win	15-0	Kevin Perry	UD	10	11/06/1982	New York City, United States
Win	14-0	Reggie Ford	TKO	4	30/04/1982	New York City, United States
Win	13-0	Gilberto Almonte	KO	1	26/03/1982	Kingston, Jamaica
Win	12-0	Greg Young	TKO	5	22/01/1982	New York City, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 0:29 of the fifth round.
Win	11-0	Jimmy Heair	TKO	2	08/10/1981	Tampa, Florida, United States
Win	10-0	Ed "Hurricane" Harris	KO	1	08/09/1981	Tampa, Florida, United States
Win	9–0	Tirso Roque	KO	3	27/08/1981	Tampa, Florida, United States
Win	8-0	Bruce "Mouse" Strauss	TKO	3	19/07/1981	Warren, Ohio, United States
Win	7-0	Freddie Creech	KO	3	10/06/1981	Tampa, Florida, United States
Win	6-0	"Prince" Charles Smith	KO	3	30/04/1981	Tampa, Florida, United States
Win	5-0	Danny "Thunderhand" Chapman	TKO	4	24/04/1981	New York City, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:09 of the fourth round.
Win	4-0	Shelby Wilkerson	KO	5	02/04/1981	Tampa, Florida, United States
Win	3-0	Ricky Sheppard	KO	5	19/03/1981	Tampa, Florida, United States
Win	2-0	Rocky Fabrizio	KO	1	03/03/1981	Tampa, Florida, United States
Win	1-0	Rigoberto Lopez	KO	4	14/01/1981	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Professional debut.

See also

• List of boxing triple champions

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Mike McCallum from BoxRec