Exactly Paul, when I was about late teens I started to get KO magazine monthly from the Newsagents in the late 80s and to say that they underrated McCallum wouldn't be even close. They never spoke about him or had him even higher than no 3 when he was a junior middleweight. I never understood that because at the time he had good wins against the frighteningly good hitter Julian Jackson and Donald Curry who had come back well and looked his old self after losing at welter to Honeyghan 18 months earlier. Reg Gutteridge called him "The great Mike McCallum" before one of his bouts. Only the likes of James Toney and Roy Jones could lick him on points. I think he had a draw against Sumbu kalambay and one against Toney I'd have to check but no doubt Mike McCallum was a great fighter. I remember him knocking out Michael Watson too who was a good solid compact middleweight with massive heart and solid defence. He boxed evenly with Herol Graham in a close bout too and Herol who was flawed in some regards wasn't easy to box against but Mike managed it. He was a patient solid Jr middle and middleweight. I think towards the end didn't he fight above middle too? May have fought Jones and Toney at super middle or Jones at middle and Toney at super middle? I'd have to double check was such a long time ago.
Dead right Paul Anthony, the toney fights were classics as well. The boxing ability from both sides was sublime. Great against Jeff harding too and even Roy Jones you could see the respect he had for McCallum. We know the American press seem to big up their own fighters and disregard others but that's no matter, good is good and anyone with the knowledge could see how good the man was . Good to converse with somebody who knows the game, thanks brother 👍👍
@@paulanthony5274 He lost to Sumbu in their first by UD or MD and won the rematch by SD. Sumbu is also criminally underrated and unfairly remembered only by the surprising first round ko loss to Michael Nunn.
I think Mike showed against Jackson he could take the power punches and continue on and beat you, I think he beats Hearns in a great fight, at JWM, Floyd has not shot against either one, Leonard also beats him there, as does Terry norris, who also could box, was fast and had an awesome left hook.
McCallum was such a smart, cagey, crafty fighter. He knew all the tricks, even more so than Toney or Hopkins, I think. He always knew where the ref was, and he'd go way low, at his opponent's hip socket on the blind side, with bone-crunching shots. (Never right at the groin, though--at least not intentionally, but if a guy moved...) It's a shame his fights with Toney and Jones were long after his prime, and it's a shame he never got a shot against Duran, Hagler, Leonard, or Hearns. He was probably the most dodged fighter of his generation.
Got (sorta) stolen from his fight with Duran because Tommy makes more money and well... both of them are kronk fighters but Manny decided to give Tommy the shot first,the rest is history.
Now this is the classic respectful art of " Sparring " . Compared to the present day sparring sessions with the pros. Today the sparring sessions are so disrespectful to the Queensbuiry sparring rules, present day, they try to take your head off instead off working and fixing flaws to advance their craft of the sweet science of boxing.
Hearns was faster than McCallum and he hit much harder when he was delivering single full power punches. But McCallum was a much more rounded fighter and he was much better on the inside than Hearns. Hearns biggest problems were his durability and his stamina - two areas where McCallum was excellent. Hearns didn't have a glass chin but he was one of those guys who when they get hurt they lose their composure and technique and they get sloppy. If they fought It would either be Hearns inside 3 rounds or McCallum with a 9-12th round stoppage.
Hearns inside three minutes against McCallum, really? I mean this man fought all the killers but was never knocked out. The likes of Julian Jackson, Jam😢Toney, Roy Jones, Steve Collins . He was never knocked down, the four kings didn't want to get in a ring with him for a reason.
Then again mccallum fought hard hitters and was never dazed. I see mccallum getting the better of hearns. He was avoided for a reason. Even in his late 30s the man was a killer. The moment someone closed hearns distances it was almost always over. Even Barkley got to him.
That's true. Unfortunately, some that came along later only got to see him fight when he was up in age and past his prime years, even then , he was still no pushover
Sparring is sparring it does not entirely reflect how an actual bout would progress, having said that, what is clearly apparent, is that Tommy had a much faster and all-round superior jab than Mike and in an actual fight Tommy would utilise his superbly disguised laser like right hand.
Tommy's jab was his best asset but his inability to take a huge punch and Mccallum's body work and amazing stamina would have won him the fight in the later rounds imo. There is no doubt in my mind he would have knocked out Tommy.
@ 4:58 hearns whole attitude change a bit after that left hook,(making sounds and smiling).Mccallum is a kind of fighter to catch up to you in a 12rd fight . Guessing manny saw a pattern developing and did not approve ...
These two masters display such incredible skills, with a huge respect and control to each other’s. They never hit with mean intention, but still, I’m amazed by this amazing demonstration.
McCallum is probably the most complete and skilled fighter i've ever seen. He had it all: Excellent jab, inside game, brutal body attack, master defense, very high ring IQ, granite chin, stamina, footwork, accuracy, timing, no waste of energy... On the other hand, Hearns got more power, speed and reach than McCallum. But that's it. In every other department Mike was clearly better. Hearns would attack McCallum with a barrage of brutal punches but Mike would dodge almost every punch. Tommy tend to be over anxious in big fights and he used to let himself wide open when attacking, then Mike would counter punch him to death and also slow him down progressively with body shots. Hearns chin was allways suspect and his stamina was poor mostly because of his over anxiety when attacking in the earlier rounds. All of these factors would lead into McCallum TKO'ing Hearns in the mid/late rounds
Hearns had a much better jab. And in these weights - hearns moved much better as well. Add that he could fight of the back foot - mike couldnt. To me that makes tommy more diverse. Ill just add that i think mike wins h2h.
@@eranliber5993 you should go and watch Mike McCallum as you obviously don’t know anything at all lol. Never catch Mike getting tired down the stretch or getting Ko’d cold in his prime. Pure boxing pugilist. Furthermore, hearns named him the body snatcher, and also hearns and manny didn’t wanna fight him . Either did Ray he beat rays bro in the amateurs. And the way he broke down Julian Jackson countering with body shots. Mike came up the hard way! 🇯🇲
@@thefootballandboxingchanne2357 i did see a decent portion of his fights that i could find. And i love mccallum. EXTREMELY UNDERRATED. what i wrote is just my feeling in a h2h match. Tommy imo had the best jab in the lower divisions, especially back in his day. Tommy also moved very good (mike also) but hearns was quicker. as for conditioning? Absolutely right. Hearns could be gassed out when didnt fight the right fight and it was possible. Btw - i heard that tommy ducked mccallum - and i cant say or validate anything. But i guess many top guys did. Sure, mike was a prime boxer - but unlike hearns, hagler, duran and leonard - he didnt bring big numbers, money and exposure so it felt like a lose-lose situation to put your title in the line and gaining very little from it. Dont get me wrong - i absolutely think the best should fight the best, and tommy and mike @154 wouldve been epic, but i guess when your title in the line and big money comes into play - words speak louder than actions. Anyway - BIG respect for mike. His 1st fight against toney remains one of my absolute favorites.
@@eranliber5993 hearns outboxes mc callum. The spots mc callum was most dangerous hearns wouldn’t give him. Unless the gas tank like said.And I like mc callum more than hearns .more complete .
Boy what a great fight this would have been. Love Tommy, but I gotta go with the body snatcher. After seeing McCallum destroy Julian Jackson, who was as big a puncher as anybody, I have no doubt he could handle Tommy's power. The x-factor in this fight is Tommy's chin, which seemed to betray him in big fights. I see Hearns leading on points by around round 5 or 6, and then McCallum catching him. The Body Snatcher by TKO, round 7.
Jackson wasn't the fighter tommy was. Yeah ge had power. But he didn't have the ring IQ, precision, and speed as tommy. Plus i doubt he punched significantly harder than Tommy. His hooks were powerfy, but Tommy's straights were. Plus his hooks had pop too. Cang compare Jackson to the HITMAN
The problem with that comparison is that it doesn’t take into account the fact that Hearns is far better than Jackson in every other aspect apart from power (where he’s merely equal).
Watching Tommys flick jab is like a cobra strike it’s prey, so quick the eye can’t see it..Masterful boxers, and 2 of my all time favourites. It would be an honour to meet them one day. I could watch this all day.🥊
The "Body Snatcher" was one of the most technical old school fighters out there . I had a youngster out here today just getting into the sport,( I'm telling him or her to just study Mike McCullen fights ,especially via "Donald Curry "& "Julian Jackson".
you're right that Mike could probably outbox Tommy, but I'm not too sure Mike would have chosen to try to outbox him I'm a real bout. instead he would have timed the hell out of Tommy to the body, taken away his legs and ko'd him late. I'd go with Mike in a battle of attrition
Carlos Rosa It's a tough call. Most people judge Tommy onhis two biggest fights. First one with Leonard and with Hagler. Lot of people forget that he was indisposed in both fights. Overtrained for Leonard and broken right hand in fight with Hagler among other things. Biggest weaknes was his chin but that I think was a result of that hard knockout from Hagler. The closest they've been to fight each other was before Duran Hearns when they both had Mike as mandatory. Hearns was in his prime and if he came in fight with Mike in a same condition (which is something you couldn't rely on with Tommy) I think it would be very hard night for Bodysnatcher.
TzFrank Hagler could box and brawl. Hagler could fight on inside and outside. And he could go to the body very good too. Yeah he was slower but he was also harder puncher and his skills were very good too. Don't forget he's one of the best switch hitters ever. I see it 50:50.
For anyone who thinks McCallum got the better of Hearns in this, you need to consider this Hearns has clearly been instructed to hold his big right hand back and I know this because I speak from experience. I was an amateur national champion in Houston and I was a skinny 6 foot tall lightweight with a booming right hand like Hearns. I can remember every time I got into the ring to spar with someone, that fighters trainer would yell across the ring to my trainer before the sparing session began. "tell him to hold that right hand" they would say. In other words tell your fighter to hold up on throwing his most powerful punch or if he throws it tell him to throw it soft. Now look at this and tell me how many right hands Hearns throws, none just jabs and hooks. At3:30 he throws one but clearly pulls it. NOW go back and look at McCallum fights against McCrory, Curry and Toney to see how easy it was to tough him with right hands. And 154 was Hearns best weight. His chin was suspect at 147 because he was dropping to much weigh and it was suspect at 160 because he was to small for Hagler at the time. But 154 he was untouchable.
Wtf? Do you seriously believe that was McCallum full on? I suggest you go look at Mike's fights, before he was almost 40 and Jones finally found the guts to fight him.
Andy McBride I don't need to go back and look at anything. I've seen McCallum at his best. Ringside. What I am saying is that a guy who got rocked By Curry and McCrory and Jackson who were all right hand bombers would have certainly had a problem with one of the biggest right hand bombers of all time. Of course I know McCallum is not full on but it hurt Hearns more not being full on because he was a classic one two puncher so it hurt him more.
Yeah and what did Mike do to those guys? There was good reason Steward wouldn't let his cash cow fight McCallum, because he knew Tommy couldn't stop him. One shot like Mike hit Jackson or Curry with, and its goodnight Mr Hearns.
revprince2 I take aboard all your points, some very valid points there. I agree that Hearns was formidable at 154 but so was McCallum. I believe that McCallum would have worn down Duran and either stopped him in 12-13 rounds or won a close decision. Obviously Steward knew this and maneuvered Hearns into the fight instead, making big money for the both of them. Styles make fights, of course. Hearns made light work of Duran, while McCallum would likely have worked hard to break Duran. However, McCallum was very tough and clever, as you know since you claim to have seen him up close. I don't want to say that McCallum would have won but if anyone (besides Hagler) was capable of eating that big Hearns right hand, it was McCallum. You note that Hearns did not pull the trigger in this session...well, neither did McCallum. It's too bad they didn't have a unification fight before Hearns moved up for good
+Andy McBride mc callum fought 2 good fighters toney and calambay and lost 4 times,dont put him in the same league as hearns,let alone hagler or leonard!!come on now!!he is big mouthing now after 30 years that hagler was afraid to fight him,hagler would beat him up in all 4 corners of the ring
I think that McCallum could have beaten Hearns (I don't know that he WOULD have beaten him, but he definitely COULD have). I don't think it would have been like the Jackson fight, though. Jackson's power was maybe, maybe, maybe comparable to Hearns's, but he was nowhere near as quick and skilled as Tommy. (Hearns and Jackson had--unfortunately--similar jaws, though.)
i enjoyed this more than most pro fights nowadays. quality work from both men, deep skills on show. have you seen the toney - mcclellan sparring video? that's mesmerising too.
Would've LOVED to see a Hearns-v-McCallum matchup circa '87 to '91 or so. (Though they weren't quite syncing up in weight at the time.) It would've been a helluva fight. Punching power on a scale of 1-10: Tommy at 10, Mike at 8. Ability to TAKE a punch: Mike at 10, Tommy at 5. Speed: Tommy at 9 or 10, Mike at 7 or maybe 8. Defense: Mike at 9 or 10, Tommy at maybe 6. Stamina: Tommy at 6 or--at his best--7, Mike at 8 or 9. Ring smarts: Mike at 11 ("Ours goes to 11"), Tommy at 6 or 7. Mike never faced anyone with Tommy's punching power (except maybe, maybe Julian Jackson), and Tommy never faced anyone with Mike's body-punching ability. (The way Mike would go at guys' hips!)
Tommy beat the crap out of Sugar Ray for thirteen rounds. You might want to rethink some of your ratings. The only thing ever questionable on Tommy was his chin and that was because of the height to weight ratio.
Only people who say that he's underrated are actually the ones who underrate him, he was always a great boxer and always have the respect of the boxing world,
I remember that Don Curry got through to McCallum's chin with a few right hands - can't help thinking Hearns would have done the same with fight-ending consequences...
It would be a super close fight...with Mccallum paying a heavy price in the first half but Hearns feeling the effects of the bodywork nearing the end... championship rounds.Close but I give the nod to Tommy.
Maan this is a wet dream come true! this must gave been ´83 or ´84 mccallum left steward and kronk after hearns fought duran in ´84, hearns is so smooth in there this really was his peak between ´82-´86 he looked so sharp.
Seeing two future HOF fighters spar back in the day is GOLD. I wish I could have watched what was taped at the KRONK gym back in the day. Both guys did great things in the ring which made the sport great back in the 80's and 90's. I sent a letter to the Kronk gym back in 1982 begging for a pic of Tommy Hearns and a few weeks later it arrived. Still have the envelope to this day. Love old school stuff Best ime of Boxing no doubt.
McCallum reminds me of a Hopkins kind a fighter. Very, very, strong physically. But I think Hearns would of had the edge on this one. Hearns did very well with fighters who paced themselves like this, check Virgil Hill, Benitez and start of SRL fight.
This is beautiful stuff! You can see elements of both mens greatest skills. Tommy's dominance from outside and Mikes owning inside game. Great watch for students of the game!
McCallum le da cátedras a Hearns. Hearns es bueno y aún así McCallum lo asedia, acorrala, lleva contra las cuerdas, y después le deja trabajar, se mantiene humilde
Hearns my favorite fighter of all time. That Detroit Rock. I fuggin hate when people call it a philly shell. His flicker jab/footwork/outside to in game was gorgeous. Only modern welterweight dude I can begin to compare him to is...🤔. Maybe Paul Williams before that accident? Maybe.
Beautiful. They look so relaxed and focused at the same time. Every move is natural, every step is the right one. Sweet Science at its best, and this is just a sparring session. Imagine how a real fight between them would have been...
Now this is the classic respectful art of " Sparring " . Compared to the present day sparring sessions with the pros. Today the sparring sessions are so disrespectful to the Queensbuiry sparring rules, present day, they try to take your head off instead off working and fixing flaws to advance their craft of the sweet science of boxing.
If they fought at 154 ,Hearns would have beat him.. Hearns was very strong and physical at that weight.. That power right hand would have kept McCallum very honest.. Especially 12 round fight.
Possibly two of the greatest junior middleweights ever. This fight should have happened for real, but at least this sparring session was caught on video!
Not to take anything away from McCallum, I actually think Hearns is a better body puncher than McCallum, he is the real body snatcher, his punches to the body are harder and sharper, and Hearns is of course a more dangerous head hunter than McCallum, with a harder, longer and quicker left jab and a rocket like right that McCallum cannot match. As long as Hearns fight at a distance in a real fight with McCallum, I do not think McCallum can either out box or out punch Hearns.
More than right hand power, Tommys jab and length give anyone from 160 and down issues. Mike was indeed the body snatcher but he'd have to pay a price to get there. Did he have the money (chin, stamina, intellect)? That question would determine the winner.
Amazing fighters, i love Tommy but McCallum was a different beast! Way to technical, if they fought McCallum would have broke him down and stopped him.
Lmfao am I crazy?! WTF is everyone else looking at saying mike got the better of hearns?? Not only are they sparring but Hearns was landing the better shots. PLUS he held back his heavy right? Cmon now are people THAT easily influenced by false rumors?
McCallum was a vicious body puncher and had that dog in him. I always felt he would have lost a few rounds early but would have worn him down and stopped Hearns late.
Wasn't McCallum kicked out of the Kronk gym because he eventually made Hearns look bad in sparring? McCallum, Julian Jackson and Simon Brown were the island fighters who took over for Leonard, Hagler, and Hearns; however the island fighters were not marketed properly therefore did not receive the same attention or endorsements as Leonard, Hagler and Hearns.
McCallum left Kronk because he was #1 contender for the WBA Junior Middleweight title when Roberto Duran was champ. After waiting more than a year for his shot at the title, Emmanuel Steward matched Tommy Hearns with Duran. McCallum felt this was a betrayal and promptly left Kronk and joined up with the Duvas. Mike carried the bitterness of betrayal a long time as was seen in his fifth defense against Kronk fighter Milton McCrory when he mercilessly beat Milton to a pulp and after the fight got into Emmanuel Steward's face when he stepped into the ring to console Milton.
Mandark Astronomonov True, but you missed out the most important part. The promise by Steward to Mike to fight the winner, which they were highly confident was going to be Tommy.
Andy McBride Not true at all. What Steward said to Duran is that if he beats Tommy then he should fight Mike. Here are Emmanuel's own words: "I signed Mike and moved him into the number-one spot, and we were supposed to fight Roberto Duran. Then Duran's people told me (they weren't) going to fight Mike McCallum. I said, 'What do you mean, we have a contract, he's the number-one contender!' Duran just had a good fight with Hagler and lost a close decision, and they wanted to make a rematch. With McCallum, they would only make $500,000, but with a rematch with Hagler, they would make $5 million. So, I made a deal that Duran would fight Tommy Hearns, but Duran would have to give up his WBA title. I allowed Duran to fight Tommy and make more money than Tommy, but the bout would only be for Tommy's title. I made him give up the belt so Mike could fight for that vacant title. So, Mike was gonna fight Sean Mannion for the title on the undercard of Duran/Hearns. I was using Tommy to get him his title shot because they were not gonna let him have it. It was advertised as being a double-header with Hearns/Duran for the WBC title and McCallum/Mannion for the WBA title, and I told him that under these conditions if Duran won, he would have to give McCallum a shot. "
Complete nonsense. Steward was never in a position to make Duran do anything. Duran was never one of his fighters. I take anything Steward says with a pinch of salt. I'd much rather believe either McCallum or Roberto.
Andy McBride I agree but I'm just refuting the argument that Steward promised Mike a shot at Tommy if he beat Duran. Steward promised no such thing to Mike and Mike left because he felt Steward favoured Tommy more than him.
Tommy Hearns was a great fighter but he didn't have the stamina or the chin of Mike McCallum. This is the first time I ever knew about this sparring session. McCallum is one of the most underrated fighters partly because the biggest names in boxing did not want to fight him.
Great video. Would have been a great fight at 154. Very few fighters would be able to get past the early rounds without getting KO'd or beaten up by Hearns, but McCallum would have been one of them. Man that would have been a great fight.
