Mccallum on the legends hagler hearns leonard duran all ducked me

McCallum has some of the best technique I've ever seen. It would have been great to watch him vs the fab four. The fighter in your avi said he was the best he has ever fought, even though he was past his prime, go figure.

So, everyone is just going to pretend like McCallum didn't just say on tape he confronted Hagler about it, and Hagler didn't have a good justification, but rather kept repeating that he "respects" but the fight never "present" itself?

Duran the WBA champion fought Hearns the WBC champion early in 84. Though they both were champions it was not recognized as an unification. After the victory, Hearns moved up for a superfight with Hagler. Later in 84 McCallum fought for the vacant WBA title against Sean Mannion winning his first title. It's similar twice in the middleweight division, two unifications when the WBA strip their champion, Nunn-Kalambay and Toney-McCallum.

McCallum is so overlooked as an all time great...3 division titlist and never stopped and lost just once near or @ his prime and only lost to fellow champions and HOFers

Why didn't Duran and McCallum unify at Middleweight for the WBC/WBA? Duran the WBA champion fought Hearns the WBC champion early in 84. Though they both were champions it was not recognized as an unification. After the victory, Hearns moved up for a superfight with Hagler. Later in 84 McCallum fought for the vacant WBA title against Sean Mannion winning his first title.

You are talking out your ass , name one top fighter he beat before he fought Marvin , just one go on ? I will make it easy for you he fought nobody pick one . http://s1.postimg.org/lv6h9rvsf/Mugabi.jpg For starters Reloaded, I do not talk out my ass. Furthermore I was there. Not only did I subscribe to every magazine for years previous to this time period but I also watched every bout of the era that was aired. Several of Mugabi victims were ranked. Fletcher was the number one middleweight contender when he lost a decision to Scypion and was still in the top ten when Mugabi knocked him out. James "Hard Rock" Green was a top ten light middleweight contender as was Hargrove. Parker was a middleweight fringe contender and Gazo though unranked was a former champion. It is easy using "Hindsight" pointing out that McCallum had a better career but at the time he was no more deserving and was not nearly as marketable. Mugabi during his unbeaten ko streak made the cover of Ring Magazine and as I previously tried to explain, was a well known TV fighter. It was years later that McCallum made he biggest mark by beating Curry and McCrory(I was ringside) This is not about who was the greater fighter but who at the time was the most marketable and presented the better challenge on paper.

The fab four do had one missed fights: Hagler-Graham Hearns-McCallum Leonard-Nunn Duran-Benn

I have to chime i n on this Mugabi/McCallum thin. I was 15 when Hagler defeated Mugabi and I had never heard of Mike McCallum at that time. I had, however, heard of John "The Beast" Mugabi. What does that mean? It means Mugabi had more exposure. It does not mean that he was any better or mode deserving than "The Body Snatcher". More exposure, especially in the case of a fighter who has beaten all of his opponents by knockout, comes from an "exotic" country like Uganda, and who wears some jaguar-skin Tarzan outfit into the ring create a buzz. Everybody knew who Hagler was and how tough he was for he had destroyed Thomas "The Hitman" Yearns. Can you imagine........? Its not fair; but it's business. Everybody wanted to see Hagler face the Beast from Uganda and would pay to see it. Meanwhile, only hard core boxing fans even knew who Mike McCallum was at that time. Mugabi was better hyped than most pro wrestlers. That's why it happened the way it did.

No Mugabi was not unknown, he fought regularly on national television coming up. He stopped all of his first 18 opponents in front of thousands of viewers. By the time Mugabi fought Hagler, McCallum did have two defenses of his light middleweight but he was not regarded as high as would be a couple years later. His biggest wins were Luigi Minchillo and a faded Kalule. You are talking out your ass , name one top fighter he beat before he fought Marvin , just one go on ? I will make it easy for you he fought nobody pick one . http://s1.postimg.org/lv6h9rvsf/Mugabi.jpg

Why didn't Duran and McCallum unify at Middleweight for the WBC/WBA?

He was known a lot more than Mugabi who was unknown at the time , not saying ducking , saying McCallum was a very dangerous guy very high risk no reward , Mike could really box , Mugabi was swing a for the fences type fighter , Mike was capable of beating Hagler way more than Mugabi was , Mike McCallum was a very good fighter that sat in the shadows . No Mugabi was not unknown, he fought regularly on national television coming up. He stopped all of his first 18 opponents in front of thousands of viewers. By the time Mugabi fought Hagler, McCallum did have two defenses of his light middleweight but he was not regarded as high as would be a couple years later. His biggest wins were Luigi Minchillo and a faded Kalule.

I wasn't from that era, and wasn't reading newspaper articles about what was going on. But I am going to ahead an guess that it was because of money. That's why SRL didn't fight Pryor or McCallum, because the big money fighters were just interested in fighting each other. It's the same today, only that fans pretend it didn't happen back then.

I like McCallum and even seen him fight once and sat down to dinner with him once(same table anyways). But, Hagler did not duck McCallum. By time Hagler was retired McCallum was still unknown. Check the time line. McCallum may have wanted a payday but so did Buster Drayton and Duane Thomas, the other light middleweight champions that shared the title with McCallum. Benitez would have loved to fight Hagler too and might of if he didn't get beat by Hamsho. He was known a lot more than Mugabi who was unknown at the time , not saying ducking , saying McCallum was a very dangerous guy very high risk no reward , Mike could really box , Mugabi was swing a for the fences type fighter , Mike was capable of beating Hagler way more than Mugabi was , Mike McCallum was a very good fighter that sat in the shadows .

McCallum has some of the best technique I've ever seen. It would have been great to watch him vs the fab four. Indeed :usa2:

I agree there's a strong argument for the other three. But not at all with Hagler. There is no point in Hagler's career when that fight would make sense. We can agree to disagree...the fight could've been made but I do agree that hagler has the best case for not fighting McCallum cuz the rest fought until the late 90s or later

I like McCallum and even seen him fight once and sat down to dinner with him once(same table anyways). But, Hagler did not duck McCallum. By time Hagler was retired McCallum was still unknown. Check the time line. McCallum may have wanted a payday but so did Buster Drayton and Duane Thomas, the other light middleweight champions that shared the title with McCallum. Benitez would have loved to fight Hagler too and might of if he didn't get beat by Hamsho.

I agree there's a strong argument for the other three. But not at all with Hagler. There is no point in Hagler's career when that fight would make sense. Yea for the other, it was clear they were aware of his existence and that he was a top young talent in the sport. Leonard advised one of his fighters, another rising talent, Donald Curry, to stay away from Mike. Mike subsequently snatched Currys body. Duran chose to get stripped instead of fighting him. And hearns had opportunity to fight him when both were considered the top 2 jmws buy he chose to move up to pursue Hagler instead. Hagler fought at 160, never moved and never made any illusions about moving elsewhere. It was no secret what fight he wanted. Quite different circumstance. Not saying the other 3 ducked him. I think they would have fought him for the right price, but Mc Cullum was probably the best fighter in the world nod names Hearns, Duran, Leonard, and Hagler and they showed zero interest oh n fighting him even though they all knew it

They did avoid him, that's a fact. Only one I don't think there's a real argument for is Hagler. But the other 3 most definitely side stepped him and they were aware of his existence. Today people call that ducking. So it is what it is I guess. I agree there's a strong argument for the other three. But not at all with Hagler. There is no point in Hagler's career when that fight would make sense.

They did avoid him, that's a fact. Only one I don't think there's a real argument for is Hagler. But the other 3 most definitely side stepped him and they were aware of his existence. Today people call that ducking. So it is what it is I guess.

It doesn't matter. He would not have brought in the same amount of money as Mugabi because he wasn't as known or hyped on television as Mugabi was. You're talking about Hagler's last two fights. How the hell was he ducking him if he never fought again after Leonard? At the time of the Leonard/Mugabi fights McCallum did absolutely nothing to demand a fight with Hagler. Financially or anything else. Hagler had nothing to prove at that point and fighting Mccallum at that point meant nothing for him. There's no watering it down. Hagler never ducked anybody, had no reason to fight McCallum, and damn sure wasn't afraid of him or ducking him. Don't bother with the guy, he's brain dead.