Top 10 Greatest Middleweights of the 1980s

[donkim]

Sorry son, not fighting your mandatory to fight a more lucrative fight against a fighter who was considered more dangerous (as he found out) is not a duck. Only a hater would claim such ridiculousness.

Whats next, Frazier avoided Lyle? Oops, we've already dispelled that stupidity.

It is actually a duck because McCallum had been his mandatory for some time before Duran was even given the chance to fight Hearns.Duran had plenty of time to defend his title against McCallum.


You need to let the frazier issue go.It's getting rather tiresome to see you bringing this up in each thread as a way to attack me.frazier avoided Lyle just like he avoided every other big puncher that became a ranked contender.


You take Ali and Quarry away from that era and frazier today would be regarded by everyone as what he was,a cherry picker who lacked a pair.

[TheGreatA]

It is actually a duck because McCallum had been his mandatory for some time before Duran was even given the chance to fight Hearns.Duran had plenty of time to defend his title against McCallum.


You need to let the frazier issue go.It's getting rather tiresome to see you bringing this up in each thread as a way to attack me.frazier avoided Lyle just like he avoided every other big puncher that became a ranked contender.


You take Ali and Quarry away from that era and frazier today would be regarded by everyone as what he was,a cherry picker who lacked a pair.

You take away the two best wins from most fighters and they probably wouldn't look that great either.

I'm afraid the blame should go to Manny Steward, who had no intentions of letting McCallum fight Duran to begin with and would rather make the superfight between Duran and Hearns instead behind McCallum's back.

As for 80's middleweights, Nunn and Kalambay should be near the top. McCallum only had two relevant fights at 160 during the 1980's, a losing effort to Kalambay and a split decision win over Herol Graham.

Graham arguably belongs in the top 10 due to close fights against McCallum, Kalambay and some good wins over Ayub Kalule, Lindell Holmes. He dominated the British/European scene, enough to make him a mandatory to Marvin Hagler later on in Hagler's career.

[donkim]

You take away the two best wins from most fighters and they probably wouldn't look that great either.

I wasn't talking about frazier's wins over Ali and Quarry.Ali and Quarry were pretty much the only two elite fighters of that era who actually fought every top fighter.You name every notable heavyweight of that era,and you can bet Ali and Quarry fought them.You take away these two from that era and you leave frazier exposed to the likes of Mac foster,Earnie Shavers and Ron Lyle.

[sonnyboyx2]

10. Alan Minter (39-9 with 23 KOs)

Minter was arguably the best British middleweight of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and seeing as how Britain consistently produces solid middleweights, that is saying something. He beat the likes of Sugar Ray Seales, a faded Emile Griffith, and twice against Vito Antuofermo. All of that was in the 1970s, however. He opened the 1980s as the champion, and was stopped on cuts by Hagler. After that, he was beaten by Hamsho and Tony Sibson. Holding the title is enough to squeak in at #10.

9. Mustafa Hamsho (44-5-2 with 28 KOs)

The only reason why Hamsho does not rate higher is his failure to win a world title. He beat the undefeated Wilfred Scypion, Alan Minter, the undefeated Bobby Czyz, and Wilfred Benitez in that great fighter's last world class outing. Although he was stopped twice by Marvin Hagler, it must be said that he was a man of rare caliber to meet Hagler twice with both guns blazing. "Undaunted" does not begin to describe spirit like that. Late in his career, he dropped a points loss to Donny Lalonde and was stopped by Graciano Rocchigiani. The main reason Hamsho never captured a belt was that Marvin Hagler had them all during Hamsho's prime.

8. John "The Beast" Mugabi (42-7-1 with 39 KOs)

John Mugabi of Uganda was one of those utterly fearsome characters who had to been seen to be believed. He won all of his first 25 of his fights in devastating knockouts, cleaving a path of destruction through the 154 and 160 lbs ranks like a 5'8" George Foreman. As the unified #1
middleweight contender, he met Marvin Hagler and gave the Marvelous One one of the hardest fights of his career. The fight ultimately took too much out of Mugabi. He won a 154 lbs world title, but was never quite the same fighter again, and failed to ever beat a noteworthy opponent. Still, Mugabi was one fighter who truly lived up to his moniker.

7. Iran "The Blade" Barkley (43-19-1 with 27 KOs)

Barkley was a great overachiever. On the plus side, he knocked out Tommy Hearns and Michael Olajide. On the minus side, he was outpointed by Robert Duran, Sumbu Kalambay, and Michael Nunn. In the 1990s he would go on to win some and lose some, but the tough Barkley could always be counted on to be a dangerous opponent.

6. Ray Leonard (36-3-1 with 25 KOs)

Leonard's time at middleweight represents the second half of his career, when he ceased to really accomplish anything great or decisive. In 1981 he jumped up to 154 and beat Ayub Kalule. However, his "win" over Marvin Hagler was questionable in the extreme. He met Thomas Hearns in a 1989 rematch that was declared a Draw, but should have been a loss for Leonard. He beat Donny Lalonde for a 168 lbs and 175 lbs world title because he insisted that Lalonde make the 168 lbs limit, a full 7 pounds below his usual fight weight.The only untainted win of Leonard's tenure at middleweight was his rubber match with Duran. He pointedly avoided fighting any of the young lions that arose in the latter half of the decade. Given that so much of Leonard's record during this latter half of his career is open to debate, his place on this list is in the bottom half.

5. Sumbu Kalambay (57-6-1 with 33 KOs)

Kalambay is a thoroughly underrated fighter, but he outboxed Herol Graham, Iran Barkley, Steve Collins, and went 1-1 with Mike McCallum. His win over McCallum was the first defeat that fighter had ever suffered. Against this is his shocking upset knockout loss to Michael Nunn in 1989, and an early career loss to Ayub Kalule.

4. Roberto Duran (103-16 with 70 KOs)

Ironically, Duran's legacy at middleweight is is arguably stronger than that of his welterweight period. At 154, he was beaten by Wilfred Benitez and crushed by Thomas Hearns. However, his fight with Marvin Hagler was a classic. Duran lost, but was the first fighter to last the distance with the awesome Hagler in years. Then in 1989, he pulled off his huge upset victory by outpointing Iran Barkley, winning the WBC Middleweight Title in the process.

3. Mike "The Bodysnatcher" McCallum (49-5-1 with 36 KOs)

Where Hagler ruled the middleweights from the early to mid 1980s, McCallum took over in the late 1980s. Starting in the early 1980s at 154 lbs, he defeated three good fighters in Ayub Kalule, Julian Jackson, Milton McCrory, and a great one in Donald Curry. Moving up to 160, he was
outboxed by Sumbu Kalambay. However, he bounced back to assert dominance over the division with wins over Herol Graham, Michael Watson, Steve Collins, and finally revenue on Kalambay. Ray Leonard pointedly ducked him. By 1990 McCallum was on the downside of his career, but by then he had been a major force at both 154 and 160 for eight solid years, losing only one major fight along the way.

2. Thomas Hearns (61-5-1 with 48 KOs)

Hearns has a string of accomplishments as a 154, 160, and 168 pound fighter that make him one of the most elite middleweights of the 1980s. At 154, he beat Wilfred Benitez, and stuffed Roberto Duran's tail between his legs in a crushing 2nd Round knockout. At 168, he beat Michael Olajide and drew with Ray Leonard. At 160, he fought one of the greatest bouts of all time with Marvelous Marvin Hagler, and knocked out undefeated prospect James Shuler and Juan Roldan. Against this, he lost by knockout to Iran Barkley. Hearns's only serious competition for the #2 slot is Mike McCallum, and on the balance his accomplishments against truly great fighters outweigh McCallum's record against merely good fighters.

1. Marvelous Marvin Hagler (62-3-2 with 52 KOs)

Marvelous Marvin Hagler ruled the 160 pound division from September 1980 to April 1987, compiling 12 successful defenses along the way. He won most of those defenses by knockout. His 1987 "loss" to Ray Leonard remains controversial and debated to this very day. Hagler defeated half the names on this list: Hearns, Duran, Mugabi, Hamsho, and Minter. He also beat Vito Antuofermo, Tony Sibson, Fulgencio Obelmeijias, and Juan Roldan. Hagler is routinely considered one of the Top 5 best middleweight boxers of all time, and easily comes out as #1 in his own era.

i cant ever recall McCallum fighting as a middleweight during the 80s and can never recall anyone ducking him especially Ray Leonard... by McCallums talk everyone ducked him but the truth is that it was up to McCallum to move-up in weight and get himself in a chellenging position to fight the greats like Hearns, Hagler & Leonard who in my opinion would all have beaten McCallum at 160

[JAB5239]

It is actually a duck because McCallum had been his mandatory for some time before Duran was even given the chance to fight Hearns.Duran had plenty of time to defend his title against McCallum.

After he beat the snot out of Moore his next fight was Hagler and than Hearns. stop acting like he was sitting around taking on soft touches instead of fulfilling his obligation to McCallum. If you need more details why this fight didn't happen see TheGreatA's post which should make the fact a bit clearer for you.

You need to let the frazier issue go.It's getting rather tiresome to see you bringing this up in each thread as a way to attack me.frazier avoided Lyle just like he avoided every other big puncher that became a ranked contender.

Remind me again when he ducked him. Was it while Lyle was still green, or was it after Quarry had beaten him?

You take Ali and Quarry away from that era and frazier today would be regarded by everyone as what he was,a cherry picker who lacked a pair.

Lol, yeah he cherry picked Quarry, Bonevena, Mathis, Foreman, Machen, Chuvalo, Ellis, Ali. You really are a tool. Only a biased hater like you would call Frazier a "cherry picker who lacked a pair". What a joke you are.

[sonnyboyx2]

You take away the two best wins from most fighters and they probably wouldn't look that great either.

I'm afraid the blame should go to Manny Steward, who had no intentions of letting McCallum fight Duran to begin with and would rather make the superfight between Duran and Hearns instead behind McCallum's back.

As for 80's middleweights, Nunn and Kalambay should be near the top. McCallum only had two relevant fights at 160 during the 1980's, a losing effort to Kalambay and a split decision win over Herol Graham.

Graham arguably belongs in the top 10 due to close fights against McCallum, Kalambay and some good wins over Ayub Kalule, Lindell Holmes. He dominated the British/European scene, enough to make him a mandatory to Marvin Hagler later on in Hagler's career.

i dont think you should blame Manny Stewart for it... i know McCallum blames Stewart and claims he went behind his back, but McCallum is a drunk in our days who blames everyone and claims everyone `Ducked` him, the truth is that McCallum never wanted those fights, he never put himself into a position for those fights to happen..

[TheGreatA]

i dont think you should blame Manny Stewart for it... i know McCallum blames Stewart and claims he went behind his back, but McCallum is a drunk in our days who blames everyone and claims everyone `Ducked` him, the truth is that McCallum never wanted those fights, he never put himself into a position for those fights to happen..

He was the mandatory for Duran so he did put himself in position for that fight. Steward however signed Duran vs Hearns instead with Hearns's interests in mind. It's no surprise that McCallum is bitter about that, he has every right to be.

However I do agree that Hagler or Leonard hardly ducked him. As you said he never stepped up to 160 until late in the 1980's and by then the big names were gone while he went onto lose to the underrated Kalambay. If he wanted to fight Hagler, then he should have stepped up from a junior division to the middleweights and made himself Hagler's top contender.

The only one McCallum could claim that wanted no part of him at 154 was Hearns, but that's more because of Steward, not Hearns himself. McCallum enjoyed beating up Kronk fighters such as David Braxton, Milton McCrory but he was never given a chance to fight Hearns despite both of them holding titles in the division.

[#1Assassin]

i dont think you should blame Manny Stewart for it... i know McCallum blames Stewart and claims he went behind his back, but McCallum is a drunk in our days who blames everyone and claims everyone `Ducked` him, the truth is that McCallum never wanted those fights, he never put himself into a position for those fights to happen..

thats BS.

mccallum purposely went after kronk fighters to get a fight with hearns, and even called him out to his face after knocking out mccrory. mccallum always wanted the biggest fights, and when they werent there he took the second biggest fights. he never ducked nobody and always wanted a piece of the name guys out there. u can with ease make a strong case they all ducked him.

[The_Demon]

good list.

[sonnyboyx2]

thats BS.

mccallum purposely went after kronk fighters to get a fight with hearns, and even called him out to his face after knocking out mccrory. mccallum always wanted the biggest fights, and when they werent there he took the second biggest fights. he never ducked nobody and always wanted a piece of the name guys out there. u can with ease make a strong case they all ducked him.

have you got some proof of this calling Hearns out to his face?.... Hearns was not the kinda guy you would call to his face coz Hearns would spark him out there and then