Michael McKenzie McCallum (7 December 1956 – 31 May 2025) was a Jamaican

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 1981 to 1997. He held world championships in three weight classes, including the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...

(WBA) super welterweight title from 1984 to 1988, the WBA

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

title from 1989 to 1991, and the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC)

light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

title from 1994 to 1995. A slick, hard-hitting technician in the ring, McCallum was known for his exceptionally durable

chin The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible (List_of_human_anatomical_regions#Regions, mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a we ...

and toughness, and was never stopped in any of his five losses. He earned his nickname of "The Bodysnatcher" due to his ability to land vicious body punches in fights. McCallum was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

in 2003. In 2011, '' The Ring'' magazine ranked him as eighth on their list of the "10 best middleweight title holders of the last 50 years."

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. *1974 – Won welterweight silver medal at the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games. *1975 – Represented Jamaica at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City. *1976 – Represented Jamaica as a welterweight at Montreal Olympic Games. Results were: **Defeated

Damdinjavyn Bandi Damdinjavyn Bandi (Дамдинжавын Банди, 25 February 1942 – 10 January 2018) was a Mongolian boxer. He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the ...

(Mongolia) points **Defeated Robert Dauer (Australia) points **Lost to Reinhard Skricek (West Germany) points *1977 – National AAU Welterweight Champion, defeating

Marlon Starling Marlon Starling (born August 29, 1959) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 1990. He held the World Boxing Association, WBA welterweight title from 1987 to 1988 and the World Boxing Council, WBC welterweight title f ...

in semifinals and Roger Leonard of the Air Force in the final. *1977 –

National Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

Welterweight Champion *1978 – Won welterweight gold medal at the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games. *1978 – Welterweight Gold Medalist at Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada. *1978 – Won welterweight gold medal at the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games. *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 Andrés Aldama Cabrera (born April 9, 1956) is a retired amateur Cuban boxer, who won the light welterweight silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics and the Welterweight gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Aldama defeated John Mugabi ...

(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 A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

, he fought almost exclusively in the USA. He first became a world champion in 1984 by defeating Sean Mannion to win the vacant WBA super welterweight title. McCallum would defend that title six times, winning all six fights by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

. His first prominent opponent was future two-weight world champion and future fellow International Boxing Hall of Fame member Julian Jackson, whom 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 world welterweight champion, another future International Boxing Hall of Fame member, 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.

Middleweight

In 1988, he moved up to

, 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 Herol Graham (born 13 September 1959) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1978 to 1998. A three-time world title challenger, he is generally acknowledged as one of the best British boxers of the post-war era to have never w ...

by a split decision to win the then-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 Stephen Collins (born 21 July 1964) is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1997. Known as the Celtic Warrior, Collins is the most successful male Irish boxer in recent professional boxing history, having held the WBO ...

Michael Watson Michael Watson (born 15 March 1965) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1991. He held the Commonwealth Boxing Council, Commonwealth middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and challenged three times for a world titl ...

, 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 had won both fights.

Light heavyweight

McCallum then moved up two weight divisions and won the WBC interim 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 Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and became a trainer. He was inducted into the

in 2003.

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* WBA light middleweight champion (154 lbs) * WBA middleweight champion (160 lbs) * WBC light heavyweight champion (175 lbs)

Interim world titles

* WBC interim

champion (175 lbs)

References

External links

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McCallum, Mike 1956 births 2025 deaths Jamaican male boxers Boxers from Kingston, Jamaica International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Boxers at the 1975 Pan American Games Boxers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Jamaica Competitors at the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in boxing Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Jamaica Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Jamaica Boxers at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Jamaica Boxers at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Jamaica Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers National Golden Gloves champions World light-middleweight boxing champions World middleweight boxing champions World light-heavyweight boxing champions World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions 20th-century Jamaican sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in boxing