Mike McCallum 1957 - 2025

 Mike McCallum died in Las Vegas the other day, aged 68. The obits were kind and respectful, though his death wasn't covered as major news. His passing was limited to boxing sites and, of course, on Jamaican news sites where he was treated as a national figure. All in all, it was as good a sendoff as a fighter from the 1980s might get in these times. McCallum was a great fighter, if not a particularly well-known one.

One thing boxing fans do, aside from complain about scoring, is to look back at the 1980s through rose-colored glasses. It was such a golden era, they'll insist, with all the great ones fighting each other. Fans don't seem to realize that the 1980s were loaded with as much political nonsense as today's game. Fans old enough to remember will always say it was a crime that McCallum didn't get his shot at those guys who were supposedly all fighting each other: Hagler, Hearns, Leonard, and Duran. I remember talking to trainers from that period, and they all said the same thing, that those big names avoided McCallum. McCallum would have fought them all. He'd give them hell. 

Thirty-five years ago, I happened to be at the Heinz  Convention Center in Boston where McCallum was defending his WBA middlweight title against "Irish" Stevie Collins.  That's what McCallum did in those days while the superstars were all fighting each other in their merry tournament. He came to places like Boston, a boxing backwater, and fought guys like Collins, who wasn't yet the  fighter he'd be in a few years. 

Though I knew McCallum had a great reputation and some big wins over Donald Curry, Julian Jackson and others, most of the Boston crowd had no idea about him. Boston fans knew about Hagler, and they probably knew Rocky Marciano, though I'm sure half the crowd thought Marciano was a retired placekicker for the Patriots. The customers, mostly white, mostly Irish, their little faces turning red with hatred at the site of McCallum as he strolled toward the ring, hurled some nasty words at him. I won't quote them here, but I can assure you they weren't saying, "Welcome to Boston."

It would be silly to say the Boston crowd had no effect on McCallum, because I don't know for certain how he felt. But to look at him was to see a cool character, totally unbothered. It's a cliche to call someone like this a gunslinger, but McCallum was, indeed, a gunslinger. 

He looked incredibly out of place in that sea of white faces, and the way his black robe fit over his slender frame made him look wraith-like. There was very little security separating McCallum from the crowd, but no one dared touch him. 

His little old trainer, the legendary Eddie Futch, was with him. Futch went all the way back to Joe Louis.

There were rumors that McCallum, who had learned some of craft the Kronk gym in Detroit, had gotten the best of Tommy Hearns on the few occasions when they'd sparred, and Hearns' trainer, the late Emanuel Steward, once told me that Leonard and Hagler ducked McCallum, that the mighty McCallum was elbowed out of the big money in the 1980s. By the time of this fight with Collins in 1990, McCallum had won 38 times, and lost only once. He'd held the WBA super welter title and had defended it six times, and now owned the WBA's middleweight belt, and would go on to defend it three times. 

Though he was nicknamed "The Bodysnatcher" for his wicked body punching, McCallum was a good all-around fighter. He'd KO'd Curry with a perfect left hook that sprang out of nowhere as Curry was backing away. That shot left Curry out cold. That convincing win over Curry, from which the Lone Star Cobra never fully recovered, is probably what put McCallum in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, which is where he belongs, for if a fighter can't say he earned millions of dollars, there's no better calling card than a picture book knockout of someone like Curry. 

McCallum gave Collins a boxing lesson for the first four rounds and had him on the ropes at one point. To Collins' credit, he kept the fight close from the fifth to the 10th. Knowing he might lose a hometown decision, McCallum boxed smartly in the final two rounds, jabbing and landing combinations. It was nothing fancy, just effective boxing. All three scorecards went his way. The crowd jeered. Futch put the black robe on McCallum and the two walked back through the crowd like they owned the place. For McCallum, it was just another day at the office while he waited for his big money fight.

He was an excellent fighter, and from everything I've heard, a decent fellow. May he rest in peace, and finally get a crack at all those guys who ducked him.

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Don Stradley is the author of The War: Hagler, Hearns, and Three Rounds for The Ages, plus the soon to be released, The Immortals of American Boxing. He writes regularly for The Ring.

 

 

 

Upset Time! Resendiz beats Plant!

It wasn't exactly Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson. It may not have been Andy Ruiz shocking Anthony Joshua. But Caleb Plant coming up short on a split decision to the feisty but unknown Armando Resendiz was a balm for anyone who roots for an upset

It was the ages old story of a younger, less-experienced fighter simply wanting it more. Though Plant will hardly be remembered as the greatest super middleweight of this era, he is certainly a skilled fighter who was penciled in to beat Resendiz and go on to a bigger payday with Jermall Charlo later this year. In fact, for the first few rounds it appeared Plant was following the storyline, though Resendiz rocked him in the third and again in the fifth. By then, the tide of the fight was turning and Plant could do nothing about it. 

When it was over, Plant was philosophical. "I felt it was a close fight," he said, "and in close fights, sometimes it swings the other way."

To his credit, Plant didn't complain about the decision, though he stopped short of overpraising his young conqueror."I felt like I did good. I was patient. I wasn't the better man tonight, I guess."

Two judges scored the contest for Resendiz 116-12, while the third called it for Plant, 115-113. 

"I felt like a had enough control, using my jab," Plant said. "The judges saw it the other way. What can you do?"

There was no squawking from Plant's camp, and no one in the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas doubted the scoring. All it took was one look at Plant's bruised face and torso, and you knew who the loser was. The winner was unmarked.

Resendiz, a 25-1 betting underdog, fought with a sort of controlled fury from the sixth round on, throwing hard shots with both hands.  Using short, crunching hooks and a murderous body attack, he dominated Plant. It was as if Resendiz decided at some point that this was his night. Once that decision was made, Plant was doomed. 

As if to punctuate his performance, Resendiz opened a cut over Plant's right eye in the later rounds, adding some blood to the dramatic story that was unfolding. Though Plant's corner implored him to finish strong, it appeared Plant was simply overwhelmed, unable to stop his rival's attack.

Realizing the fight was his for the taking, and sensing Plant was done, Resendiz took command in the closing rounds with power shot after power shot. Resendiz, whose record is now 16-2 with 11 KOs, was all energy and enthusiasm. Sometimes that's all you need.

"I knew everybody was going to be against me," Resendiz said through an interpreter. "On paper, of course, it was like that. But I believed in myself and my corner believed in me."

Whether 26-year-old Resendiz can build upon the WBA interim belt he won last night is unknown, though there is talk that he may end up fighting Charlo in Plant's place. Charlo is a notch above Plant, and Resendiz will have to be even better if he hopes to contend with the undefeated two-division titlist. Charlo scored an easy TKO win over Thomas LaManna in last night's co-feature, but as good as Charlo looked, all anyone could talk about was Resendez' impeccable performance.

It has been a month of upsets, with Ryan Garcia losing a few weeks ago in New York, but Resendez' win over Plant may be the upset of the year. The Mexican native who now lives in South Gate California had lost two of his last five fights, and wasn't expected to be anything more than a tune-up for 32-year-old Plant, whose record now stands at 23-3. 

The problem with Cinderella stories is that midnight always comes too soon. All of boxing's Cinderella men eventually turn back into pumpkins, from Jim Braddock to Buster Douglas to Andy Ruiz. Watching Resendiz' magnificent win put me in mind of another young Mexican underdog from many years ago, Stevie Cruz, who scored an even bigger upset over the celebrated featherweight champion, Barry McGuigan, in a Las Vegas ring. In 100 degree heat, Cruz, a plumber's assistant, dropped the Irishman three times in the final round to take the title on points. It was a stunner, and though McGuigan was a likable fighter, there was something magical about seeing the unknown youngster beat him. Perhaps we like underdogs because we all feel like underdogs. Cruz lost the title soon after and is forgotten to history, but for those who saw him win that night, he thrilled us. Part of the fascination with upsets is the mystery of them. What sort of lightning hit Cruz to fire him up that night long ago? And what, for that matter, fired up Resendiz?

"I left it all to God," Resendiz said after the bout. "I didn't worry at all."

Perhaps Resendiz, who goes by the nickname "Toro," can keep the fairy tale going a while. In the meantime, boxing fans can revel in what they saw Saturday night. Cinderella stories never end well, but they serve a purpose. They prove that the unexpected can happen,  even for those of us facing impossible odds.  

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Don Stradley is the author of The War: Hagler, Hearns, and Three Rounds for The Ages, plus the soon to be released, The Immortals of American Boxing. He writes regularly for The Ring.