The Boxing History Blog

Mike McCallum One of the most complete ring technicians of the modern era, Mike McCallum first came to prominence in the 1978 Commonwealth Games, held in his home country, picking up the gold medal in the welterweight division.  Born in Kingston, Jamaica on 07th December 1956, he left his native country to turn professional in the United States as a light-middleweight in January 1981. He stopped the American Rigoberto Lopez in the fourth round, going 12-0 before fighting in his home country in his thirteenth contest against Gilberto Almonte. Unfortunately for the Kingston crowd they only got to see 66 seconds of their man in action, issuing a sixth straight and final stoppage defeat on the Dominican's ledger. It would be Kevin Perry who stopped McCallum's stoppage spree, lasting the full ten rounds in front of the Madison Square Garden crowd in the Jamaican's fifteenth pro outing in June 1982.  Two fights later he faced the biggest name of his career to date in the guise of...

David Haye David Haye started his amateur career at the age of ten, winning by a 12-second knockout. He claims his first five contests ended in the first round. Adam Booth started training him at the age of sixteen. His amateur record stands at 83-13 with seven of those defeats being controversial. He picked up a silver medal at the 2001 world championships. Injury to his bicep in the win over Pakistan's Shuaib Ali meant he had to withdraw from his next match against Canada's Jason Douglas at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, held in Manchester. Haye, who was born in Bermondsey, London on 13th October 1980 made his professional debut at cruiserweight on 08th December 2002, against Tony Booth. The contest took place at the famous York Hall, Bethnal Green, with Haye winning after a second-round retirement from his opponent. He won his fifth contest at the Playboy Mansion, beating Vance Win in just 54 seconds. In his eighth bout, he took his first professional t...