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...

Nigel Benn After his brutal and tragic encounter with Gerald McClellan, Nigel Benn considered retirement. Once his wounds healed, he decided to get his career back on track and defended his WBC super-middleweight championship against Vincenzo Nardiello. The Italian, born in Stuttgart, Germany on 11th June 1966 was nearly two-years younger than the champion. Nardiello had a good amateur pedigree, winning the national super-lightweight championship in 1984. In 1986 and 1987 he captured the Italian titles at super-welterweight and middleweight respectively. He also represented his country at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, losing a decision to eventual winner Park Si-Hun (who controversially outpointed Roy Jones Junior in the final). Nardiello turned professional in Dcember 1988 and went on an unbeaten run of seventeen, eleven early, when he challenged Victor Cordoba in December 1991, losing by an eleventh round TKO for the WBA super-middleweight title. Twelve months later he collected the vacan...

To make a donation to The Gerald McClellan Trust please see the link at the end of this post.  Nigel Benn 25th February 1995, London Arena WBC Super-Middleweight Title Nigel Benn Vs Gerald McClellan "They're going to set mini Mike Tyson on you," Benn was informed by his manager Peter DeFreitas. Mini Mike Tyson was Don King's nickname for Gerald McClellan. King's plan was simple; McClellan would knock out Benn and unify the WBC title with pound-for-pound number one and IBF super-middleweight champion Roy Jones Jnr, who McClellan outpointed in 1988 at the semi-final stage of the National Golden Gloves Tournament. Born in Freeport, Illinois on 23rd October 1967, McClellan turned professional in August 1988, fighting out of his home city of Detroit, representing Emanuel Steward's Kronk gym. He blitzed through his first ten opponents before getting outpointed over eight rounds by Dennis Milton in June 1989. Three months later he was ...

Julian Jackson Plagued throughout his career with eye problems, some said that he needed a white stick, but tell that to the forty-nine opponents he knocked cold in the light-middle and middleweight ranks. Jackson had an amateur record of 15-2 and turned professional on 02nd February 1981, winning a four-round points decision against fellow debutant Inocencio Carmona. The father of six from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands dedicated his life to God after losing a WBA light-middleweight contest to the Jamaican Mike McCallum, in 1986. Both men were undefeated, the champion was 26-0 (23 KOs), whilst Jackson's resume stood at 29-0 (27 stoppages). After McCallum tasted Jackson's power in the first round, the champion ended matters in the second round. Jackson, an assuming and modest man came back from this setback and took the WBA light-middleweight crown from the South Korean In-Chul Baek in the third round in Las Vegas on 21st November 1987. He defe...