Toney vs McCallum: A Split Draw, a Disputed Decision and a Cruiserweight Coda, 1991-1997
James Toney and Mike McCallum fought a split draw in 1991 and a contested majority decision in 1992 for the IBF middleweight title, then met again at cruiserweight in 1997 in McCallum's final fight.
Across five years and two weight classes, James Toney and Mike McCallum shared 36 rounds and never produced a clear-cut verdict until the very end. Their first meeting in Atlantic City was scored a split draw, the second in Reno went to Toney by majority decision amid lasting dispute, and a faded third bout in 1997 closed McCallum's career. This is the trilogy as the record tells it.
A Unification Plan That Cost McCallum His Belt
By late 1991 the middleweight division had two champions who looked like natural opponents. James Toney, a 23-year-old from Ann Arbor, Michigan, had taken the IBF title in May of that year by knocking out Michael Nunn in the eleventh round in Davenport, Iowa, after entering the fight as a heavy underdog. Mike McCallum, born in Kingston, Jamaica, and known as "The Body Snatcher," held the WBA belt and had already been a world champion in two divisions.
Promoter Bob Arum wanted the two in a unification match. The WBA did not. According to the account of the fight's background on Wikipedia, the sanctioning body ordered McCallum to face its mandatory challenger, Steve Collins, and attached a series of fees to any exception: money for the WBA itself, an exception payment, and a sum for Collins' manager. McCallum declined to pay and let the organisation strip him so he could fight Toney. The vacant WBA title was settled in April 1992, when Reggie Johnson beat Collins by majority decision.
So the first fight carried only the IBF title, but it matched the two best middleweights in the world. The Ring ranked McCallum, 35 and 42-1 with 34 knockouts, as its No. 1 middleweight and Toney, unbeaten at 28-0-1, as No. 2.
Atlantic City, December 13, 1991: A Split Draw
The fight was staged at Convention Hall in Atlantic City, with Steve Smoger refereeing and HBO televising in the United States. Accounts describe a close, technical contest in which the output of both men was almost identical. The punch statistics cited on Wikipedia have McCallum landing 343 of 890 and Toney 340 of 823.
McCallum made the better start. A round-by-round retrospective by Michael Wilson Jr. for 3 Kings Boxing credits him with controlling the opening sessions behind his jab and right hand, before Toney began finding the range with counters from about the third round. McCallum regained momentum in the middle rounds by moving side to side, and he held a lead on two of the scorecards going into the late stretch.
Toney's harder punching told down the stretch. In the twelfth round he hit McCallum with two left hooks that knocked out the challenger's mouthpiece and left him unsteady, but McCallum stayed on his feet to the bell.
The verdict satisfied no one completely: one judge had Toney ahead 116-112, another had McCallum winning 115-113, and the third scored it 114-114. Toney kept his title on the split draw. The bout has since been listed as a Fight of the Year for 1991 in retrospective accounts such as the 3 Kings Boxing piece.
The post-fight press conference turned ugly. When Arum argued that Toney had been robbed by the officials, McCallum's lawyer, Milt Chawsky, objected, and an argument between Toney and Chawsky had to be broken up by security. A rematch was set for the following summer.
Reno, August 29, 1992: Rocking Chairs and a Majority Decision
In the eight months between fights, Toney defended twice: a disputed split decision over Dave Tiberi in February 1992 and a win over Glenn Wolfe in April. McCallum had a single tune-up, outpointing Fermin Chirino in May.
The promotion leaned heavily on McCallum's age. He was approaching his 36th birthday, and at one press conference Toney's camp presented him with a rocking chair carrying the words "Happy Retirement, Mike." At another, the two came close to trading punches when Toney suddenly confronted him.
The fight took place at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Nevada, again on HBO. Toney came in at 158¾ pounds with a record of 31-0-2; McCallum weighed 158 and was 43-1-1. Once more McCallum was the busier man. The figures on Wikipedia show him landing 332 of 849 punches against Toney's 232 of 714, a margin of 100 landed blows, while Toney was again credited with the heavier shots.
Two judges scored it 117-110 for Toney and the third had it level at 114-114, giving the champion a majority decision. The wide margins on the two winning cards sat uneasily beside the punch count. Wikipedia's biography of McCallum calls the result controversial and notes that some observers believed McCallum had deserved the verdict in both fights.
Diverging Paths, 1993 to 1996
The two careers split after Reno. Toney moved up to super middleweight and, on February 13, 1993, took the IBF title at 168 pounds from Iran Barkley, who was pulled out after nine rounds. That reign ended on November 18, 1994, when Roy Jones Jr. beat him by a wide decision in what was his last fight at the weight. Toney then lost twice to Montell Griffin, in February 1995 and December 1996.
McCallum went up too. On July 23, 1994, he won the WBC light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Jeff Harding, making him a champion in a third division. He defended it once before losing to Fabrice Tiozzo on June 16, 1995. In November 1996, at 40, he challenged Roy Jones Jr. for the vacant interim WBC light heavyweight title and lost by a wide margin.
Mohegan Sun, February 22, 1997: The Rubber Match
Less than three months after those defeats, the old rivals met for a third time, this time not at light heavyweight but at cruiserweight, for the vacant WBU title. The venue was the Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville, Connecticut. Although the rematch is sometimes remembered as a light heavyweight fight, McCallum's Wikipedia biography lists it as a cruiserweight contest, matching the WBU belt at stake.
Five years and two divisions removed from Atlantic City, Toney won a unanimous decision over twelve rounds, the first time all three judges agreed on a winner between them.
It was McCallum's final professional fight. He retired with a record of 49-5-1 and 36 knockouts, never having been stopped. Toney's next outing went badly: on May 14, 1997, he lost to the journeyman Drake Thadzi.
What the Record Shows
On paper the series belongs to Toney: two wins and a draw, with no loss. The details complicate that. Across the two middleweight fights McCallum was credited with landing more punches each time, by 3 and then by 100, and each result produced at least one even card. Even the summing-up of the rivalry varies by outlet: Boxing News, reporting McCallum's death in June 2025, recorded two losses and a draw against Toney, while a Boxing Insider appreciation by Sean Crose mentioned only a draw and a loss, apparently leaving out the 1997 bout.
McCallum was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003 and died in Las Vegas on May 31, 2025, aged 68. Toney went on to further titles at heavier weights. For two nights in 1991 and 1992, though, they were the two best middleweights in the world, and the judges never fully separated them.
Sources
- James Toney vs. Mike McCallum, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- James Toney vs. Mike McCallum II, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Mike McCallum, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- James Toney, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
- Reliving The Legend: James Toney v Mike McCallum I, Michael Wilson Jr., 3 Kings Boxing, January 14, 2023
- Former world champion Mike McCallum dies aged 68, Boxing News, June 1, 2025
- An appreciation of Mike McCallum, Sean Crose, Boxing Insider, June 3, 2025
