Despite facing the likes of Roy Jones Jr and James Toney during his career, Mike McCallum has named the one fighter who was even stronger than the legendary American duo.
Jones and Toney took the sport by storm during the 1990s, proving to be two of the best active fighters on the planet during this memorable era in boxing history.
They actually locked horns in an exhilarating domestic match-up at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas back in November of 1994, a bout that was dominated by Jones who defeated his countryman via unanimous decision to capture the IBF super-middleweight title.
The Florida-native would go on to produce a number of other legacy-defining wins in the years that followed, defeating the likes of McCallum, Montell Griffin and Virgil Hill.
In a feature with The Ring Magazine, McCallum gave a surprising answer when he was asked to reveal the strongest fighter he ever shared a ring with, as he names three-time world title challenger Michael Watson ahead of Toney and Jones.
“Oh my God, he was so strong. Thats why that fight was so hard. It was a gruesome fight, 11 rounds of back-and-forth hell.”
Watson challenged McCallum for the WBA middleweight title back in April 1990 but ultimately fell short in a thrilling encounter, suffering a 12th round stoppage defeat at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
The professional career of ‘The Force’ was tragically cut short when he suffered a life-changing brain injury following his rematch with countryman Chris Eubank in September of 1991.
