Jamaican boxing legend Mike McCallum, who was a three-weight world champion during the 1980s and 1990s, has died suddenly, aged 68.
McCallum died suddenly near his home in Las Vegas on Saturday (May 31), with the Jamaica Observer reporting that he was on his way to the gym when he fell ill and pulled his car off the road. He was later found unresponsive and pronounced dead.
Known as ‘The Bodysnatcher’ due to his vicious body punching ability, McCallum was the first Jamaican to become a boxing world champion – eventually winning titles at light-middleweight, middleweight and light-heavyweight between 1984 and 1995.
After retiring in 1997 with 49 wins, five losses and one draw from 55 fights, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003.
Jamaica’s sport minister Olivia Grange wrote on Instagram: “It is with utter and complete sadness that I learned of the death of Jamaica’s three-time World Boxing Champion Michael McKenzie McCallum.
His most famous fights came against the likes of Michael Watson, Steve Collins, James Toney and Roy Jones Jr, having turned professional in 1981 after winning welterweight gold for Jamaica at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton.
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