Sumbu Kalambay, Middleweight Champion

Born April 10, 1956 in Zaire, and by age 24 he had immigrated to Europe and turned pro, taking his first bout in 1980 in Austria, beating a 26-13-3 fighter by knockout in the 7th. That was a highly unusual start for even a promising novice talent, even one with an amateur record of 90-5. Neophytes are usually matched against equally inexperienced fighters in short, 4 Round bouts. In Kalambay's case, it was foreshadowing for a career that would vault him into the ranks of the best middleweights to follow in the wake of Marvelous Marvin Hagler's retirement.

Kalambay stood 5'9", and by his own admission he was never a big puncher. Instead, Kalambay relied on two things. First, he took good care of his body and trained hard, always bringing excellent conditioning into his fights. Second, he developed a sound and well-rounded his technique that he steadily improved throughout his career. Unlike many fighters, Kalambay was a true student of the sport, and always looking to learn something new.

Still, it wasn't easy for Kalambay, and his inexperience soon told. In his 3rd pro fight, he lost a decision to 9-1 Aldo Buzzetti. He then drew with 7-1 Stephan Ferrara in his next bout. Undeterred, Kalambay settled into Ancona, Italy, kept working, and it would prove to be 4 long years before he lost another fight. In that April 1985 bout, a now veteran 34-1-1 Kalambay traveled to Atlantic City to fight 23-1 Duane Thomas. Thomas, a future 154lbs world champion, beat Kalambay on points. However, the fight attracted attention to the African, and bigger things were waiting for him.

In September, Kalambay challegened 18-0-1 Giovanni DeMarco for the Italian Middleweight Title, and won it by split decision. He then went straight on into a December showdown before his "hometown crowd" of Ancona, with talented Ayub Kalule for the European title, and lost by Split Decision. Kalule was a fellow African immigrant, a Ugandan living in Denmark who had already won a 154lbs world title, and his only losses were to the likes of "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Mike McCallum. It was a Split Decision, but it wasn't close: Kalule won by a good margin on 2 of 3 scorecards. Kalambay still had some finishing to do before he would be a real worldbeater.

Kalambay kept busy in 1986, including a rematch with DeMarco that saw him improve on his performance, knocking the Italian out in the 11th. His winning ways got him another shot at the European Middleweight Champion in 1987. That was now Briton Herol Graham, a master technician who was undefeated, had already beaten Kalule, and would go down in history as arguably one of the best middleweights in the history who never won a world title. Going to Wembley Stadium, Graham was the heavy favorite, but this time Kalambay was the better man, and he won a solid Unanimous Decision.

Now the European Champion, Kalambay was a serious world contender, and he wasted no time about going for a world title. In October 1987, hard-punching Iran "The Blade Barkley" met Kalambay in Italy for the vacant WBA Middleweight crown. In what Kalambay considered his hardest match, he handily outboxed the American brawler and captured the championship.

The Congolese boxer fighting by way of Italy would not have an easy reign. His very first title defense was made against 32-0 Mike McCallum. McCallum had been the WBA's 154lbs champion for three years, and like Graham he was undefeated and the heavy favorite to win the fight. In a hard fight, Kalambay once again bucked the experts and upset the favorite, scoring another points win.

After 2 more defenses of the WBA title, in 1989 Kalambay traveled to Las Vegas for a showdown with yet another undefeated fighter: 32-0 Michael Nunn, the IBF Champion. Kalambay was stripped of his title before the fight for making an unsanctioned unification bout, and unfortunately the risk did not pay off for him. Nunn got lucky and landed a smashing left hook on the button in the 1st Round, producing a shocking knockout.

Making a comeback in 1990, Kalambay fought a handful of times, including a 9th Round knockout of undefeated fringe contender Francisco Dell'Aquila. In 1991, he fought a rematch with Mike McCallum, and this time came out the loser in a Split Decision. The next year, he fought a rematch with Herol Graham and beat him on points. Then he met the rugged Irish contender Steve Collins, and outpointed him too. With two good wins, it looked like Kalambay was on his way back to world title contention. However, in 1993 he met Chris Pyatt for the WBO Middleweight Title in a close, but Unanimous Decision loss. Following this loss to an unheralded British fringe contender, the 37 year old Kalambay decided to call it a day and retired. His record was 57-6-1 with 33 KOs.

Sources: boxrec.com; live fight footage; http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/3121/sumbu-kalambay-one-best-middleweights-1980s/; Dark Trade