The legendary “Four Kings” of the ‘80s sucked up much of the air below heavyweight, which, as a division, is nearly always its own world. But on paper, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran could have provided McCallum with an opportunity to become something more.

According to McCallum, he was only a teenager when in attendance for George Foreman’s frightening strong-arming of the heavyweight championship from Joe Frazier in Jamaica’s capital of Kingston in 1973. He started boxing not long before Foreman-Frazier I, and the fight was “the biggest thing in my life,” inspiring him to keep fighting. McCallum’s amateur success led him to the Olympics, just like Foreman and Frazier, on behalf of Jamaica.

McCallum built up his amateur credentials, winning multiple Golden Gloves titles, a national Amateur Athletic Union title and a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games. Though exact amateur records are all but impossible to verify, McCallum nevertheless fought about 250 amateur contests and lost maybe a dozen.

When McCallum turned his attention to the paid ranks in 1981, he quickly found a home at Detroit’s Kronk Gym with Emanuel Steward. Kronk had middleweights Mickey Goodwin, Lindell Holmes and William “Caveman” Lee, and months into the partnership, Steward’s fighters Hilmer Kenty and Hearns won world titles, confirming that McCallum chose his corner well.

Outside of the Kronk’s walls, boxing was just barely reaping the rewards of the 1976 Olympics, which drove countless youngsters into gyms. A rotating group of likely stars dubbed “Tomorrow’s Champions” included Tony Ayala and Davey Moore, junior middleweights such as McCallum who were likewise top amateurs. McCallum called both out just as he entered the sanctioning organization top-10 rankings in late 1982, but Moore’s destiny crashed him into the stone fists of Duran months later, and Ayala’s dark heart led him to prison.

McCallum positioned himself for bigger things by dismantling former champ Ayub Kalule and simply rattling off wins over the next year. His stablemate Hearns held the WBC title at junior middleweight, but his nagging right hand injury kept him sidelined and in boxing, the idea of facing teammates is often taboo. That left Duran, who took Moore’s WBA title, and before long McCallum was his mandatory challenger.

The Panamanian star enjoyed a career resurgence after his “No Más” debacle in the Leonard rematch and losing The Ring’s “Upset of the Year” to Kirkland Laing in 1982. Duran’s vicious beating of Moore somehow erased the public’s doubt and Steward capitalized by signing Hearns up for a unification with “Manos de Piedra.” Jilted, McCallum left Kronk Gym and joined with Lou Duva.

Duran vacated his WBA title about a month before eating a monster right hand from Hearns that flattened him and stole his senses in two rounds. McCallum then claimed the vacant title by handing Sean Mannion a decision loss, and by doing so he became Jamaica’s first world champion.

In an interview years later, McCallum said: “Growing up in Jamaica, the only three things we could try and be a part of were soccer, cricket and track and field. Those were really the only three things going on at that time. Boxing was very minimal.”

The path before McCallum should have guided him to acclaim, but “The Bodysnatcher” stood by as Donald Curry unified with his old stablemate Milton McCrory down at welterweight, and Hagler tangled with Duran and Hearns up at middleweight. McCallum made two workmanlike defenses of his title and scored two non-title wins in about 18 months. His inability to stand out either in personality or performance left him at 26-0 with 23 KOs and on the second tier before being presented with a serious test: Julian “The Hawk” Jackson (29-0, 27 KOs).

Unlike McCallum, Jackson fought a brief amateur career before turning professional with a decision win. The puncher from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands then won 27 of his next 28 fights by knockout. McCallum was clearly a strong puncher himself, but he was patient, content to snap every aspect of an opponent’s game apart before finishing them. Jackson was a violent puncher who wanted fights over with as early as possible. But he was temporarily boxing’s best-kept secret before and after August 23, 1986, 40 years ago on August 23.

Decades before a fighter’s career could be neatly compacted into a minutes-long compilation of opponents falling limp and being tended to by ringside medical staff, only lucky fans in attendance for Jackson’s early fights knew of his sickening power. “The Hawk,” who waded into the stable of Don King, used to whack foes out and perform Michael Jackson’s “Moonwalk” across the ring in his high-top fade. And he was McCallum’s top contender.

Outside of the Kronk’s walls, boxing was just barely reaping the rewards of the 1976 Olympics, which drove countless youngsters into gyms. A rotating group of likely stars dubbed “Tomorrow’s Champions” included Tony Ayala and Davey Moore, junior middleweights such as McCallum who were likewise top amateurs. McCallum called both out just as he entered the sanctioning organization top-10 rankings in late 1982, but Moore’s destiny crashed him into the stone fists of Duran months later, and Ayala’s dark heart led him to prison.

McCallum positioned himself for bigger things by dismantling former champ Ayub Kalule and simply rattling off wins over the next year. His stablemate Hearns held the WBC title at junior middleweight, but his nagging right hand injury kept him sidelined and in boxing, the idea of facing teammates is often taboo. That left Duran, who took Moore’s WBA title, and before long McCallum was his mandatory challenger.

The Panamanian star enjoyed a career resurgence after his “No Más” debacle in the Leonard rematch and losing The Ring’s “Upset of the Year” to Kirkland Laing in 1982. Duran’s vicious beating of Moore somehow erased the public’s doubt and Steward capitalized by signing Hearns up for a unification with “Manos de Piedra.” Jilted, McCallum left Kronk Gym and joined with Lou Duva.

Duran vacated his WBA title about a month before eating a monster right hand from Hearns that flattened him and stole his senses in two rounds. McCallum then claimed the vacant title by handing Sean Mannion a decision loss, and by doing so he became Jamaica’s first world champion.

In an interview years later, McCallum said: “Growing up in Jamaica, the only three things we could try and be a part of were soccer, cricket and track and field. Those were really the only three things going on at that time. Boxing was very minimal.”

The path before McCallum should have guided him to acclaim, but “The Bodysnatcher” stood by as Donald Curry unified with his old stablemate Milton McCrory down at welterweight, and Hagler tangled with Duran and Hearns up at middleweight. McCallum made two workmanlike defenses of his title and scored two non-title wins in about 18 months. His inability to stand out either in personality or performance left him at 26-0 with 23 KOs and on the second tier before being presented with a serious test: Julian “The Hawk” Jackson (29-0, 27 KOs).

Unlike McCallum, Jackson fought a brief amateur career before turning professional with a decision win. The puncher from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands then won 27 of his next 28 fights by knockout. McCallum was clearly a strong puncher himself, but he was patient, content to snap every aspect of an opponent’s game apart before finishing them. Jackson was a violent puncher who wanted fights over with as early as possible. But he was temporarily boxing’s best-kept secret before and after August 23, 1986, 40 years ago on August 23.

Decades before a fighter’s career could be neatly compacted into a minutes-long compilation of opponents falling limp and being tended to by ringside medical staff, only lucky fans in attendance for Jackson’s early fights knew of his sickening power. “The Hawk,” who waded into the stable of Don King, used to whack foes out and perform Michael Jackson’s “Moonwalk” across the ring in his high-top fade. And he was McCallum’s top contender.