Mike McCallum defended his WBA middleweight title against Michael Watsonbr br Date: April 14, 1990br br Venue: Royal Albert Hall, Londonbr br McCallum stance: orthodoxbr br Watson stance: orthodoxbr br Mike McCallum turned pro in 1981, and won his first 32 bouts. He won the vacant WBA light middleweight belt in his 22nd fight by outpointing Sean Mannion. McCallum made six defences of his tile, with the most impressive wins being a second round stoppage of Julian Jackson and a fifth round knockout of Donald Curry. He moved up to challenge Sumbu Kalambay for the WBA middleweight belt, losing on points. When Kalambay was stripped of his title, McCallum beat Herold Graham on a split decision for the vacant title. His first defence was a points win over Steve Collins.br br Michael Watson turned pro in 1984 and overcame an early points loss to journeyman James Cook to move up the middleweight rankings. He stopped contender Don Lee in the fifth round and Ricky Stackhouse in the fourth round. Watson's first fight in America ended in a technical draw against Israel Cole, who suffered a cut due to a clash of heads. Watson won the Commonwealth belt when he stopped Nigel Benn in the sixth round of a brutal fight.