James Toney - An appreciation

Gets a lot of flak this guy but hey...The guy is always available for a quote....The guy is always controversial and news-worthy in an age where Boxing publicity and newspaper lines are/is diminishing at an alarming rate....

Could also imagine that if you tried to approach some other fighters around they'd either look down on you or have security to get rid!!!

This guy would also always give you his opinion.....

Also he has..........

Good longevity......fought top quality names.......The Nunn win was superb and he's never got the credit he's deserved for it..Barkley was a master class.Mccallum and Prince Charles to add on to the list..Also has done damage all the way from middle to heavy and that's no mean feat...Never avoided anybody..

Sure be upset with some of the guff he's done and said but appreciate a character in a non-character age!!

Anyone who can put Boxing under or into the spotlight these days deserves some credit..

James Toney...I have a soft spot for him.....accessible and opinionated....backed up with talent...

If it's over and I hope it is.......Good luck and thanks!!!

Bioggest waste of talent and space ever in boxing. Too busy buying guns.
Who you gonna shoot James? what a joke he is now. Come on TRUSS he was lucky against Nunn and stupid against Jones but he had real talent.

Fought MCcallum, Jones jr, Nunn, Holyfield, Charles Williams, Barkley....

Those are some names............

For sure he could've done more...but let's appreciate a guy that did still achieve over a long period.....

Instead of always slating him...

Certainly a character and always available for a quote...

See the glass as half full..

He should have done more in the Jones fight. That fight would have put him right up there but he was outclassed.

If he was outclassed...what good would doing more have done????

Have to admit that while he's been good for the sport in his own peculiar way, Toney as a personality tends to leave me a little cold. There's a fine line between being a good ticket seller or an enigma and being a loud-mouthed yob, and I don't think that Toney has walked it all that well.

I'm a big admirer of his early career, but as OneTwo says I see him as a waste of talent more than anything - since Jones shut him out, the majority of Toney's career has been an embarrassment in relative terms. Of course, a lot of fighters would kill for the career which 'Lights Out' has had, but I'm not all that sure history will be too kind to him.

The Jirov fight was a masterclass, he ruined Jirov in that one.

You're right Chris about his enigmatic career..but he is a big name who's been around a longtime in a unforgiving sport...

Deserves a heads up..............

All opinions welcome....

Absolutely Truss, and whatever I think of him as a bloke I have to concede that some of his early performances are a joy to watch. When I was seriously getting in to boxing I was amazed at Toney's defence - not reliant on speed or spoling, but pure old school techniques. A lot of fighters these days (Hopkins being a good example) like to claim that they're old school in the way they fight, but Toney fits that bill better than anyone else in my lifetime, I reckon.

james toney yeah you can look at him as an underachiever but what he did achieve is pretty spectacular.

boxing is no easy sport especially when youre not the most dedicated but to achieve what he did in the way he went about it screams of natural talent.

yes you can say the lates stages were a bit of joke at times but always with the odd suprising performance like the jirov win.

was a character sometimes the odd questionable comment but hey ho, no ones perfect. had a wonderful career but got to be fair you do wonder what if?

Some fighters, for whatever reason, simply can't deal with a first loss and their invincibility being taken away from them, and Toney was one of them, I think. He seemed a completely different man after Jones dazzled him to that defeat, both in his demeanour and how he fought; seemingly disinterested a lot of the time, always looking to fight in spurts rather than applying constant pressure which he'd done against Barkley and Williams, and of course taking training and dieting nowhere near as seriously as he should have.

Controversial though the decisions may have been, I can't see a 1994 or earlier version of Toney struggling with men such as Griffin or Thadzi, never mind losing to them, and a rematch with Jones at 175 lb would have been a better indication as to whether or not the result of their first fight - or rather the nature of the result - was down to Toney's trouble making Super-Middleweight, which he still claims to this day.

Beat Iran Barkley? Four years after an old Duran did...

88Chris05 wrote:Some fighters, for whatever reason, simply can't deal with a first loss and their invincibility being taken away from them, and Toney was one of them, I think. He seemed a completely different man after Jones dazzled him to that defeat, both in his demeanour and how he fought; seemingly disinterested a lot of the time, always looking to fight in spurts rather than applying constant pressure which he'd done against Barkley and Williams, and of course taking training and dieting nowhere near as seriously as he should have.

Controversial though the decisions may have been, I can't see a 1994 or earlier version of Toney struggling with men such as Griffin or Thadzi, never mind losing to them, and a rematch with Jones at 175 lb would have been a better indication as to whether or not the result of their first fight - or rather the nature of the result - was down to Toney's trouble making Super-Middleweight, which he still claims to this day.

think thats very true, in a similar way to when some punchers take a knockout, theyre not the same afterwards, quality boxers being completely outboxed shatters there confidence and there belief - possibly to do with being beaten at there own game.

I cant wait for his next big fight:

James Toney v The English Language

The Nunn win came after he was outboxed for most of the fight only to land on a Nunn that gassed and faded. The Jirov win was good but Jirov was a typical euro champ, i.e. very good amateur but padded and dodgy pro record. What other big wins are there? Apart from a couple of close ones with McCallum (a light middle getting old for gawd sake), a silly win against Holyfield, what else is there?

An awful defeat to RJJ and terribele losses to Griffin and Peter add those to the horrid battering he took from Lebedev just recently mark him up as short of greatness for me. Bugger, I'm only talking about his resume....what there's a whole load more to say about the cack that spills from his mouth!

I also have a soft spot for Toney. He's a prize doughnut who 1) doesn't know when to quit (should have done after the 2nd Peter fight), 2) thinks he's a lot better than he actually is, 3) is lazy and loves his food too much and 4) loves to shout his mouth off.

However, as Truss said, he has fought some good names and never fails to ignite some interest (even if it is just for his antics at the press conference).

He was indeed a highly skilled boxer and was unlucky in facing someone as special as Jones which clearly affected his mojo after the defeat.

A definite character, and one whose outspoken antics, however unsavoury at times, will be missed by boxing. He makes you notice him, even if it's for the wrong reasons. But James, please retire now!

Wouldn't mind seeing him promote as long as he pays fairly, was a good fighter in his day but has gone on a few years too many.

Have had a bit of a soft spot for James ever since I read Dark Trade.

A very good fighter who fought some great names but can't help feeling that his career is somewhat unfulfilled. With a bit of discipline he could have been a might fine light heavyweight and may just have got his revenge on RJJ as he started to slow down after stepping up to face Ruiz.

88Chris05 wrote:Some fighters, for whatever reason, simply can't deal with a first loss and their invincibility being taken away from them, and Toney was one of them, I think. He seemed a completely different man after Jones dazzled him to that defeat, both in his demeanour and how he fought; seemingly disinterested a lot of the time, always looking to fight in spurts rather than applying constant pressure which he'd done against Barkley and Williams, and of course taking training and dieting nowhere near as seriously as he should have.

Controversial though the decisions may have been, I can't see a 1994 or earlier version of Toney struggling with men such as Griffin or Thadzi, never mind losing to them, and a rematch with Jones at 175 lb would have been a better indication as to whether or not the result of their first fight - or rather the nature of the result - was down to Toney's trouble making Super-Middleweight, which he still claims to this day.

I'll start by saying Toney is my favourite fighter, so expect a biased slant.

Toney's, like Tyson's problems started when he ceased to fight regularly. Issues with management caused this, and when he didn't have a fight he would gorge. Jones Jr knew Toney would implode, which is why his camp delayed the fight for so long.
His poor performance against Thadzi was down to trying (and failing) to make 175lbs. He was given two more hours to make he weight, and spent it shadowboxing in a sauna, and passed out twice on the scales at 179lbs.
As for Griffin, big George said it all after the first fight "If Griffin won that fight, cows lay eggs). I think it was Lederman that described the second fight as robbery of the decade.
Against Jones Jr he was 206lb six weeks before the fight, and one look at him in the ring showed his soft, blubbery body.
And can we please clarify this myth about Toney getting a lucky punch against Nunn. Nunn didn't win a round after round six, round nine was a 10-8 round in the eyes of many pundits because Nunn was in trouble. All the hard shots in tha latter half of the fight were thrown by Toney

Quality boxer who ducked no one and was tough as teak,remember him calling Benn and Eubank out just before they both fought each other, went something like I could beat you both on a bad night.

Super D Boon wrote:The Nunn win came after he was outboxed for most of the fight only to land on a Nunn that gassed and faded. The Jirov win was good but Jirov was a typical euro champ, i.e. very good amateur but padded and dodgy pro record. What other big wins are there? Apart from a couple of close ones with McCallum (a light middle getting old for gawd sake), a silly win against Holyfield, what else is there?

An awful defeat to RJJ and terribele losses to Griffin and Peter add those to the horrid battering he took from Lebedev just recently mark him up as short of greatness for me. Bugger, I'm only talking about his resume....what there's a whole load more to say about the cack that spills from his mouth!

Agree entirely. Robbed the blazes out of Tibieri as well. I'd like more pro boxers to fight more often - but I haven't got that much time for the notion of him as an all time great.

That said - he'll get in for sure in 5 years time. Possibly due to a dearth of competition.

I would have him along the same lines of an Oscar De La Hoya came close to being a great, but not quite there.

Dela Hoya is a bonafide great..