Joe Calzaghe vs. James Toney prime/prime

[ApatheticLeader]

Originally Posted by charlievint

#1 Joe couldn't hurt James to begin with...so "Slaps" wouldn't be anything but annoying to James (although you don't give your boy Joe enough credit for his power)

#2 While Joe is fast at the lower wieghts James was not slow himself and he is far the more superior counter puncher and defensive wizard.

All of which point to an obvious outcome with James being the clear winner.

It will be much harder for Toney to counterpunch somebody who uses their feet and throws fast combos. The amount of true power there is behind those punches isn't that relevant - as long as they aren't Ottke-powered punches, Toney would struggle. Toney has been outboxed in his prime by skilled fighters with footwork.

[charlievint]

Originally Posted by ApatheticLeader

It will be much harder for Toney to counterpunch somebody who uses their feet and throws fast combos. The amount of true power there is behind those punches isn't that relevant - as long as they aren't Ottke-powered punches, Toney would struggle. Toney has been outboxed in his prime by skilled fighters with footwork.

Very very true....but everyone is saying that with the mindset of James Toney today....Back at 168 JT was swift on his feet, a lot faster and used his legs a lot better than what we are use to seeing with him at HW.

Most of the time that JT was outboxed in his prime were cases where he was REALLY sturggling with trainig and making weight. Which showed in his preformances...he was slower, sluggish...although he still had his skills in tact, he was less mobile and agile.

But we are talking PRIME for PRIME and best case senario for both men....with that said the very best JT beats the very best Joe C.