James Toney

Ward could give him a tough time at super middle and sergio's movement at middle could trouble him. Nobody else below heavy has a good chance of winning IMO.

 

The Ward fight would be interesting to see how Ward would cope against someone who is a better infighter than him, Toney would be a deserved favourite.

Yeah with his height and southpaw stance he'd be a nuisance at least but I can't see him holding out all night against Toney, he'd be figured out.

 

the leaning far away in the opposite direction with the ching tucked move was usually used as a trap for a counter right.Usually you'll see him do it more against the less ring-savvy fighters who don't realise he's setting them up and end up reaching with their punches trying to tag his head, rather than just stepping around him.

Against the better schooled fighters he'll use it more sparingly and with a more subtle angle.

 

that joe louis straight right!

[yt]HbH0-ULXBF0[/yt]

 

i don't know...ward may have a superior resume with a more diverse group of opponents. his last few years at 168 is staggering and he's faced a decent number of styles, especially including dawson

 

Toney is a great fighter to watch. Superb variety.

 

This. For all of his defensive wizardry and countering abilities, Toney had slow feet and was generally very flat footed and somewhat ponderous, especially on the front foot. He also had a tendency to get a little too relaxed and complacent at times, giving rounds away on sheer inactivity. I think Ward nicks it by staying at mid-long range, not giving James much to counter against, and smothering Toney up close, and Martinez frustrates the hell out of him with his constant movement and angles. I could also see a speedy volume puncher like Campillo proving to be a potential banana skin for him as well.

 

I think their 168 record(wins) so far is pretty similar

DeWitt
Barkley
Thornton
Littles
Williams

Miranda
Kessler
Abraham
Froch
Dawson
Bika

Dewitt was a quick handed 80s Froch in a lot of ways, but had his best days at middle and was pretty faded.A bit better than Miranda-who was also better at 160-as a win, maybe on par with Bika, who has poor skills but is aggressive, awkward and tough.

Barkley was drained and past his best, but imo still better than those two, plus Abraham and Dawson too who is obviously more comfortable at 175.I rate Thornton above them as well, though he was a bit past his best as well and finished after Toney too.Always thought he was an underrated good fighter for a time though.

Kessler, Froch, Littles, Williams and Barkley were probably the highest regarded when fought.

Not really any huge differences there.Froch, Williams, Barkley are all pretty comparable.Not sure who i'd take between Froch and Barkley, i think Iran in his prime was better, though maybe not that one.Williams was a good solid boxer-puncher earlier at 175 but had turned slugger by then, as well as being another fighter who was more comfortable at 175.he did throw a lot of punches against Toney though and still looked a decent-if declined- fighter.had those legendary wars with Merqui Sosa afterward.

Kessler and Littles the best technicians of all the fighters at the time Ward\Toney fought them.Littles was an excellent amatuer, a smoother boxer and more versatile, but had a poor chin and tendency to lose his cool\get sloppy.An underachiever as a pro.

kessler good accurate basic punching and textbook skills, but robotic and had not been too active or sharp looking since the Calzaghe fight.Arguably another underachiever.

It's pretty similar stuff really, though Ward will almost certainly surpass Toney in volume of decent wins at the weight unless he moves up or gets killed or something.

 

As far as who out-boxes who, I'd probably slightly favour Ward over James, but I give Toney a very good chance of catching him with something big which could end proceedings.

I don't think Ward has the out-fighting ability to avoid James as well as Roy Jones did, or the finesse to hang in close and outwork Toney for long periods of time. He would find himself getting into lots of tricky spots imo, and unless his chin is fairly good (still an unknown imo) he will be taken out.

 

Great clip :goodLooked like a killer in the stare down too.

Yeah you've got to love Toney's style if not his diet.

 

If you really want to watch Toney develope his style, watch the non-title fights he had while MW champion. He boxed a lot of rounds in becoming James Toney.