Me and Jirov sparred several times, his trainer would have fighters tag out with me during the minute break, they would work him over till there 3 minutes were up while they rested I was tagged in Jirov was a work horse.
I don't know how you could say that. Both guys fought their asses off and were in great shape coming into the fight. There is no indication that either man took the other lightly and if you listen to Thell Torrence in Jirov's corner, it is obvious that their strategy to win the fight was to outwork Toney and drain him with body shots. Vegas odds had the fight basically even going in.
Jirov had a 14 month lay off, we sparred very little during that time frame I know for a fact he was not properly prepped.
Are you from Scottsdale? You are correct about him having a long layoff. I remember hearing he had a lot of management issues. For a guy that won Olympic gold and the Val Barker trophy, it's a shame that he had so many issues getting meaningful fights especially considering how exciting he was to watch fight.
I won't tell but I am a HW who he beat like an old drum for $, he was the hardest hitting guy I ever had lay a glove on me Michael Moorer is on that list as well! (He was a close 2nd) Tua being 3rd.
Interesting. I have always been curious why Jirov didn't fight at 175 at least in the early part of his career. The guy won gold in Atlanta at 178. As a pro, I would think it would be much easier to make 175 with the day before weight in. Would have loved to see him fight Jones or Michalczewski. He just seemed so bloated and slow looking when he fought at heavyweight. I'm going to have rewatch his fight with Moorer. Thay was a decent scrape before Moorer caught him on the ear.
Vassily Jirov v James Toney Round 1: 10-10 Even Round 2: 10-9 Jirov Round 3: 10-9 Toney Round 4: 10-9 Jirov Round 5: 10-10 Even Round 6: 10-9 Jirov Round 7: 10-9 Toney Round 8: 9-9 Even (Jirov's round but deducted a point for a low blow) Round 9: 10-9 Jirov Round 10: 10-9 Toney Round 11: 10-9 Jirov Round 12: 10-8 Toney (scores a knockdown) Total: 114-114 Draw (actual scores: 117-109, 116-110 and 117-109 all for Toney) IMO, this was the makeup for Toney-Tiberi. In fact, you could call it Toney-Tiberi II. By this I mean - and I scored that fight for Toney - weighing the most punches v the more substantial punches. This, of course, is up to the judge and is a very fine line. But an excellent bout, despite my viewing it as a very close encounter.
pretty interesting that we have 3 cards so far and 1 was a draw, and 1 for each guy so far. I remember thinking Toney was up and round 12 sealed it for him. Lederman had it a draw if I remember correctly. I am going to watch this in a couple of days and now I am interested in seeing what my card looks like. I scored identical to @Pat M last week and identical to you the week before...so I am interested to see what my thoughts are now. I might watch the UK version above as I have not watched that version before. i have my old card (number 8 on the list) on eye on the ring (I like this just to store my old cards and occasionally to contrast with others...but don’t necessarily find it an expert panel or anything like that) and have it 116-110 Toney....it will be interesting to see if I score it different a couple of years later. 25 cards and 0% disagree so all 25 scored for Toney. I have changed my mind on cards before so we will see. Either way thanks for your thoughts http://www.eyeonthering.com/boxing/vassiliy-jirov-vs-james-toney
James Toney vs Vassily Jirov Rounds won/Even Toney - 3,4,11,12 Jirov - 2,5,9,10 Even - 1,6,7,8 *Point deduction in Round 8 (9-9) *Knockdown Round 12 (10-8) My Scorecard (T)116-114(J) A great fight & modern classic between an offensive, come-forward fighter & an offensive, defensive counterpuncher. Both guys came to fight & gave it their all. Toney landed the sharper, harder punches, while Jirov was the more busy fighter & pressed the action. It was a case of quality vs quantity - & I felt Toney Toney edged it. I would have had it a draw if not for the knockdown in round 12, & had Jirov winning by a point or 2 if not for both the knockdown & point deduction.
unless I misread your scorecard it should be 116-114 Toney not 113-111? Either way thanks for joining in and sharing your card and thoughts
Actually I got it wrong. I meant to score it 112-110 for Toney, with 4 even rounds.Gonna edit my post now.
Tbh, I felt he won it due to his work-rate & body attack. In the 11th, I felt he got countered too much & wasn't landing much. Toney was off balance in that round & people gelt he was rocked (Lampley, the fans & even Steward I think).
