Two of my all-time favourites and both first ballot HOF inductees, but who do you rate higher historically?
Felix accomplished more overall but Toney's top peak was higher than Tito's peak. I'd say Tito without malice (James is one of my favorite fighters of all time but he languished at LHW and CW for years n years)
Toney actually wasn't a first ballot Hall of famer but that was mostly because of how stacked his first year of electability was. BHOP, JMM and Sugar Shane had more votes and Toney had to wait a year. For comparison Tito had belts in three division's WW,JM and MW. Toney had belts at MW, SM and CW. It's really close between the two as Tito was more consistent while Toney had more longevity. Had they ever fought at MW which was the only division they both competed in I would take Toney without thinking twice. Tito was a natural WW and no match for the MW version of Toney. Pound for Pound I like Tito a little but more just because of his consistency pre BHOP but it's pretty close between the two.
Tito had the better record but that’s also because he didn’t hang around as long as Toney. Felix had an established dominant reign in one weight class while James won belts in other classes. Both guys beat a fair number of top fighters. Not sure who id rank higher. Their resumes are both awesome but with very different strengths
I think Toney- just seemed like he got more done. At least more interesting things anyway- his win over Jirov is very special.
Trinidad may have been as formidable at WW as Toney was at any weight, but factoring in their entire respective careers, Toney has the better wins, imo. Especially if you don't consider Felix's win over ODLH as legit.
Definitely Trinidad. WW: Regardless of what you think of the decision against Oscar, he met the best other fighter in the division and came out the winner, partially unifying the title. And that was on the back of 15 straight title wins over 6 years. JM: Beat the best other fighter in the division and partially unified the title. M: Won a strap and met the best other fighter in the division but got schooled. He did this over an 8 year unbeaten run at championship level, until Hopkins took his 0. Compare with Toney: M: Beat the consensus no. 1 in the division in Nunn and then met another titlist in McCallum (unfortunately just the one belt on the line) and got the better of a draw. Inconsistent form but won the rematch. Reigned for about 18 months in total. SM: His most consistent performances but lost a one-sided showdown with Roy Jones. CW: Beat Jirov in a ‘roll back the years’ performance. I love Toney, but he didn’t achieve as much as Tito and Toney’s time as champion across the three divisions was about half that of Trinidad’s.
Tito accomplished more in his domination of the welterweight division. Toney never really hung around any division long enough to establish a legacy
Toney is perhaps the better overall fighter, but Tito is almost certainly the greater of the two, thanks in large part to his greater consistency. Nobody has talked about Toney’s gift against Tiberi. Does Tito really require a gift against the likes of Tiberi?
You forgot that Toney stopped Holyfield, beat Ruiz while roided, and gave Peter a close fight and Rahman a draw. He also was going to beat Rahman in the rematch, but Rahman quit while an NC was still on the table.