He was severely weight drained. I remember he entered camp well over 200 pounds and had to completely drain himself to get to 168. In fact, he never fought at 168 again and didn't really last at 175 for to long either. With that said, I don't think he could have done much better against Roy anyway. As James went up in weight, he really struggled with speed and was at his best against slower, power punchers or Swarmers that he could counterpunch. Roy simply had the style to get in and get out.
He acquitted himself better than Andy Ruiz I guess. The highlight of that fight was Norman Stone hollering at the ref.
- He did not have the foot speed to catch up to RJJ. - He wasn't especially tall and couldn't reach RJJ who was quicker footed.
He would've got closer to Roy and would've likely had some small moments of success, but Roy at this point was too fast, too hard hitting and too confident in his own self - the final result would've been similar. Best chance Toney ever had of beating Roy prior to his Ruiz fight would be to face him after Roy visited G-Man post-Benn and even then, I would still bet on Roy to win.
On the first point I would agree that Roy would have won regardless. An in shape Toney would have done more competitive job but lose a 116-112 type decision. Now at heavyweight, my opinion has always been that Toney would have knocked Roy out. Because of Roy's glass chin and diminished reflexes/mobility at that weight.
