Chris Eubank: 'Toney is the greatest middleweight of all-time!'

True , but appreciably better than Gary Stretch or Dan Sherry.

 

James Toney just doesn't have the record or dominance to rank really high among middleweights in an all-time sense.
The win over Nunn was great but the fights with McCallum and Johnson were incredibly close.

He was a really tough middleweight though, not quite as skilled and cute as he'd learn to be when he moved up the divisions, but tough with decent skills and power.

 

nunn was mad and talking crap... all we need to know is what happened when they fought, period

 

Thoughts? lmfao. That's my thought.

 

I just watched it and scored it 7-5 Tiberi. Tiberi had a point deducted too which was totally bogus. And an unfortunate circumstance of his glove splitting enabling Toney to receive a 4 minute additional rest. Which ended up for me giving Toney that round.
Very hard to give this fight to Toney. He was tired by round two and was simply out worked in rounds 2,3,4,5,8,9,12 his body language was terrible and the fact he tried to cheap shot Tiberi at start of 12th was cheap and desperate.
7-5 or 8-4 Tiberi.
Toney didn't train.

 

Agreed. There is also the fact that a lot of people still say Eubank didn't want to fight Toney to factor in (and I've got huge respect for Eubank) - any pro fighter has got a vested interest when picking the 'greatest' list in his own division and era.

 

Do your research and come back?

 

Thats what i read to, James hasn't confirmed this but then again it hasn't been disputed.

 

You are quite right.

Thanks for the sparring story it's great to learn new insights .I look forward to your posts in the future

 

Toney had ATG ability, but lackadaisical drive. He COULD have been thought of as one of the best fighters in the history of the game if he had the desire of say Jake Lamotta, Zale, or some of the greats in middle history. But reality is he didn't. So in my opinion he doesn't rank higher than the Zales or Lamottas who didnt have half of his natural ability. So to me, he is one of the biggest disappointments in the history of boxing though he was successful. He could've been so much more.

 

Boxing is full of these happenings. You could probably put Michael Nunn in the same basket, both have their place in the top 25 at MW. There is no doubt James was a exceptional craftsman but like a lot of fighters they start to read the press and forgot about the hunger and dedication that got them to the top
The two examples above were potentially top 50 of all time and one can only think what thay may have been qble to achieve. Two good ones though in a great era.

 

he had the potential to maybe be.

but he s not even maybe, and so never was or will be.

but...hes not that far off.

 

I agree with the general consensus that Toney could have been so much more had he been dedicated. Certainly could have become a TOP 10 ATG in my book.

 

Just because Toney was better than Eubank doesn't make him the greatest middleweight of all time. It just isn't true. But, he is much, much closer to that ranking than Eubank is. Although Eubank was able to squeeze out one victory against Benn in their series, he never fought Toney, Jones, McCallum, Reggie Johnson, or Julian Jackson. He went life and death with Sugar Boy Malinga, labored with the same Tony Thornton that Jones iced in 3 rounds (I was at that fight), and lost to Steve Collins twice.
Eubank had some skills for sure. But, they nowhere near matched his preposterous ego. One of the most overrated fighters in recent history.

 

I thought Jones was the best?