GGG vs James Toney at MW

Lol quality post...I am an anti Toney guy (not to be confused with a basher, as I do think he was very good...just not as good as some others). However I do agree with your assessment and think Toney would nip a close decision...disputed or not (but then again every close fight seems to be disputed and called a robbery these days lol)

 

go and look at Toney vs Barkley. That's the how the fight would play out

 

And GGG doesn't have the power to seriously hurt Toney either. At MW Toney could really crack - basically here we would have two guys with big power and iron chins, so I see an exciting action fight but no KO here. Toney on points, and maybe it'd be close.

We'll assume that both fighters are at their absolute best - Toney always got up for the big names at MW, it was the B-level fighters that he underrated and consequently sometimes underperformed against.

Stylewise, Toney has the advantage here - he always looked good against guys who came to him and pressured him. Yes, GGG throws lots of punches and might outwork him, but Toney would consistently land the harder, more accurate punches, and he would land lots of them as GGG isn't hard to hit. Toney is hard to hit, and he also always defended well against the jab, which is GGGs main weapon.

Basically, Toney at MW was a big, powerful, very skilled and very durable fighter - and with a deceptively high punch output too. Man, Toney has been one of the toughest and most durable fighters ever these last three decenies. And, at MW, Toney threw lots of punches and was an active fighter, he only started to fight in spurts after he moved up to SMW. GGG would be in no way able to walk him down or steamroll him like he did with so many of his other oppoenents - most of them lacked either skill, or punching power, or durability. Toney has lots and lots of all of these. GGG won't find a weakness here. And he wouldn't be able to just walk through Toneys punches to land some of his own.

Plus Toney has the faster hand-speed and owns GG on the inside. So come to think of it, Toney by very clear decision, and mark that down.

 

Styles make fights and GGG is tailor made for Toney.

GGG is a straight up and down fighter, no special effects. GGG is also an orthodox fighter, making him perfect for Toney's shoulder roll. Toney also has the faster hands, and we'd see Toney counter GGG to death.

UD Toney.

 

I can't think of a worse style match up for Golovkin than Toney.

Some will say a mover would be worse, but I disagree. Golovkin does his best pushing guys back onto the ropes where he can unload in combination. Toney could stand with him in the centre of the ring, slip most of his shots and counter and even if Golovkin hits him flush he isn't knocking Toney out who took shots from hard hitting heavyweights. Golovkin will literally hit a brick wall against Toney, he won't be able to push him back consistently and his aggression will just be used against him and give Toney more opportunities to counter. He'll find himself i the centre of the ring being picked apart. If Canelo can stand and trade with him centre ring successfully then Toney could do to.

Some will bring up the Tiberi fight and yes Toney had is off days but you can't judge a fighter on his worst showing. Even in his worst showing against Tiberi he threw over 900 punches. Golovkin isn't going to out work Toney like he did Canelo and he'll have an even more elusive target with Toney with better counter punching skills.

The guys that beat Toney had great defence like RJJ and Griffin. They took away his counter punching out of the equation, especially with the right hand. Golovkin simply doesn't have the defensive skills to not get caught and get caught often. It wouldn't surprise me if Toney again put his name again in the 400 club against such as easy target as Golovkin.

 

I see by your username you're his number 1 fan, so I won't bother going into why GGG would defeat Toney in greater detail.

* GGG's jab will have Toney on the ropes all night
* GGG's bodyshots will wear Toney down

GGG's power will be enough to keep Toney's output very low. Toney only got aggressive vs light hitters. Most of the hard hitters he was in with he was in his shell all night. Toney is easily out-boxed, as Nunn was doing that before he got careless and got knocked out. GGG's jab would have the same effect on Toney and win the rounds.
I think it will be a carbon copy of the Canelo matchup but much closer due to Toney throwing less powerful, but more crisper shots that hit GGG whilst he's on the attack. The thing is though, GGG's attack is non-stop for 12 rds, and his accuracy is why he's so good at his craft.

 

mccallum and barkley were light hitters? on what planet?

 

Tony 8-4 or something.

Thats no knock on GGG.

 

Great post!

People are forgetting just how good James was on his very best day.

Golovkin & Toney were made for each other.

 

I'm torn with this one.

On one hand I think the way Toney planted his feet and slipped in the pocket plays into the hands of GGG as he won't have to expend energy cutting off the ring, he'll be able to plant his own feet and land big combinations driving Toney back.

But then I think of GGG and his woeful excuse for head movement. I'm not sure it's possible to walk through someone as hard hitting and accurate as Toney.

Yea he took flush bombs from Jacobs, Brook and Canelo without blinking but at some point a chin has to fail and usually that point is against a sharp shooting counter puncher.

I think it's more likely that Toney knocks down Golovkin than the other way round.

In fact I'm flying in the face of pretty much every post so far and saying that for me, GGG has the stylistic advantage and should pound out a points win, but Toney had the ability and power to turn the fight on its head and hurt Golovkin in a way that I don't see any other MW doing.

 

Mccallum and Barkley don't have GGG's power, stamina or chin. Their jabs are not on GGG's level neither, Toney's jab is non-existent and you need a good jab yourself to counter a jab.

 

Just because you say it doesn't make it true. Toney was very adept at slipping the jab.

He didn't even have Canelo or Jacobs on the ropes all night how does he get Toney on the ropes all night? Even if Toney was on the ropes, he's very skilled at fighting off the ropes. Toney did much off his best work against Jirov with his back to the ropes.

Golovkins body shots? Where were they against Canelo? Do you even understand the shoulder roll? Toney's style would make it very hard for any fighter to get to Toney's body consistently enough. Not even the Body snatcher himself could do it enough to slow Toney down significantly.

Toney has a low output vs punchers? Somebody better tell that to the puncher Iran Barkley who was hit over 400 times by Toney.

Lol if you think Golovkin can replicate what the 6'3" Nunn did and out box Toney. Movers and good defensive fighters out boxed Toney, Golovkin is neither of those things, in fact he's antithesis of what gave Toney problems.

You talk about Golovkins accuracy and yes usually he is very accurate landing 40-50% of his punches. That was until he stepped up a level and only landed about 30% of his punches against Jacobs, Brook and Canelo. If he can only land 31% of his punches against the less elusive Canelo how on earth does he even duplicate or surpass that against a better defensive fighter and not just a better defensive fighter but arguable one of the best ever?

As for Golovkin being non stop, Toney in his prime was no slouch. As I mentioned before he threw over 900 punches when supposedly out of shape vs Tiberi. He's 4 times been a member of the 400 club. How many times has the supposedly super accurate Golovkin hit an opponent 400 times?

I'm not even a Toney fan and think he's over rated by some, but he schools Golovkin.

 

He schools the slow GGG who faced Brook, Jacobs and Canelo? We're doing this prime for prime ain't we? Just an oversight you seemed to have overlooked, thought I'd correct your mistake.

 

This is consider GGG's ultimate best. Yeah, this guy ****s up ANY version of MW Toney.

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The best version of Toney vs best version of GGG:

The rounds would be tough to score, like last wknd, as you'd have GGG more active but Toney landing counter shots all night. Both men can't be wobbled or seriously hurt so, it would go to the scorecards for a close decision. Also, styles make fights. Toney loses to fast boxers, not come forward boxer/sluggers.

I lean Toney. Again, best form for both.