James Toney's Career at Heavyweight

He did well but was obviously juicing. He would of never defeated either K brother because they both fought tall, behind their Jab, negating Tomey’s chance to counter and he was too slow of foot to try and close the distance.
Pretending he wasn’t on the juice - he scored a good win over a washed up Holyfield. Normally I wouldn’t say this is a good win, but it established Toney in the division. He beat Ruiz handily who was clumsy and not skilled enough for someone of Toney’s caliber. He did well in a close fight with Rahman, and he should of won the first Peter fight if I remember correctly. However Peter learned from that bout and stayed behind his own jab in the rematch and put a real hurting on James. Really thought that fight ruined him his insides had to be damaged. Then Oquendo another boxer with a jab schooled him only to be totally robbed.

 

It really proved how great of a fighter Toney really was.

An old has been Middleweight who wasn't that tall had no right being competitive 10 years past his prime and 60 pounds north of his best weight against the likes of Holyfield, Ruiz, Rahman, Peter, Guinn and Oquendo.

During this time he was a solid top 5 HW. With another set of judges he could have easily been a HW titlost after the first showing against Peter.

This HW run by Toney was mesmerising.

 

His heavyweight run was fun to watch. He was so slick defensively but I think you are right, once the injuries started to pile up so did his weight and his effectiveness. He never should have been fighting over 220 against Rahman and Peter.

 

I completely agree. Toney being 30kg wavier than his ideal weight, and not the best when it came to foot speed, had no choice but stand close to these much bigger guys, and use his defensive excellence, accuracy, and all round ability to hang in the pocket, in a division he was not built for.
James Toney is up there as the most talented fighters of my lifetime.

 

He had the skill, experience, and the chin to become the heavyweight champion, but his laziness and poor diet held him back and then the injuries started piling up. Bert Cooper isn't another guy that I think had the potential to be champion, but also never reached his potential due to drugs and laziness.

I used to see James Toney all the time at the McDonald's by Wild Card where he would stuff his face with 10-15 hamburgers after leaving the gym. As a younger man he had the metabolism to get away with eating like that, but being in his late 30's he couldn't easily work off the fat anymore.

 

God i miss james toney. One of the smartest defensive wizards in the ring, but he also brought his brash bold attitude and tough inside fighting skills to the table--making him a formidable and well rounded opponent.

Damn shame about rhe ruiz fight, that was in my opinion an even better performance than his win over holyfield. His counters were BRILLIANT in that fight, letting ruiz lead and then boom! Tagged him right back as soon as he got hit. It made ruiz gunshy and he put on a clinic against a man 3 inches taller and who was naturally 40 lbs heavier. Ruiz couldn't do his usual jab and grab style and anytime he got aggressive he paid for it. One of the smartest game plans ive ever seen executed, he totally dismantled all of ruiz's options. Then the goddamn ruling was changed to a NC and the commision wouldn't gice him an exemption even tho the drugs were doctors orders.

I think in hindsight that really knocked the wind out of toney more so than his injuries and getting old. I mean the guy had been fighting over a decade and was a champion in ever weight class he competed in and desperately wanted to go down in history as one of those rare fighters that can jump all the way from a lower weight and compete with the big boys. Him not winning the belt was the beginning of the end as his weight further spiraled out of control, reflexes got worse, and his speech slurred. I honestly think his eating habits were a coping method and a direct result of him getting screwed over on the scorecards along with his frequent injuries and being dducked by the biggest names. If youre getting old, your career isnt going anywhere and youve already accomplished more than 90% of most boxers and u have plenty of money in the bank, why bust your ass in the gym?

As a side note, I think toney would have given the klitschkos all they could handle at his best. Their extremely straight forward robotic style lacking imagination and inside fighting ability and long arms would have been a huge liability if he managed to get inside. And his trash talk would have rattled them and possibly made them doubt theirselves or become too aggressive and run into counters. I was sorely disappointed he didnt manage to fight them and i have suspicions that they didn't want the fight as beating an old middleweight wouldnt mean much and if they lost, they would have been humiliated and laughed at. David haye or briggs could have been fun and interesting bouts as well.

 

An incredibly overrated and compromised run.

He lost to Rahman and Peter both times, the second time being a career altering beating.

He edged a washed-up Ruiz in a fashion that didn't approach Jones' dismantling of the prime specimen. That was the best he could do even with juice.

There's just not a lot of meat on the bones here. Either K Bro would have stopped him in ugly fashion. I would even take Chag over him... as well as a few others.

 

Forgettable. It only emphasized how skilled (from the waist up), tough, yet dumb he was. As poster The Long Count stated Toney was juiced @ heavyweight, yet still somehow blew it when the WBC and WBA titles were offered to him on a silver platter.

 

Toney said in the early 90s in a KO Magazine interview that he was going to be heavyweight champ by 2004. In the interview he stressed his ability to close distance and go to the body, which he showed against Holyfield. I think that somebody convinced him that he needed to get heavier so he did. At that point he lost his edge which was skill and speed. Many middleweights and lightheavies, looking up at the slow, stupid heavies, have made the same mistake.

Speed and skill can trump a bunch of size and bulk doesn't add nearly as much to a punch as does hitting a guy when he doesn't expect to get hit.

 

James did OK at heavyweight.He beat Holyfield, Ruiz (later overturned) and drew with Rahman.He also beat fringe contenders Oquendo and Guinn.Add to that a conttroversial decision loss to Peter I.That is pretty impressive for a 5ft10 former middleweight and definitely enhanced his legacy.Although it could have been so much more without injuries and with true dedication.

 

It's impressive when you factor in just what he was and where he came from weight wise.

 

exactly

 

The narrative on James Toney is funny in the sense that people make excuses for every poor showing he had at 160, 168 and 175 because he "had to make weight" etc. .... but when he gets to heavyweight, (where he can weigh what he likes and is clearly on so much steroids - he got busted twice with the most basic limited state commission testing procedure) he gets all this credit for coming up from the lower weights.

Toney was what he was. People seem to want to imagine a different Toney.

 

His resume at heavyweight wasn't very impressive but he had some good performances and was legitimately a top 5 contender for a while when the division was at a low point if we're honest.