In my mind the fight with Jones eliminated Toney from all time great status. That was his time to shine even make it close, and it really was not. Jones proved he was an all time great, but Toney came up short. If you think about him against top great you can see him losing to most of them at specific weights. If a guy is great match him up in your mind with other greats, and you can see him win some and lose some. Toney? I see him losing most.
Mike McCallum was a true professional. He was consistent. James Toney was hot and cold. While Toney might have been slightly better overall, I think Mike's overall work is better.
If you think a fighter can not be an ATG because of one fight then so be it.I find that to be unconvincing particularly as Toney was weightdrained in that one.A few years back, JT was listed as a Top100 ATG by the Ring Magazine.Better judgement I guess
Lol McCallum has far greater wins(Jackson Collins Watson Kalule Kalambay and Curry all of them way better than Barkley and Williams) his resume is top 10 of the last 50 years.
It’s close. McCallum got the most out of his talent whereas Toney probably didn’t. Toney is probably the more talented of the two but McCallum was such a steady and consistent performer. Resume is fairly close too. Maybe Nunn is the best win, plus their head to head was won by Toney and he had a great run to Cruiserweight title and some success at Heavyweight. McCallum has a lot of depth though - Kalambay, Watson, Graham, Collins, Curry, McCrory, Jackson, Harding etc; McCallum also doesn’t have a Thadzi or a Tiberi. I’d say McCallum probably has the better overall career. I want to add that I’m a big fan of both fighters. I really enjoy their styles. I think I may watch their first fight tonight. Been meaning to go through some McCallum fights for a while.
I think Williams was just as good or better than most of those guys. He was a whirlwind fighter. Barkley? He was tough and it took something to beat him. Nunn,, better than most of those guys there and undefeated. Won the heavyweight title. Against Ruiz, so yeah that is question mark. Top 10 in the last 50 years? I don't think so. It is good, but not great really. Curry was not recovered. Watson was good. Kalambay he lost to and beat him after Kalambay struggled in his career. Jackson was up and coming. Toney fought those three guys I mentioned when they were on top.
Well that was his fight to win. What else does he have? Nunn? That was a great win, but Nunn was not great in retrospect so how would that make Toney great? He has wins against top guys, and then he fought a guy who was great or would be and he lost rather easily.
Who was better ?? McCallum. More consistent and was unlucky to be frozen out by the fab 4 in the 80's. Who was greater ?? Toney. Better CV of wins (although it's close), won titles all the way up to CW and that win over Jirov is what gives a slight edge over McCallum for me. Toney's best wins : Nunn (P4P no.1 at the time) Jirov (CW lineal champ) McCallum Williams Barkley Johnson Washington Old Holyfield McCallum's best wins : Curry Kalambay Collins Watson Graham DeWitt McCrory Harding McCallum's CV perhaps has a little more depth but doesn't have a single victory that truly jumps out unlike Toney who has Nunn and Jirov.
In my view, Toney has a better resume than Mike.You can downgrade anybody’s resume so I am not going to bother to play that game
