Mikkel Kessler vs James Toney.

Toney massive UD and possible KO. If Calzaghe can box well around him Toney will make him look silly.

 

An out-boxer with a good jab and fundamentals.

As long as he sticks to his game it would be an interesting fight. Toney was never much of an outboxer, and regardless of what his fans will tell you, he wasn't much of a counter-puncher at a distance. His counter-punching came into effect on the inside against pressure fighters who swung wide and allowed him to play his game. Very good on the inside, but from mid to long range he wasn't as impressive, nor was he exceptionally good at pressing the fight.

If he fought to the absolute best of his ability like he did in the first McCallum fight I'd take him over Kessler, but we never saw him like that at SMW, including the Barkley fight, considering Barkley was made to order for Toney.

 

Toney did alright against solid 'outboxers' such as Littles and (far more impressively) Nunn. Please don't give me the old "Nunn was way ahead before the KO" rubbish because the fight was in Nunn's hometown and was closer than the cards indicated.

Yes Toney is an insidefighting wizard, but some of Toney's best work was counterpunching over and under Littles' jab at range. Don't underrate his ability in this area.

Also, Toney systematically wore Nunn down, he did not merely get lucky down the stretch.

The same happnes in the Kesler fight, though Mikkel would be less likely to stay on his toes and keep trying to grind out a win if he was getting beat up, and more likely to confine himself to a UD loss, imo.

 

Toney is so ****ing overrated its untrue. People make him out as a master boxer, when infact he mainly specialises in inside fighting, and mid range counterpunching if we're being generous. He doesn't move his feet, and as such he relies on his opponent making mistakes.

A good jab like Kessler's is a very good start to beating Toney where you can keep him at range and outwork him from there, and force him to do something different

Whether Kessler has all the intangibles is questionable, we need to see more

 

Nunn was ahead at the time of the KO, that is undisputable. It was somewhat close because Toney had been coming on in recent rounds, but it was unimpressive performance from Toney against another fighter who's lack of effort and motivation led to his downfall.

Littles was a pretty good fighter, and he was giving Toney trouble, possibly winning the fight up until the KO. I'm not underrating Toney's ability, but Littles isn't exactly the quinessential outboxer in the first place.

That's ridiculous. Toney was coming on, but he didn't wear Nunn down. Nunn simply got careless as was usually the case and this time he paid the price for it. Again, it was an unimpressive performance from both men really, Nunn finally paying the price for his laziness, Toney looking mediocre up until the KO. He showed zero ability to cut off the ring or apply effective pressure up until the late rounds, when he was more or less winging punches.

Again, we'll have to see what Kessler is capable of, but style-wise it wouldn't be an easy Toney win.

 

:rofl ....no wayy!!!?... son you need to live a little if you even feel he was overrated...he is a true genius!!?

 

No, he's right, he was overrated. People who are in awe of his shoulder roll(which was around WAY before Toney utilized it, and has been done better by better fighters) and inside skills against wide open brawlers often overrate the hell out of him without noticing his limits against certain types of fighters.

 

I don't know if you are being sarcastic, but either way he's not a genius

People talk about him as some sort of all-round master boxer, when it is apparent he's not. He's quite unique in his style (these days), but he's not an all-round fighter that excels in every department. He's not good at putting on pressure if an opponent is outboxing him from range and his countering isn't working. He doesn't move very well. He doesn't have much of a jab.

These are factors that tell you he'll struggle against certain fighters but not others, and that has been apparent throughout his career since there hasn't always been consistency in his performance.

 

Toney by wide UD. Kessler was never in Toney's class.:deal

 

I agree with you TFFP - to beat Kessler the ability to move around the ring is essential.

He could out-jab pretty much anyone in the current game, and has textbook stance and technique, together with a fair amount of power.

Now - Toney's chin will take the power out of the equation, but will he have sufficient movement to avoid having his ears boxed off?

 

Mikkel will certainly rely on the jab in this fight. That is the key for him, to keep Toney from getting inside where he'll mash Kessler up. His footwork and speed which is underated has to be perfect too as in the Andrade fight, Toney has to be on the end of his jab all night otherwise he'll counter, especially when Mikkel backs up and drops his hand sometimes :-(

I just don't know whether Mikkel can keep his concentration at all times to avoid getting hit with too many big counters, or whether he has the know how and ability to deal with Toney when he does get close for periods which he'll need to do.

We havn't seen him at the absolute top level enough to accurately assess him across all areas. Suggestions Toney will deal with him easily are living in fantasy world.

 

prime for prime Toney all day long

Kessler Technically very gifted and has great (underrated footwork)

Cons for Kessler: He fights way too much by the book (never mixes it up/no tricks), I was at the calzaghe Kessler fight in Cardiff and after 10 rounds I couldnt believe how he kind of accepted defeat. it was a great performance by Joe but I honestly thought Kessler could have tried a few different things......his whole attitude was too fair game.

I feel toney would have been way too cute for him inside ....

working the body

a prime toney would stop him rnds 10-12

 

Kessler.

He is discplined enough to not make it an inside fight. He scores enough with his jab against a frustrated Toney.

 

Toney via 116-112

 

It doesn't "depend" on which Toney shows up, as the thread-starter says prime vs prime. So it's prime condition Toney.

And prime condition Toney is on another planet to Kessler.