Calzaghe v Toney

Yea, Toney got beat up by Dave Tiberi....one of the worst decisions ever

 

At 168lbs only. (James Toney don't exist for me past this weight class)
At his best Toney had a uniqe quality and was the total package of:
Excellent defense, Great Power, Granite Chin and leathal K.O. Counter's.

I see Calzaghe winning the early rounds against Toney with his aggression and underated speed, let's not forget James often would start off very slow.
Toney liked to analyze his opponent's for a couple of rounds.
Once they left their guard down is when he would unload on them.
As a Middleweight/Super Middleweight James Toney can afford to let his head hang out there for a fighter to get brave. (His ability to take a punch has to be taken into effect)
Once Toney's Opponent's get comfortable, that's when the Counter's begin.
And James would throw the same punch over and over again if he finds that one weakness. (He's not afraid to beat a dead horse)

That said I got Toney by Late Come from behind K.O. 10th RD.
(After losing alot of the Round's, if the Fight makes the Scorecards Joe Calzaghe by SD.)
(The Michael Nunn Fight comes to mind)

 

I don't remember Toney being a low volume puncher. He used to fight in spurts, but this talk of 30 punches a round is ridiculous.

Griffin was not just a B fighter when he faced Toney, and both of those were controversial.

The Tiberi fight caused people to think that the way to defeat Toney was pressure and activity. That worked really well for Barkley, Prince Charles Williams, Jirov, and Holyfield.

 

I agree with most of this post. It is an intruiging match up that I think is hard to predict with confidence. Without directly admitting as much, I think you agree that it is Calzaghe UD, or Toney stoppage?

I can't ever see Toney straight up Kayoing Calzaghe, but a late TKO (one BIG knock down followed by a flurry, with a ref jumping in) can't be out of the equation. I do think Joe's chin is somewhat underrated however: Kessler hit him with a monster upercut that would fell a ****in Bison (good beards bison apparently).

Calzaghe's ring smarts are also a key factor, the young (much more powerful) Joe is a very possible TKO candidate, and in the only small timeframe that this fight could ever have even possibly have happened (immediately after Joe beats Eubank, and assuming Toney don't jump to cruiser: but lets be frank, these 2's paths would never have crossed), Toney would likely be favourite. However, despite his declining power (now non existant), Joe has matured into a very clever fighter and is enough to win rounds against any fighter. And for this reason I think on his very best night he can cause Toney all kinds of problems, particularly if he mixes up his game.

Committing one way or another, I think Joe would finish what Second to Nunn couldn't quite manage, and take a close decision.

 

Prime Toney would win a unanimous decision against Calzaghe. He had excellent head movement on the inside and was pretty skilled as a boxer himself. Unless the ringside judges put more weight on the "shoeshine" punches of Calzaghe, Toney wins this fight. Calzaghe would definitely be the
busier of the two fighters, but I think the majority of his punches don't carry any significant weight. He throws a lot of punches just to impress the judges with his workrate, but that doesn't solidify him as a puncher IMO.

 

Probably a sd for Calzaghe unless the scoring sucked ala Tiberi. Calz most likely at 168-175. Toney would win at 190 or above though. Toney hits a lot harder from what I've seen but Calz woul probably through enough to eek it out at the lighter weights.