Classic fights revisit edition 4: James Toney vs Dave Tiberi

Before i give my score card, i want to clear up some definitions on scoring

A close round - a close round is a highly competitive round where i felt one guy did just enough to win. While i personally think the guy who won this round, won it in a convincing manner, i can also kind of see other people seeing this as a swing round.

A swing round - a close highly competitive round which i struggle to score. I have zero issue with anyone scoring it for either guy

A clear round - there are two types of clear rounds. One is when one guy thoroughly dominates without scoring a knockdown. The second one is where the round was fairly competitive but Fighter A did 10% more. Competitive and not one sided but the guy who did 10% more clearly won the round. I don't think these rounds are debatable at all.

For me, the difference between a close round and a swing round is that in a close round, i think one guy did just about enough in a very close encounter. Whereas swing rounds are genuinely confusing to score.

 

Round 1 10-9 Toney close

Very close. Tiberi gave a good account of himself landing several power shots and pushing Toney back at times. But Toney also pushed him back at times. I felt like Toney landed the slightly harder shots. Toney landed a BIG left hook
near the end of the round which sealed the round for Toney for me. Still, a very close round with both guys having their moments.

Round 2 10-9 Toney swing

Very even until near half way when Tiberi lands some good shots and pushes Toney back. Toney has a good 20 second period where he lands some solid shots but Dave is holding his ground. Dave lands some solid shots against the
ropes but Toney turns him off the ropes. I am edging this towards Toney due to his shots having a bit more power but very much a swing round for me.

Round 3 10-9 Tiberi clear

Tiberi was quite active on the inside and landing more but Toney was staying with him. But 2 minutes in and Dave lands some huge shots that stagger Toney. Even though Toney stays with him, Tiberi lands some other good shots
Clear Tiberi round, both in terms of volume and powerful shots landed.

Round 4 10-9 Tiberi swing

Toney is trying to bully him against the ropes for the first 40 seconds or so but Dave does well so get out of the corner and gets Toney against the ropes. Tiberi then tries to work the body and while he is throwing good volume,
I don't think his punches are landing with a lot of power. Toney lands a good left hook later in the round and a couple of other meaningful punches. But Dave keeps the volume up. Hard round to score as I felt Tiberi controlled the round more and landed more volume but Toney landed the crisper more meaningful punches. I am leaning Tiberi in a swing round due to his volume and control.

Round 5 10-9 Tiberi clear

Not much to say except Tiberi was far more active and landed a lot more in this round. Despite a good counter right hand by Toney midway and some good Toney shots in the last 20 seconds, none of this is enough to win. Easy Tiberi round.

Round 6 10-9 Toney clear

Despite the commentators saying Toney can't score going backwards, I felt Toney clearly landed the cleaner punches this round. Tiberi moved forward and kept trying to bully Toney but didn't land enough for my liking.

Round 7 10-9 Toney close

Lots of infighting. Not particularly effective from either man but Toney's punches seemed to have a bigger impact. Close round for James.


Round 8 10-9 Tiberi clear

Finally Tiberi starts landing with some power. His volume was excellent and the punches had more snap on them than before. Even though he didn't badly hurt Toney in this round, he did such a fantastic job with volume and control, This is an easy Tiberi round.

Round 9 10-9 Tiberi close

Lots of infighting from both men but Tiberi landed a 4-5 punch flurry that had some power behind it later in the round. That is enough to seal the round for me for Tiberi.


Round 10 10-9 Tiberi clear

Tiberi continues to fight well on the inside, pushing Toney back and landing with lots of volume. Despite a beautiful counter right by Toney, it wasn’t enough for him to win the round.


Round 11 10-9 Tiberi close

Not much to say except Tiberi won with volume and control.

Round 12 10-9 Tiberi clear

Toney comes out with more urgency but not enough to win the round as Tiberi is still keeping up high volume.


Final score: 8 rounds to 4 for Dave Tiberi.

 

Conclusion:

The commentators mentioned how Toney needed a ko after 8 rounds to win. I don't see how. Its true that Toney did not land with enough volume but the head shots he landed (uppercuts, hooks and counter straight rights)were generally cleaner and more meanigful than the head shots Tiberi was landing.


However, Toney just didn't land enough volume. To be fair, a lot of the infighting from both men lacked power. I wonder if being in such close quarters meant they couldn't free their arms enough to generate full force.

Tiberi, despite staggering Toney a couple of times, did not land a lot of powerful head shots for my liking. I wonder if it was a lack of power or fighting in such close quarters that made it hard to generate power.

Still, Tiberi deserves to be commended for his efforts. He kept a high pace, took good shots and landed enough solid shots of his own to win the fight for me. Tiberi deserved to be world champion.

 

Looking at the poll, no one has scored it for Toney so far.