could Joe calzaghe have beaten a prime james toney

Wasn't Toney's prime @ 160?

Toney is a seriously awesome boxer.

Tough to call.

I say Toney.

 

No just no. Toney would pot shot him to pieces.

 

no chance in hell , toney was on a different level to calzaghe

hopkins outpoints joe prime for prime

jones jnr doesnt lose a round prime for prime

joe should have tested himself more in a career that promised much but ended up a long wbo reign with sub class challengers.

joes best win is kessler - kessler is a good fighter but nowhere near great

 

Yes, absolutely.

Toney's record is probably more padded than Calzaghe's..... after the bad defeat to Jones he only ever beat about three more decent fighters, and was clearly outpointed twice by Montell Griffin - who was very average.

Calzaghe would need to be at his best, but I'd say that assuming he is, it's a 50-50 fight.

 

i think toney would have been too smart for calzaghe. ud toney

 

Yes Calzaghe would be a slight favourite for me. Toney way, waaay more good to watch though.

 

It would have been interesting but, as Beeston says, Toney's record is very padded out.

 

There's a lot of quality on his record, especially pre-Jones; Nunn, Barkley, Johnson, McCallum, Jirov. He's hung around for a lot time fighting cans, and was very inconsistent, but that shouldn't take away from the fighter he was.

I think Toney beats Calzaghe. It would have been a tough nights work for Toney, but Calzaghe would be eating big counters and missing most of his shots.

 

Calzaghe wins this. Two things Toney didn’t like – movers and guys with fast hands. He’s fairly plodding on his feet and prefers to stand with his opponents. Calzaghe may oblige him at times, but more often he’d be stepping around Toney and firing off quick flurries.

Toney might block a lot of them, but some would get through. He would also have his moments, particularly with his excellent counter-right. He might score a KD early in the fight, ala Hopkins. Even under pressure Toney stays very composed – so he’d see opportunities to fire between Joe’s bursts.

Unfortunately for Toney, his major game was always coming on strong in the late rounds. And Calzaghe doesn’t fade – he keeps the volume up. Toney doesn’t have the footwork of Hopkins to put Joe out of position, so he can’t break his rhythm that way. And he can’t wear him down since Joe is so sturdy.

Toney’s a very slick fighter, but I think he gets very overrated. He has some good wins, particularly at 160/68, but after that his record is very spotty. He has some poor losses when he was in his physical prime which can’t just be dismissed.

Joe, I think has the speed, skill, stamina and adaptability to keep Toney out of any rhythm. Calzaghe takes it something like 7-5 or 8-4, surviving a few rocky moments on the way as Toney steps his offence up.

 

Prime Toney, was an excellent , fast boxer. Look at the performance against Prince Charles Williams, or Barkley. His combinations were superb. On those nights he beats Joe, stops him probably. But on his poorer nights , like Tiberi, he was awful. If they fought five times Joe would win some. It depends much more on which Toney shows up than which Joe shows up.

 

Toney had fast hands and threw combinations beautifully, but he didn’t work consistently and he was always somewhat stationary. That plays into Calzaghe’s hands. But this would definitely be a competitive fight.

 

Yes. Calzaghe would have been clipped and made to miss but Joe was relentless. If Toney shut up shop, he would be outworked. If he went with smoking Joe, he'd be running on fumes by the end. A prime prime Toney like the one that went all out with Barkley could make it a bloody war.

The difference - Joe could adapt.

 

Ah, Calzaghe being able to adapt has been mentioned.

Now we need a "Joe didn't know how to lose" to really get this thing going

 

It's a tough one to call, as dftaylor mentioned Toney wasn't that great with his feet or at the least I would give a big advantage to Joe in this department. In timing and skill I give a huge advantage to Toney however the work rate and stamina would clearly be in the favour of Calzaghe, I also think the weight would be an issue. To me a prime Toney was at 160 and I think he wouldn't have the power to keep Joe off him long enough to get the slick boxing going effectively.

In short I don't know but I slightly edge towards Joe but I am probably bias to the British fighter.