Given Toney's knack for standing his ground and counter-punching, how do you think he fares with an inside beast like Tiger?
I'm a HUGE Toney fan, but I gotta go with Tiger by decision. Toney always did well vs guys who came to him, like Barkley, and Williams, but Tiger was on a different level all together than Barkley, and Williams. I think Tiger gets inside and scores with fast combinations, and just outworks Toney. Not to mention, Tiger was one of the most physically strong middleweights of all time.
Dick Tiger was one strong middleweight champion. Anyone who went head to head with him at 160 lbs. was usually pounded to a pulp. James Toney would be too smart for that and with his boxing skills I see him defeating Tiger rather handily most likely by a decision.
So you think he'd just counter Tiger on the inside all day without being taken aback by his strength, speed, or power? That's where this fight would take place almost exclusively, being as Toney was no outboxer and hardly had the footwork to fight off the backfoot.
Tiger would win. Toney like to stand in the pocket and look for openings to capitalize on, and this would only make it easier for Tiger to get his own work done in close as he wouldn`t have to chase Toney around the ring. Tiger was also the busier fighter and better puncher, and he was also an underrated counter-puncher in his own right as well as being an underrated defensive fighter too. Tiger would have outfought and outpunched Toney en route to a decision win, and it would have been one entertaining fight I`m sure.
