Gerald Mcclellan vs James Toney @ 168....who wins??

Toney...71-6 says it all

 

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]"He was a combination boxer-puncher, but a very good puncher," said trainer/manager Emanuel Steward. "He’s one of the few natural punchers that I’ve been involved with. He hit hard with both hands and he was a very good body puncher."
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]McClellan received the benefit of excellent sparring from a host of world-class athletes at and around his weight class, and because of that it was difficult for McClellan to make a real mark among his Kronk teammates.
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]"At the time of his heyday, I boxed Gerald with guys like Frankie Liles, John David Jackson, Tommy Hearns, Michael Moorer, Leoonzer Barber and James Toney," Steward said.
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]The knockout of Jackson unleashed a beast within McClellan and he became obsessed with producing awesome displays of power. Ignoring his boxing skills entirely, McClellan would rush out of the corner and overwhelm his opposition with sheer force. The results: A record-setting 23-second knockout of Jay Bell, a 97-second stoppage over Gilbert Baptist and a repeat knockout over Jackson that took just 83 seconds. McClellan was a man in a hurry, and Steward was not pleased.
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]"He had a real attitude about knocking out somebody quick," he said. "He felt if they went four or five rounds that they deserved to win and that he was supposed to knock people out early. Tommy Hearns would operate behind the jab; he was a very patient fighter and he would wait, then catch them with a sneak punch. McClellan would try to make the opening; he didn’t care about boxing at all. He just wanted to create the KO while Tommy waited until the time it would happen. It was getting to the point where it made Gerald start to go backward because I knew if his opponents would get through four or five rounds he would have been in trouble."
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]McClellan’s uncompromising mindset had both benefits and consequences, and both sides of the equation came to fruition when he challenged Nigel Benn for his WBC super middleweight title February 25, 1995 in London. McClellan nearly ended the fight in the first minute when he knocked Benn through the ropes. Though Benn was able to scramble back into the ring, French referee Alfred Asaro held off McClellan for several crucial seconds, giving Benn valuable time to recover his senses. Benn managed to survive McClellan’s opening assaults and gained momentum with each passing round.
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Before and during the fight, Steward saw several troubling signs.
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]"Against Nigel Benn, I was surprised that he weighed only 165," he said. "When he was a middleweight he weighed right on 160 and on the morning of the fight he would be 170. It was hell making the weight, so I was surprised he was so light. He went all out for the knockout in his typical way. Had I still been managing, I would have known that the referee would have been all wrong and I wouldn’t have let him work the fight. Gerald gave a tremendous, all-out effort but he was getting fatigued. As I watched the fight something was bothering me. I noticed he had problems holding the mouthpiece in. It was the same mouthpiece he was wearing his whole career. I was watching that continually."
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]Though McClellan scored a knockdown in the eighth round, "The G-Man" fought unsteadily and following a clash of heads in the 10th he took a knee and allowed Asaro to count him out. At the time of the knockout, McClellan was ahead by one and three points and even on the third card.
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]"When I saw him slumped on the canvas, I knew something serious had happened," Steward said. He was right; McClellan suffered permanent brain injuries and has virtually no hearing or sight. He requires constant care from his family and will need assistance for the rest of his life.
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]McClellan’s almost supernatural punching power had fans salivating for dream fights against Roy Jones and James Toney among others, and Steward believes he would have matched up well with the two future Hall of Famers – provided he adopted a more balanced approach.
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]"Everybody thought that he would bowl over Roy Jones and James Toney, but I don’t know that for sure," Steward said. "By that time he was too dependent on the early-round KO and that would have been a problem against Toney. Toney was becoming a very balanced fighter, and though Gerald had great one-punch power he was becoming more one-dimensional. It remained to be seen.
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]"Gerald was a tremendous puncher and there was nobody else out there to challenge Roy Jones," Steward continued. "In the semifinals of the 1988 Golden Gloves he beat Jones in a very good, competitive fight. Roy was very fast and very good but Gerald punched a little harder. He landed a body shot that made Roy wince and he was just heavier handed. Those two would have been a super, super fight. It would have been a competitive match between Jones, Toney, any of them. He was a talented fighter who deserved to be right there with the other two."[/FONT]

 

McClellan, esp. if it's the same Toney that fought Roid Jones.

 

McLellan is tailor made for Toney, the last thing to bother Toney with is power, watch for McLellan looking to brutalize Toney while James counters him all night long

 

Froshpascal, dont put words in my mouth. i didnt say God would want this. I dont really have glee over his conditon either. I should have more sympathy for him, but, being honest, I dont. I have a limited amount of compassion, which is no to say I dont have any for him. just not much. he did a lot of cruel **** and when you do **** like that it does come back. The **** I have done has come back and bit me, i never liked it , but it has. there is no hypocrisy there. be careful what you do in this life it comes back. Ypiu are right about one thing, it would be better if I did pray for him.

 

T G-Man was a great puncher but IMO Toney was just too much at 168 at his peak.

 

Toss up . I could see either fighting beating one another .

 

toney wins by ud or mid-late tko

 

Depends on which Toney shows up. On his best day he beats G-Man handily, if he doesn't bother to train like he so often did he loses.

But if we are taking both of them at their best, it's gotta be Toney. Even with McClellan's vaunted power he isn't stopping Toney. G-man would go to Toney which he prefers and G-man defence is poor allowing Toney to counter him time and again.

Toney wins on points.

 

I have Toney winning this won comfortably. Toney at the lighter weights was a master pugilist with a terrific beard. Almost positive he would weather the storm early on and cruise to a unanimous decision with his supreme defense, counterpunching and combination punching.

 

This would be an awesome fight..

Toney by UD

 

Toney was techinically miles ahead of GM... GM had power...pretty much went for the ko everytime... Toney would withstand..then beat GM..easy fight.

 

* I agree... Toney was just smarter.

 

McClellan, while exciting, wasn't that great of a boxer. I tend to think his H2H ability gets overrated on this board, which isn't his fault by any stretch. There's a lot of sentimentalism there that plays into it, too. He did bring power and heart to the game, but he also only really fought one way.

He couldn't win by boxing, which is why he adopted his ultra-aggressive style in the first place. He'd tend to wing his shots and stood and trade a lot, which worked out perfectly given that all the fighters he fought were either terrible, or had shown they could get knocked out early prior to King matching Gerald up with them (Mugabi, Julian Jackson. Benn had been knocked out twice going into their fight, which is another reason King targeted him). Gerald at 168 also means no Emanuel Steward and after having migraines as a result of the Jackson fights, which means he was already on borrowed time.

Toney was inconsistent from time to time at the lower weights, including 168, so while I can't say Toney would win 10/10, if Toney shows up ready for action, I'd certainly favor him by a clear margin. Just the technically superior fighter and, on his game, he'd counter the daylights out of McClellan as Gerald's overaggressiveness would work against him. There's just too many ways Toney can win that fight.

 

nice post.

although it was not known at the time toney had a granite chin and would weather the initial storm and then counter and decision prime gerald. g-man has no kos after round five and to think that toney would be kod within the first five rounds when he has been hit by much larger men is pretty foolish.

nobody is going to apprecitate james toney until he is long gone.

a former 5'9" mw champion that moved up to hw and fought pretty much everyone expcet lewis and the klitchkos.

one of only two men to ever knockout evender holyfield.