Tonna was a very dangerous fighter because the man could whack and because you never knew which Tonna was going to turn up on the night. He gave Rodrigo Valdez a war for the WBC middleweight title but quit against Carlos Monzon for the WBA belt a year later. He slashed his way to a cuts stoppage of Alan Minter in 1977 but was hammered in the rematch. He also went win/lose with Kevin Finnegan. Tonna showed just how lethal he can be when he faced fellow Frenchman Jean Mateo in a fascinating clash of punchers in Paris in 1976. Mateo was 30-3-1 going in (27 knockouts); Tonna was 37-5 (29 knockouts). Something had to give and Tonna smashed Mateo in two rounds in one of the best results of his career. He looked awesome.
I'd definitely not call him a h2h great, but he was certainly a dangerous contender. A very big puncher with an awkward, difficult slugging style and good durability/speed/strength. He had a lot of the raw tools you look for in a world level possible champion slugger/power puncher, but he didn't seem to have the necessary consistent mental toughness/heart/commitment (whatever you want to call it) that you need to consistently threaten with such an aggressive, non-technically refined style. At least, not against the standard of opposition he was facing. The ref's thought he could have easily continued in both of his title fights against Valdez/Monzon and if i remember correctly were of the impression he was trying to get a DQ in both fights... certainly the Monzon fight was a poor showing that had barely got going. In their first fight he looked better against a superior, busier and more offensively sharp version of Minter than Hamsho did, but ended up outclassed and quitting again in the rematch once Minter had got used to his rhythm and dialled in the distance with his own hurtful straight-punches. Similar story with the cute, technically proficient, granite chinned, but light-hitting and not that athletic Finnegan...he managed to frustrate and effectively force a maul 'n slug situation enough to win a competitive decision in the initial bout, but couldn't sustain it once his style became a known quantity and was on the receiving end in the rematch.
Man, I remember Tonna well from reading about him back in the day. He was a tabloid darling. I once wrote that he was boxing's answer to Georgie Best. He was always partying, getting in trouble, getting arrested, et al. The only time I got a chance to see him fight was his title fight with Valdes, which i believe was aired by CBS at the time. now I was just a kid but well immersed in the sport, and I saw right away that he tried to take that fight on a DQ. I think I recall him looking over at his corner and then just going down (following instructions) because it looked like he was hit on the break or something like that. He did have his measure of success as with Minter and busting Kevin Finnegan's jaw. But one fight I recall shaking my head at was when he was matched with Ronnie Harris. I swear, the closest fight I can think to this one that was so stylistically wrong would be David Tua taking on Chris Byrd. In both instances I thought, "What are they thinking?" For a slow-footed slugger (in both cases) to be taking on a speedy, fast moving pure boxer meant a one-sided decision loss. But I digress. Tonna was colorful for that time period and kept a lot guessing. Especially when he went out on the town.
I'm going to have a peak and a skim through some of his fights. I think I might have seen him and Monzon years ago and bits of him on other Fight Reels or Highlights, but he's the type of fighter who was there enough to give a good run at damn near anyone in his division, which we used to see much, much more of in years gone by, Fighters and guys like that!
Finnigan first had his jaw broken in his previous fight against Frank Reiche, then Tonna busted it up again. In retrospect he probably should have taken another few months off, especially going straight back in against a powerful slugger like that.
Hi Buddy. I must say any fight fan not familiar with Tonna and his rather fragmented fight style, could do worse than latch on to your very, very, word perfect, precise, and concise expose on this erratic Frenchman, as you say, on his night, and in the right frame of mind, he was a force, cliche arlert ! he was somewhat a bully in the ring, a good on top fighter, but not so full of himself if the opponent stood his ground and fought back, as @Cervantes alluded to, his match with the brutish and thick set Mateo was much anticipated, not just in France but in boxing circles over Europe, I eagerly awaited the expected fireworks, and the BN did a 2 page spread, with pictures of both, got to say Mateo was a very impressive looking boxer, big legs, strong looking forearms, deep broad chest, and the sloping shoulders of the true puncher, the perceived wisdom was that Mateo would prove too strong and determined for the sometimes fragile Tonna, it was not to be, Tonna came out swinging and caught Mateo with heavy punches in both the rounds, and hit Jean with withering head shots, Mateo showed predictable courage, but Tonna smelled blood, on reflection most people wanted Mateo to prevail, Tonna promised much but when the going got tough, he was found wanting. In closing I would like to say how much I enjoy your work, I have only been here 4 years, and have not seen a lot from your pen, but what I have seen has left an impression. stay safe Iora, chat soon buddy.
Lora, you jogged my memory. Yes, you're right it was Reiche that broke his jaw and then he lost to Tonna. I thought Kevin had the right style to beat Tonna and probably like others, I blamed the loss to coming back so soon after the jaw break. I don't remember Kevin getting reinjured. Did he come out of the Tonna fight with another injury?
