H2H: Peak James Toney v Peak Joe Calzaghe

im english and I say toney wins easily ,joes a very good fighter but he doesnt like counter punchers thats why he looked amazing against lacy, very good against kessler(who is a counter puncher but a euro style straight up stance)
against people who sit back calzaghe turns into a superslapper and comes on the attack and gets left open for counters thats why he looked like crap against hopkins who was too old a slow to have a consistent punch output (he would of won easy in his prime)and toneys ducking and weaving cross arm defence while joes slappin away in front of him BANG toney s right hand would be crashing off calzaghes jaw all night Lights out!!! look at toney vs jirov(cruiserweight unbeaten at the time who is a similar style fighter to calzaghe only 32 pounds of muscle heavier) james schooled him and then look at calzaghe vs hopkins and vs kareby salem (who was one of joes bum wbo mandatories joe looked like utter dog**** that fight ) and no one with aboxing brain can tell me that joe would of won

 

They were fighting for Steve Collins belt not Eubanks. Eubank was no longer a force, and simply a very late stand in that may not have been sanctioned by other boxing bodies.

Eubank gave a good account of himself at cruiser afterwards, but his days at SM were long gone. When he fought Joe, he had been inactive for two years at the weight. His only fights during that two years were at LH; two matches against absolutely diabolical opponents (exhibition matches in the middle east). Eubank also lost all of his 5 last real competitive fights (his only ever career losses), one of those was to Joe.

Eubank wasn't even considered worthy of a top ten super-middle rating by Ring magazine at the time he fought Joe. In fact he hadn't been thought of by Ring as a top ten SM boxer for years prior to facing Joe. Eubank in his prime rode high in the list, sitting only behind the likes of Toney, and RJJ. They simply believed that he had deteriorated to such a degree that they no longer thought him good enough to warrant an inclusion.

When you consider the limited names that made the Ring magazine ten at the time Eubank fought Joe - the likes of Henry Wharton, Joseph Kiwanuka, Vincenzo Nardiello; it really highlights how far removed from his best Ring magazine believed Eubank to be.

The fight was also taken at very short notice, and Eubank was weight draining, and had to lose excessive amounts of weight in weeks to take the fight. He could no longer barely make the weight, and as you probably know he went to cruiser straight afterwards.

In my opinion that was not one of Eubanks best ever performances, as you state is, and neither was it Eubank in his prime.

 

I'd go with Calzaghe. Toney's weaknesses have always been a high workrate, unorthodox fighting and fast hands. Close fight probably (which Toney fight wasn't?), but i'd favor the Welshman here.

 

Calzaghe close UD

 

Just so we clear this up, which Calzaghe is prime Calzaghe?

The totally pedestrian 30 year old boxer with a bit of power that beat up worthless opposition in what was then probably the weakest division in boxing, or the whirling slapper that we see today?

Toney mops the floor with both of those guys.

 

The part about being beaten by a top shelf counter-puncher is true, but a prime Hopkins would be the better man to do it. Toney was simply too stationary and didn't have the footwork or movement to deal well with outboxers. He'd have his moments for sure, but it's not as if he's going to be outboxing an outboxer and mover like Calzaghe(likely the gameplan he'd use) with his usual uppercuts and hooks which are used better for countering open in-fighters. He'd have trouble countering with as much accuracy or efficiency aginst an outboxer/mover/unorthodox stylist like Calzaghe.

 

Calzaghe would be Toney's dream opponent. The man squares up right in front of his opponents and swings with both hands. Honestly, does anyone really think that Toney wouldn't capitalize on that? And not only head shots but also wonderful body to head combinations.

Sorry, Toney is all wrong for Calzaghe. Poor Calzaghe will get KOed after 7 rounds of punishment.

 

That's the way I see it. People act as if Toney's uppercuts, hooks, and general inside tricks would work on a constant mover and out-boxer. Calzaghe has a very crafty inside game of his own as well, though Toney is the cleaner, more technically skilled in-fighter. I think Calzaghe just has more advantages here, though it'd be close.

 

Interesting match-up.

Toney has the better defence, but the movement and stamina belong to Calzaghe.

I see it going the distance. The busier Calzaghe wins a UD taking, all the later rounds.

 

i never said it was prime eubank

when eubanks fought collins he refused to pull the trigger when he had collins hurt

there was once i think in the first fight around round 10 when eubank decked collins and had collins badly hurt

eubank never threw a punch at collins when collins got up .

against calzaghe eubanks let his hands go with full force all night and was not worried about hurting calzaghe.

that eubank was not able to make weight and be competitive v calzaghe simply flies in the face of the fight eubank put up

eubank worked harder and more consistently in the calzaghe fight at 168 than he did in 95% of his winning fights.

eubanks was a poser that could fight and was tough, but he could knuckle down and go for it when he wanted to

eubank v calzaghe proved eubank was still strong and competitive at the weight.

as to ring top 10 what relelvence is it .
nardiello was really top 10 in 1997 in the ring ?
eubank took wharton to school, i cannot remember the exact year
kiwananku had just beaten the once beat glen johnson from memory, cannot remember what happened to him.

eubanks best performances where against rochianni/benn/stretch/
i thought he was off his game v watson.

in huge ammounts of his fights he went through the motions , playing the evil clown , hamming it up , more like a stage performance than boxing.

he only performed when forced to by his opponent.

eubank v calzaghe was no weight drained roy jones/chris byrd type fighter.

he was more active v calzaghe than in all but his top fights and i stand by my statement.

 

james toney wins but i don't see why everyone is saying decision, toney carried a lot of power at 160-168, all you have to do is watch how he crushed nunn in the fight after being outboxed for the majority of the rounds... i say this fight follows the pattern of a lot of toney's early fights where he his opponent would land more punches (nunn, mccallum 1, even the littles fight, the jirov fight where toney turned back the clock) but toney would land the cleaner and more powerful punches and i wouldn't be surprised if toney ko's him late, it's not like calzaghe has never been hurt or down

the 1 thing we can all agree on i think is calzaghe would not be able to hurt toney at all because of toney's defense and his chin

btw saying that jones beat a prime toney so calzaghe has a chance is a ridiculous comparison, we are talking about ROY JONES in his PRIME, THE BEST OF THE BEST AT HIS BEST, who the **** was going to beat roy jones (or even not look bad) that night? come on... at that point in time many considered toney the #1 p4p fighter in the frickin world, calzaghe has never commanded that kind of respect except now due to absentia (floyd's retirement) and just blatant homerism

 

I'd take the Toney that fought Jirov over any Calzaghe.

 

James Tony Would Beat Joe C On Any Day Of The Year...morning, Afternoon, Night, In The Park Or In The Ring...tony Skills Are Unheard Of In Boxing..joe Would Get Shut Out 12-0 11-1 10-2..hed Be Lucky To Win 3 Rounds