Talking about style wise, and ability wise, how much of a problem does Toney at his best as a middleweight pose to the following fighters at the weight: Marvin Hagler Bernard Hopkins Sugar Ray Robinson Thomas Hearns Carlos Monzon
Hagler : outworks Toney 2 a decision , Toney was drained and lethargic @ MW compared 2d more natural Hagler , not that natural is better or good , but in this case it is . Hopkins : Toney beats Hopkins . WSJ : unlike drained Michael Nunn , WSJ would have won a decision , but whenever he doesn't maintain his distance he gets hit . Hearns : prime vs prime , both not drained , is it possible between these 2 and in this weight ? Monzon : wins a decision over Toney , same as in d WSJ case . But 4 Monzon it would b harder , riskier and he gets rocked more often along d way , may b 2 aggressive and not as quick . Toney was no welterweight fighting up against a big middleweight , can b applied 4d Hagler case as well , except that Hagler was n extremely small middleweight .
Hagler - similar to the Duran match up except Toney is better at the weight, this would be a razor close decision Hopkins - by far the best opponent Hopkins faced bar Jones Jr. As a technician Toney is superior, but lazier. Toney is a bit quicker with more variety in his work. We can expect another razor thin decision akin to the McCallum fights Robinson - Robinson didn't do well against his quicker opponents, against jabbers or defensive fighters. Galivan gave him a close fight, Turpin went 1-1 with him. Again Toney is the best MW he'd face and arguably the best defensive technician he'd faced. On the flipside Toney didn't do brilliantly against a speedster like Jones, but did well against Nunn and Reggie J. This would be a close technical fight with an edge to Robinson's workrate, speed and athleticism Hearns - the big variable in this fight is Hearns strategy. Does Hearns come out all bombs away or look to jab. In some ways it is similar to the Benitez except Toney is better at fighting on the front foot, more aggressive and more dangerous especially in a middleweight contest. I could see Toney breaking Hearns down and stopping him late Monzon - ATG jabber and general in Monzon against an ATG jab slipper. Toney would jab with Monzon and slip and counter his jabs with the right like Monzon had never experienced. In pure skill Toney is Monzon's superior, Monzon would have the workrate though and make Toney work at a high pace, perhaps outworking him at times. Overall Toney should land the cleaner punches, Monzon would throw more though. Another close contest that could go either way, a slight edge to Toney as I think he neutralises Monzon's strengths very well stylistically