Toney has been fighting for a long time. He is not a waste. Many fighters would have retired halfway through his career . Lok at the number of fights he's had. No doubt he was chasing some Heavyweight payroll - he didnt truly belong at that weight. A guy his size trying to maintain that amount of weight should only result in injury.
Well ****ing said. He's 5'9 with tyrannosaurus arms, and he still would make most heavies in the division think twice about fighting him.
Crap. Toney is a skilled, undersized defensive wizard with little power...sounds like Chris Byrd. That kind of fighter has nothing stylistically to beat Wlad, ever.
If James Toney was fully dedicated then he would not be James Toney. If you take away the gift and questionable decisions he has received over the years, he would also be not as highly regarded. Even at his dedicated best he was not in the same class as Roy, and would not be in the same class as the Klitschkos, Valuev, Chagaev, or even Ibragimov at heavyweight.
Chris Byrd and James Toney are/were both defensive minded small HWs (well they both aren't natural HWs in the first place), but similarities end right there. You can't really compare these two. If you think Toney would have fought the same fights Chris Byrd fought against James Toney you don't know a damn about boxing. Plus Toney got a better chin than Chris Byrd (who still got a good chin in his time).
I also think that James would never have fought at HW if he had kept fit like B-Hop. The man is a natural SMW, maybe LHW, and I think he wouldn't have fought above that limit if he always kept his weight stable. I also think that he's one of the most gifted men to ever step into the ring, and if he had the focus and discipline of a B-Hop I guess he'd have become a top10 ATG. Even as it is now, he's still an ATG. Back in the day when Toney fought at LHW he said that he was gonna move up to HW, but remember he struggled with his weight even back then. He always struggled with his weight. He ballooned up to 200lbs between fights when he was a SMW! It's not all fat tho, James also added a lot of muscle after he moved up to the HW division for real in 2003. As for beating the Klitschkos, yes, definitely, back in 2003, he would have had a great chance of beating either brother. Not now tough. Right after he stopped Evander Holyfield, before he injured his tigh and gained too much weight. Because even not being a real HW, he was by FAR the most skilled fighter in the division, and he has the chin to take any HW punch. Of course the Klitschkos have huge physical advantages, but Toney would have made them look amateurish. That's my opinion.