Is James Toney an ATG?

If a man can be the best on the planet from 160-200 I say yes, yes he is an ATG.

Inconsistencies aside he schooled Ruiz and Peter and a fight with Byrd was at worst a 50/50 fight. Winning that puts him unified WBC,WBA,IBF.

He was inconsistent to a huge degree and spent so long by the wayside.

But a man of his talent, with his resume, is certainly an ATG.

 

Yeah, but what about Toney ?

 

I class him as an atg

 

Without question he is an ATG!!!

 

Loved his early days on Tuesday night fights and other networks. Back when he was taking on the Ron Andmunson's and Sanderline Williams of the day.

 

Yes

 

Without a shadow of a doubt...

 

I'd say so, even though he wasn't always so stellar at MW (had him losing clearly to Tiberi and McCallum in the rematch) and was easily handled by Jones at SMW. Probably his two best weight classes. But the fact that he had good wins all the way up to HW makes him an ATG in my eyes. I'm not too bothered by the roids as I think he was far from the only one using them.

 

Did he have a problem with diets and training?

 

Yes. The fact that he was a Top fighter from middleweight to heavyweight is a rare achievement.

If he had been deidacted, he would be rank as high as a Roberto Duran.

 

I think he was, but he could have been better with better training/dedication

At 160 he beat Nunn and McCallum.
At 168 he beat 'Prince' Charles Williams and lost to Roy Jones. No shame in losing to prime Jones

After the Jones loss, Toney lost the plot. He became a lethargic, overweight 175 fighter who had some bad losses to Montell Griffin and Drake Thadzi.

There were some lost years there in the mid to late '90s

He resurrected his career at Cruiserweight and Heavyweight, starting with the upset title winning effort against Jirov and the knockout of a shop worn Holyfield.

He really looked grossly out of shape as a Cruiser and Heavy, and I tend to think his relative success in those divisions had more to do with the lack of quality of the divisions at that time and his opposition. Jirov was very deficient defensively and Holyfield was way past his best.

Still just by how he looked at 160-168 and his quality wins there, I would say he deserves ATG status.

 

I actually believe that Toney was still a Top light heavyweight. However, he got robbed against Griffin and fought for the meaningless WBU title (which kept him out of the ranking of the major bodies).

 

What is the definition of 'ATG'!?

He's the most skilled fighter since Joe Gans, and one of the best modern resumes by far... if it that makes him 'ATG' then cool.

 

A great fighter, nailed on Hall of Famer, but IMO a lower tier great due to his inconsistency. While he had some fine performances and wins, he also had numerous poor ones at every stage of his career and it didn't always take an all-time great to upset him.