James Toney at his peak

No, Toney was still undeveloped in the Nunn fight.

IMO Toney had two peak periods, the first one being around 92 - 94, from his rematch with Mike McCallum to his fight with Charles Williams; and the second one around 2001 - 2003, when he campaigned at CW (Jirov!) and his first fight at HW against Holyfield.

Toney had many good showings and wins between these peak periods, but also many lackluster ones - he was very inconsistent to say the least.
You don't know what to expect frpom Toney - like now at HW he looked good in the first Peter fight but looked horrible in the Rahman fight before and in the Peter rematch just after...

All in all, Toney never reached his full potential.

 

At SMW, Toney would have beat both of them, no question. At MW too, if he was somewhat in shape.

Benns power would simply not be of avail against Toney, firstly Toney is/was a defensive master, you hardly land a good punch on him, secondly even if he gets caught, his world-class iron chin will bail him out.

Go watch some of Toneys fights, I suggest his fights against Barkley, McCallum and Jirov, I think they're on youtube, you'll become a fan, I guarantee!

 

I thought Toney looked impressive in the Jones fight as well, even though he was beat, he was just barely outdone in the exchanges. Roy just had the upperhand by a milli-second.

 

IMO that was Toney worst effort at SMW, he would have done much better if he had trained properly and hadn't been that weight-drained.
Still, RJJ can make his opponents look extra bad, so maybe it wasn't that horrible after all. At least Toney was never hurt in that fight, not even after that 'knockdown'.

 

When I watch that fight, though Roy dominated on the scorecards, every exchange was awesome, it is close to me to see how RJJ barely got the better of alot of the exchanges, and how Toney blocked and ducked alot of the shots that a prime Jones threw at him. I still like watching that fight... and alot of people discredit Toney with that fight, but in a way I think he shows alot of skill, being has how he went against the toughest version of Roy ever probably.:yep

 

Well, you're right in that going 12 rds with a peak RJJ without getting hurt is an accomplishment in itself.
I'm one of the biggest Toney fans you'll find, but I'll have to say that he got dominated in most rds by RJJ that night.
Still, about every other SMW would probably have been knocked out by RJJ that night...

 

What about Toney vs Bomber Graham?

 

I agree. Toney Oquendo was not at all appealing. Not that Toney Rahman is very appealing, either, :blood But it does create a bit of interest for me, I guess.

 

the one where is was in the best shape was the Nunn fight the way he cameback was impressive.but his fight with Mcallum was his most impressive performance the skills showed by both fighters were amazing.
Toney also looked great against Barkley but Barkley was in awfull shape he was already breathing hard in the end of the first round.

 

I agree.

The Barkley fight was impressive but the way Barkley fought, it was easy pickings for Toney. So all in all, the McCallum fights were better performance by Toney.

 

I agree.

Toney was great boxer who at his peak was peer to old McCallum,
Reggie Johnson (although was dropped and survived for the rest of the round) and not to mention David Tiberi.

 

Toney's a very gifted fighter, he's up there with Archie Moore for sheer stylistic genius. It's unfortunate that he's also an undedicated trainer and turned up for some of his fights in terrible condition, sometimes losing as a result (Griffin, Tiberi). One can only imagine the career he could have had with the work ethic of a Bernard Hopkins. It really is a tragedy both for himself and boxing that he can't stop eating.
As for his best performances: Definately the first 2 McCallum fights also Littles, DeWitt, Hembrick #1. are favourites of mine.

 

He was at his best by the time of the first McCallum fight, and really the same with Nunn as well. His performance against McCallum in their first fight was still the best I've seen of him, even though it was a Draw.

 

:rofl Yeah, every single millisecond of all 12 rounds, considering he dominated and shut out Toney.

Did you find Lacy impressive against Calzaghe as well? How about Corrales vs Mayweather? Ramirez vs Whitaker?

 

Toney at his best is a scary thing. He would destroy Nigel Benn and Herol Graham, Lights Out was just in another class.