Toney and jones are both top 50 guys (i say this assuming neither have a meaningful victory again) Toney was a great middleweight and a good heavyweight. Inbetween he was nothing special. He really should have fought nunn at 168. It should have been him and jones vying for lhw supremacy not jones and dm. His heavyweight run was amazing but not without controversy: he tested positive against ruiz and got schooled by peter in the rematch. Had he been clean against ruiz and fought a bit harder vs peter i'd have no problems calling him a top 25 atg, even considering his dismal run at lhw. This guy was old school and he had the skills to really be something special. What a waste. Hopkins is opposite, he didn't have the skills but he gave his all to the sport and at the age of 46 is still one of the best in the world today.
Reggie Johnson was as slick as a greaseball back then and one of the best technicians out there at that time. And southpaw. I thought Toney won.
Why fight Nunn at 168? He already beat him and knocked him out. He was exceptionally special against Barkley. And Littles.
Why rematch nunn? Are you for real? Nunn was one of the premiere super middleweights in the world. He had only suffered 1 defeat which was a come from behind knockout he suffered to toney who happened to be the other premiere smw in the world. A fight between these two would have crowned a champion at the weight, something which years later joe calzaghe would go on to do against mikel kessler.
So you don't think nunn would have been a worthy opponent at smw?? If so then we'll end the conversation right here.
Did I say that? But he already beat him, he already knocked him out. Why do it again... he didn't need to. He had his sights set on Eubank, Jones, McClellan and Heavyweight.
I'm a big Toney fan but Hopkins and Jones rank above him, in terms of legacy. Toney has an excellent resume but he was simply too inconsistent, even during his prime. His losses to Thadzi, Griffin and the robbery against Tiberi expose his short comings as a fighter. Even in the biggest fight of his career against Jones he couldn't show the discipline needed to stay in shape and prepare properly for a fight. Toney was insanely talented, Roach said he was the most naturally gifted fighter he ever trained, he was born to fight. But on his worse day he could be terrible and his lack of professionalism really tarnished what could have been an even greater legacy. His stint at light heavy, which should have been his best weight was very poor indeed, he went from being the top p4p fighter in the world to being lost in the wilderness for 6-7 years after the Jones loss, during what should have been his prime years.