James Toney lost 44lbs, down to 213lbs

James Toney, who weighed in at 257lbs for his last boxing fight in february (a whooping 100lbs more than when he KOed Michael Nunn for the MW championship back in 1991), has apparently lost 44lbs. This is being reported by various MMA sites. Some of them even show a recent pic of Toney where he wears a black tank top and looks in OK shape indeed - probably below 220lbs, so he might really be down to 213lbs now. If everything goes as planned, James will face MMA veteran Ken Shamrock this year, in a fight with 'altered' MMA rules..

My thoughts about this:

-as a longtime James Toney and boxing fan, I have been frustrated with the man these last years, when he failed to show up for his fights in decent shape (210-215lbs) time and time again, and therefore wasn't able to really be successful at HW. This was very disappointing. Why is he motivated now, at age 42, to get in shape to face an aging MMA veteran in a farce of a fight , but couldn't get his lazy ass in shape when he fought Hasim Rahman for the WBC HW title? Or Fres Oquendo or... As a boxing fan, I feel cheated.

-why does Toney put so much effort in his ridiculous MMA career now instead of boxing? Even if Toney would get into great shape, down to 200lbs, he would still lose to any halfway decent MMA fighter because Toney is a boxer and not an MMA fighter - seems he still didn't learn his lesson in his humbling defeat to Randy Couture. Toney claims he can't get a big fight in boxing: well, at 213lbs Toney could take on all comers, fight often on undercards and climb up the rankings until he gets a big fight. I simply don't belive no HW is willing to face him (Jonathan Banks anyone?). With Toneys name, a couple wins against C and B level guys and him being in good shape would suffice to earn a title-shot within a year, because the HW division is quite empty of deserving contenders. He would get his fight with a Klitschko then. That's the way Toney always did it, from MW up to CW, and it always worked, why doesn't he do it now? Back in 1990, Toney had 11 fights within 1 year! He was a nobody at the beginning of 1990, but he got his title shot against Nunn in 1991.

-Toney ballooned up to 280lbs back in 1998 already and then came back down to become the CW champ (when the CW limit was 190lbs). Toney stated that he is chasing a mega fight with the other aging legends B-Hop, Roy Jones and Antonio Tarver, at CW. With Tarver having returned to CW after a lackluster HW adventure, can Toney do the same?