James Toney vs. Chris Eubank @ SMW.

Intriguing matchup. Neither guy was very busy. I think this would be a chess match. Toney would try to make Eubank lead. I think Toney had a better defense and a slight power advantage. I think Toney would win a close, possibly split decision.

 

Toney on the virtue of being a better, more proven fighter.

 

Bulldog24 in 3... 2... 1...

 

Tough one. Two very slippery guys that didn't like to lead. Toney was the more fundamentally sound, of course, but don't know if that's going to make that much of a difference here.

Both had power (Eubank more) but also granite chins and very good defensive skills, so I don't think either guy will hurt the other. Probably will be a bit of chess match.

Toney's better fundamentals and precision should make him win this.

 

I think in the first half of the fight neither of them will do much, as the rounds go on however I think they both will open up and start to go to war.

 

Toney is better at everything.

Output. When needed, James threw beautiful combos.

He has the greatest chin in the last 30 years. He went to HW and still never got stopped.

Better punch variety. Has every punch down.

 

Both guy's equally capable, and durable at this weight, both have iron chins, if it were in Europe id strongly favor Chris, in America James..

Both men near equal in talent, (slight edge James) but Toney was at times lazier:yep, it would come down to wanted it more at the end and id favor Eubank..

Flip a coin A Draw is what probably would happen..:conf

 

Toney just a higher class, wins a competitive but clear decision by workrate and better overall generalship -- he dictates the terms and wins more exchanges.

Not the most exciting fight that could ever be made ... but the buildup to it would be for the ages.

 

Toney by UD.

Toney was at his best at super middleweight. (Barkley, Littles).
Against Jones, Toney was not in shape.

 

I'd actually take Toney to win this one pretty comfortably. Eubank wasn't without his own skills but he wasn't in the same ballpark as Toney in that respect, and before the phenomenon that was Roy Jones came along Toney looked to have found a much more comfortable home at 168, where his workrate and output was much improved and where he looked at his very best.

Eubank always went for quality over quantity but he took it to brand new levels at 168, only just s****ing past guys like Close and Schoemmer with wafer-thin and sometimes outright dodgy verdicts. I can see him getting made to look pretty ordinary here and losing a wide one on the cards.

Toney by 117-111, maybe 118-110 across the board.

 

This would either be an all out war between two of the most durable fighters in history or it would be an utter bore between two fighters who preferred a more defensive counter-punching style and weren't at their best when fighting off the front foot and who could both be extremely lazy.

I'm of the opinion that they would cancel each other out and it'd be a draw.

 

This. Eubank is getting massively overrated on this thread. I'm no particular fan of Toney as a bloke but he was another level to Eubank, he really was.

Eubank didn't venture away from his WBO comfort zone very often, his career highlights were the Benn-Watson fights. Hew didn't seem keen to venture across tohe pond to take on the iron of the division, the Toneys & the McCallums - I think Eubank (& his brain-trust) knew his limitations and didn't want to risk being exposed.

Eubank had his strengths but had his limitations too, he knew these & knew that they could be exploited by the likes of Toney & McCallum. Having an iron chin, good power & physical strength does not get you over the winning line against those guys.

I am really surprised that there is such a split of opinion on this one.

 

Nobody 'grinded' James down.

The worst stylistic fights for him are guys much bigger than him or much, much faster than him.

Chris is neither.

 

Toney never had issues with bigger guys. Remember, he beat up guys all the way up to heavyweight. Even at heavyweight, he had considerable success

Beating a in shape supermiddleweight Toney would have been tough task for anybody.