James Toney vs Dave Tiberi

At least Toney himself admitted he got a gift against Tiberi, you have to be blind to think Toney won that fight

 

Toney should have fought old Kalambay instead of guys like Tiberi.It would have been a lot more interesting, especially as he wouldn't be likely to see him as a threat.

 

I don't think Tiberi had JT's number. Toney was clearly drained for that fight. Had he been in shape, he would have knocked Tiberi out. Dave was not a great fighter, not even a very good one. He just outworked a fighter who outgrew his division.

 

Good call, Kalambay, stylistically, would of given Toney major problems imo. I always thought Toney struggled against long range fighters who were disciplined enough to to maintain their range, I say that because generally he liked to draw you in to set up counters, which dictates that you draw the man into mid range in order to counter, but Kalambay had great legs, was a cagey fighter who was good at dictating the tempo and making you fight his fight, I think he would frustrate the hell of Toney, he was also extremely skilled imo, he had a great repertoire of counter punchers, and was pretty quick.

 

Probably true except for one fact. Toney caught and stopped Michael Nunn at the top of his game, a better boxer than Kalambay. Stylistically, yes, Kalambay would have given him trouble, but seeing how Nunn was a better fighter than SK and Toney stopped him, you have to give Toney the upper hand.

 

Im not sure whether Nunn was a better Boxer than Kalambay, infact I would say any difference between the two, is marginal, Kalambay schooled Barkley, Nunn struggled with him, Kalambay outboxed McCallum, knocked out the normally durable De Witt, a guy Hearns could not stop, he also beat Steve Collins and Herol Graham 2x, also, Toney was losing that fight for money, and the biggest knock on Nunn, was his temperament, which might be why he had a lapse in concentration later in the fight and got caught, although im willing to give Toney credit for that as he turned up the heat.

Nunn's win over Kalambay was an aberration imo.

 

Toney would certainly be favourite over a 36'ish year old kalambay, the main point is it would probably have been a better more intriguing contest than the filler defences he did take.

 

Kalambay was more skilled technician but Nunn was a force of nature with his freakish size, speed and athleticism. And while behind a little against Nunn, Toney had been breaking him down for rounds and the KO was a great 1 for a young Toney. Kalambay at that stage doesn't beat a focused Toney which he likely would be if he studied up on Kalambay

 

Nunn's force of natureness went out the window by the end of the Barkley fight really.It certainly wasn't on evidence against Starling and Curry where he had become a tepid fighter that rarely threw quality punches and had developed a real nasty habit of lying inside or standing in front of fighters lackadaisically presenting himself as a target.

he actually looked better early on against Toney than he had in a while, but the coke was flowing by then.8 round fighter and that's hte way it stayed.

 

Old Kalambay probably wouldn't beat Toney, but he could stay competitive in there if he turns up a performance like in the second McCallum fight. A prime Kalambay would be a nightmare for middleweight Toney, stylistically. Not that Toney couldn't win, but he wouldn't give any opportunities for Toney's counters and methodical pressure is not likely to break Kalambay down. Toney would have to pull it out with a big KO win and I'm not so sure about that happening.

Toney of the Tiberi fight was just horrible and would probably lose to a lot of fighters.

Quite a line-up of middleweights here:

1. Julian Jackson
2. James Toney
3. Reggie Johnson
4. Roy Jones Jr.
5. Mike McCallum
6. Sumbu Kalambay
7. Gerald McClellan
8. Lamar Parks
9. Bernard Hopkins
10. Thomas Tate

 

Yes never a fan of his technically, but saying 'hes only an 8round fighter' is maybe a tad unfair to Toney breaking him down. Better technique often pays dividends down the stretch as both fighters slow

 

What a top 10 it was right then. Suprising Toney and Jackson never squared off with them being 1 and 2, I know who I'd favour in that 1 though

 

Toney slowed Nunn down by putting in subtle but effective body punches. Toney took quite a few good shots upstairs by Nunn in order to put in that bodywork. That's why Nunn slowed down and gassed in the second half of the fight, while Toney turned up the pressure, leading to the KO.

 

That describes Michael Nunn's mentality in a nutshell for me (lackadaisical), infact I agree with you, he looked far from spectacular against Starling imo, and while I watched an ESPN copy of the fight and did not score it, Al Bernstein and co seemed to be suggesting the fight was relatively close from what I remember.


I actually thought his loss to Toney was a culmination of under par performances, like it was inevitable. He looked superb against Tate, then he looked good in spells against Roldan before he displayed that lackadaisical attitude he had, got the impressive win over Kalambay, looked terrible against Barkley, looked average against Starling, looked okay against Curry, then got KTFO by Toney.

 

Certainly Toney here, as Jacksons biggest asset was his devastating punching power. Power was the last thing to bother Toney though.
BTW, Toney called out Jackson on numerous occasions.