James Toney vs Gennady Golovkin : at 160

I'm a big fan of both, but I think toney takes this one on points. Too technically sound.

 

Very good match-up.

Last 30 years @ MW:

1) Hagler
2) Jones
3) Toney
4) Hopkins
5) Golovkin

(followed by McClellan, Jackson, Martinez, Pavlik & Taylor in no particular order...but maybe that exact order...)

 

Really, you could expand that out to "last 40 years", slip Monzon in between Jones & Toney, and drop Taylor...

 

Jt

 

GGG by decision. Toney was better at his best, but he was only at has best a handful of times, GGG is always well trained and in great shape.

 

Then reallysour pick is Toney. mythical matchups are always prime for prime. Otherwise they do not make sense.

 

But what I'm saying is that Toney was inconsistent. Great win vs. Nunn, followed by a SD over Reggie Johnson that I thought he lost. Great win over Prince Charles Williams, followed by losses to Jones and Griffin. Great win over Mccallum....loss to Thadzi...

He really just didn't train that hard.

 

We're talking best for best here.

 

Nothing against Golovkin, but he isn't very difficult to hit. The reason why he's been successful until now is because his opponents either had power but not enough skills to land it, or because they had both power and offensive skills but they weren't durable and got stopped early, or because they caught him a lot and were durable but didn't have the power to hurt him (as you could clearly see in the Martin Murray fight).

Toney at 160 was an accurate puncher with power, he would have a field day landing that power on Golovkin.

Add to that that Toney was extremely tough, with an iron chin and very durable, and with superb defense, so he wouldn't be bothered by Golovkins power too much. Golovkins best assets (his offense and his power) would be totally negated.

You can still always make an argument that Golovkin could take Toney power and just outwork him over the course of 12 rounds, but my guess is rather that Toney would land too much hard shots and wear Golovkin down and stop him in the late rounds. Golovkin has a good chin but Toney still wins by TKO round 11 or 12

 

Hagler ATG. Jones ATG. Hopkins ATG. Toney ATG.. Why would you even disrespect these men by putting Golovkin in the same breath.. He's not even the man at 160 SMH :hi:

 

But Toney himself said that Golovkin is the best MW out there, he said Golovkin is a beast...

 

Golovkin does appear easy to hit, but I find his defense strange, as when I watch his amateur fights, he has displayed very good defensive capabilities. So it leads me to be unsure if he's either
A) forgotten these
B) hasn't felt the need to implement them as of yet
C) have declined with age

Regardless, for this match up, as someone said above, Tony was so flippy floppy, that it depends how he turned up. At both their bests I'd maybe play it a solid 50/50.

 

Man, I really can't see how 20 guys voted that Toney would lose by KO...
Toney went the distance with Sam Peter twice and couldn't be stopped. He took Sam Peters best punches and countered right back. Yeah, I'm talking about the HW monster puncher Sam Peter. Toney is one of the toughest and most durable fighters of all time, his chin is 100% granite.

Toney getting outworked and losing a close decision when he's not in top shape, I could maybe see that, yes. But losing by KO?! Only in the logic of a typical Golovkin fan-boy.

 

Good post - after thinking a bit more about it, Golovkin is really an easy fight for Toney style wise. Toney is always best against offensive fighters who throw a lot of punches and come towards him - he can counter them easily then. Golovkin seems to have a good chin and he is a very skilled offensive fighter, but he just can't do what he usually does against a fighter like Toney, that would be plain stupid. Toney would have a field day then.

Golovkins best shot at winning here would be if he used his footwork - not to cut off the ring as he usually does, but to stay away from Toney and try to box Toney and pot-shot him. Golovkin has great stamina and that would be his only advantage against Toney. However, Golovkin has not been fighting that way since he teamed up with his trainer Abel Sanchez, so I can really see Toney wearing him down and stopping him late too.