James Toney vs. Sumbu Kalambay

[QUOTE="George Crowcroft, post: 20575921, member: 120441" If Toney catches him with a Nunn KO-esque punch, then he ain't getting up. I tend to think he'd know he's losing after 7/8 and go to the body before setting up a KO. Being set over 15 would help too, although I don't see why it should be. Kalambay out-boxing Toney and surviving late wouldn't be out of the question either.

I've always seen Sumbu as what Toney would be if he was primarily an outside fighter, and then put on wheels. Awesome match up. [/QUOTE]

Great post.i agree with all its sentiments.

Id go with sumbu winning over 15

 

Kalambay wins a decision or gets taken out. It's about even, but I just feel like Tondy would pull it off.

 

This is something I can't see happening. Kalambay had terrific stamina, whereas Toney's depended on the fight. The only instance I can recall of Kalambay slowing down as a fight progressed came in his very last one, when he was 36 years old and had been getting by on guile for the past year. And if you told me beforehand that Toney's best chance of winning involved outworking his opponent then right away I'd steer clear of picking him, especially against an opponent with a jab like Kalambay's.

To me Toney's best shot comes from his good power and Kalambay's chin. Pre-Nunn, the greatest extent to which someone tested his chin was in the Kalule fight, and Kalule had probably the least power of any world-class middle in that era. Post-Nunn, when he lost some of his speed and became more hittable, he got dropped quite a bit (although, oddly, he never seemed badly hurt), even against nothing-special punchers like Graham and Ashton. Graham even got him with a jab I think. His chin was probably dent-able in his prime, but good luck hitting it cleanly.

Toney can win, but a lot has to go right for it to happen. If he doesn't show up in good form he doesn't have a chance. Kalambay, on the other hand, I don't really foresee needing to raise his game a level or change his strategy to win. Fighting well in his usual style should give him the advantage. I'll take Kalambay, but with Toney doing enough to make a gift from the judges a possibility.

 

A best vs. best fight would be nice, but Kalambay always came in prepared and never really gave a poor performance. Toney had a couple of stinkers at 160 and couldn't even be bothered to make weight for his defense against Dell'Aquila. To me it's unfair to assume that we get the best version of Toney.

Of course, it depends on how you view these threads. If it's just about who wins if the best Toney faces the best Kalambay, you don't need to make any assumptions. And since it's your thread...

 

Nunn

 

Kalambay close decision.

 

We don't know who the judges are

 

I became a believer the day I watched Kalambay win a convincing decision over McCallum. I think he could get by Toney. He could shut down his offense use sutble movement and counter punching. Toney would be out of his comfort zone.

 

Yes that's a great way to decision both McCallum and Toney IMO. They were both a tad susceptible to it if the practitioner was of a fine level.

 

The fight would be around even money. Kalambay has every chance here.

 

I love James, but Sumbu Kalambay could absolutely have beaten him.

Check out his career.

They would have matched up extremely well.

There's some great comments in this thread.

I honestly can't decide.

I could envisage either of them winning.

 

Right, so this one could go either way depending on the judges

 

Bad style matchup for Toney, Toney is the better fighter, but he wasn’t good at chasing down movers, he waited for you to come to him and Kalambay did not do that, he was a mover, Kalambay wins this on points