Sad to see James Toney go out this way

And it's not just the fights we've seen in the ring with Toney, this guy used to spar anyone and everyone. Before he beat Jirov, he was sparrig heavies like Brewster, Botha, and Terry Smith on a daily basis. War machines break down over time.

 

James has been shot for a long time now... why was there so much fuss over this fight?

 

Hey, this is boxing, and with a boxer over 40, they can get old overnight.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Johnson come in tomorrow as an old man too.

That's the fight game.

 

unfortuantely this is what Toney said in the post fight presser

“James Toney ain’t finished yet. I’ll be back when I’m healed. I have lots of things to do and a lot of people on my wish-list”

 

didn't he get a nice even million from his MMA fight?

 

I fear the worst. James Toney seems too stubborn a character to leave the game in that fashion. More beatdowns might be in Toney's future.

 

Ever heard of styles make fights dip****? atsch That's why I had to laugh at people saying Roy did well against Lebedev so that means Toney will do better. Roys movement caused the problems, since when did Toney move around the ring? Honestly, 15000 posts in and you can't understand styles make fights?

 

could be true, but at the same time, a 12 round beat down where you didn't win a round really hurts Toney's stock that much more

granted it was at Cruiser, and Toney's next fight will most likely be at HW, but this bad loss to Lebedev most likely means it's back to fighting the Damon Reed's of the world

meaning Toney can probably rack another 3-4 easy wins with minimal effort and force his way into another payday.

 

Toney appeared to be on to great things after he devastated Holyfield in one of the most masterful performances I've ever seen. But he really blew his chances at heavyweight, first with the whole Ruiz steroids thing, and then just by being fat and inactive. He could've won a title legitimately several years ago, but now it's all gone to hell, he's slurring his speech, and is probably heading for skid row.

 

Well good thing for Lebedev that he doesn't have incompetent American trainers like Jirov did.

 

You can't take anything from Lebedev's performance in this fight. James was completely shot and then hurt his leg in the second round, meaning he was shot and injured. Lebedeb is a good fighter, I thought he beat Huck, but this was entirely meaningless in terms of showing his quality.

Toney could not have beaten a cruiserweight in the top 100 yesterday. He would have lost to Damon Reed, Hell, I think Nonito Donaire would have beaten him. He couldn't throw a punch after the second round.

 

Hopkins will look at this, see that Jones and Toney have both been dominated.
Hopkins has called him self the last of the Icons/Mohicans, I think he gets off on that.
He'll of watched and studied Lebedev for two fights now, and he'll know he's not as shot as Toney or Jones.
He'll see the holes in Lebedevs game, they are there I and I hope most of you can see them, beating two washed up ATG's does hide your flaws for a while, though Roy exposed him in parts, even though he fights at 20% now.

Hopkins will try to make this fight, and if he gets it he wins it by UD. Hopkins would take Lebedev VERY seriously, and he'd beat him in Russia.

 

I wonder how much they pay over in Russia. Hopkins - unlike Toney or Jones - still has some leverage and credibility. He still has the WBC belt and I expect they'll overturn the Dawson result, meaning he'll still hold the ring belt. Froch, Cleverly, and Bute are all fights that he could take and make money with, and not have to go to Russia, so they'd have to offer him a ton to head over there.

Still, I'd like to see him take a shot at a cruiser belt, it's the only thing that I think really would boost his legacy at this point.

 

I am not going to cry too many tears for James Toney. I respect him as a fighter but he has acted like a disrespectful thug and punk at times, and it is nice to see him get what he had coming to him in the ring.

 

MMA fighters get paid ****. Even the top ones make very little compared to boxers.