just reading the thread about jt fighting jirov, a fight i remember being one of jt's finest, how would jt have done if he had dedicated himself and stayed at cw...could he have been undefeated, went down as the atg in an unpopular decsison....surely he could have continually made ther weight even with his lacklustre training....could jt have held the c/w crown for a loooong time???
I think he would have dont quite well there. The weight suited him just fine, but he was too much of a fatass to stay in condition, plus the money was a lot better at heavy. He actually could have done a lot better at heavy had he stayed around the weight he was for Holyfield.
Toney stayed at cruiserweight for a number of years, it's just that he fought absolutely no one during that period in time (almost 10 years).
Thats the whole 'what if' of James career, he'd be 1 of the greatest P4P fighters of all time if he was dedicated
Right but I dont think he ever lost there. Had he stayed there, his legacy might have been different.
There wasn't much talent around at cruiserweight though for Toney to establish a legacy in the division. He did have some woeful efforts at cruiserweight too, most notably against Terry McGroom. Toney looked physically very strong against Adolpho Washington, like a natural 200+ lber for once. Some other fights he looked like a slob. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMPXQtQMiEo[/ame]
Yeah the division has always been pretty weak, and really even if he stayed as a small heavyweight he could have probably done very well, in fact Im sure he could have, but he chose to show up like a fatass. He had no respect for his peers, because he was so far superior skillwise, but he held himself back so much by not getting into shape.
I would have liked to have seen toney take on JC Gomez when he was on his run. Jirov rematch. Or an Ice Cole. Orlin Norris had a style that may not suit the Toney style, or fans either, come to think of it. And a Guy like Carl Thompson and Johnny Nelson come to mind as well.
Roach was a great trainer for Toney really, he always gets fighters in shape and conditioned and thats what Toney needed. Tyson looked in great shape at 225lbs against Ettiene too, then looked like **** a year later against Williams
