Then again, Byrd and Holyfield did not win more convincingly against Oquendo. Nobody deserved to win that fight on Saturday. Toney was out of shape and Oquendo was holdin all the time. JT got the W but nobody of the Toney's fans claim that gives him the rigght to fight for the title . He should nmove on to fight a real top ten contender like Thompson and then we will see if he still is a top heavyweight.
Holy was shot at this point, and Byrd was already declining. It means if a fighter need judges to win with Oquendo he is shot (or he is quickly going to be) ;-)
Thompson does not have a top promoter behind him. He has gotten where he is by hard work and dedication alone. Should he be fighting bigger names? Well, he just fought W.Klitschko and presumably attempting to climb his way up the ladder of another title granting organization. Aside from that? Guys like Dimitrenko, Bidenko, Arreola, Haye, Povetkin, Chambers and a slew of others wouldn't dare step in the ring with him.
Toney is 5-2-1 with 2 NC as a heayweight. Against ranked heavyweights he's 1-2-1 with 1 NC. Jelly Bowl is definitely not a heavyweight contender or even worthy of a fight with a contender.
So Toney is no contender at hw? Let me tell you something, there are no real contenders in today's hw division. Toney is as much of a contender as Arreola, Thompson, Haye and all the other so called deserving contenders. Most of them did virtually nothing to earn their rankings. Toney at least fought the best hw`s out there (except the Klitschkos) and was competitive against everyone. I agree though that Toney should fight another high ranked opponent to qualify for another title shot.
Those fighters all have better records as heavyweights than Toney. Booker, Batchelder, and Oquendo are top contenders?
Oquendo was robbed in that fight, :-( and Toney as usual looked like ****, with his gut jiggling all over the place, i hope he does fight Thompson, it's a fight he will lose BADLY:deal He's to short and fat, and old and has NO POWER at heavyweight when was the lst time he stopped someone or even scored a knockdown?? even his steriods can't help him..
Toney has done himself absolutely no favors with his weight. You figure that a guy with such ring smarts would be more diligent when it comes to training.
Better records? So facing ex-champs Rahman and Peter twice as well as Ruiz and former prospect Guinn isn't decent opposition? Come on, was Krasniqui a top contender when WBO n°1 Dimitrenko fought him? Gomez fought Virches and McCall for the WBC n°1 position, who are by no means better than Oquendo... You could make a case for Poevetkin as he faced dangerous Eddie Chambers but overall Toney is as much of a contender as anyone...
Some posts here still aim at discrediting Toney by any means. First of all, Toney is a legend. Second, his record at 5-2-1 (2 noc contests) at heavyweight is allright. He is the only man besides Bowe to KO Holyfield and he has ARGUABLY beaten every heavyweight he faced because the first Peter should have gone his way. Gomez credentials in the past are smaller than JT's. Gomez record at heavyweight is worse than JT's. In addition, Gomez got knocked out in 1 against a journeyman.JT was never KOD in his entire 20 year old career, enough said. Haye's credentials in the past are smaller than JT. Haye has faced no one at heavyweight. Thompson said himself that it would be an honor for him to fight JT. JT is a lot more respected among fighters than among fans here. Toney's fans here already agreed that JT does not deserve a title shot. JT deserves a shot at Thompson. Well, it seems that some of you are just afraid that Toney may actually win that fight.
Toney is looking worse every fight now especially with his balance. If this fight happens, Thompson has a chance to be the man to stop Toney. Thompson while not heavy-handed is busy and applies a lot of pressure. He has a very good chin and stamina to boot. Throw punches in bunches and displays an effective jab. I originally thought Thompson would win by 4pts or so. Now, I would guess a landslide pts victory for thompson but a stoppage would not surprise me.
i think toney v thompson is a good fight styles will gell well. thompson never uses his height , so toney will not be at to much of a disadvantage as thompson likes to fight up close , suiting toney, and letting him get off with little shots. toney cant punch at all and thompson is an arm puncher only, so the fight will go the whole route for certain. decent match up