Whoa man, he had one good round in that fight. I've see the attempts from his fans at retroactively trying to paint it like Toney was pummelling Rahman all over the ring from the opening bell, but the truth is he did not do much at all for the first two rounds. That's looking like a very false dawn. The last fight where Toney actually looked good bell-to-bell...I wouldn't even say Peter I, because even those that have Toney winning admit it was close and I thought Peter deserved the narrow nod. I think the last fight where Toney really looked like the heavyweight he could be was the Guinn fight in 2005. Sure Guinn fought a moronic fight, but Toney's punching and countering was sharp and he outboxed him cleanly.
In the end, I think we can all agree that while Toney shouldn't get a title-shot, he should still fight Tony Thompson. The fight makes sense. After all Toney is a legend and deserves this one last chance - and if he doesn't finally get in shape and put on a better performance than in years he will lose to Tony Thompson anyways and retire. Now this would be a DO OR DIE fight if there ever was one for Toney, and if he doesn't beat Thompson clearly there's no need for him to continue his career. And if he does beat Tony Thompson clearly, well, let's not even look past that, Tony Thompson is the fight that matters now. If he wins and looks good, let's take it from there.
that version of toney has no chance against thompson. unless he makes a 180 turn, he is going to get beaten soundly. thompson is tall, has a good jab, good workrate, is clever - all the things toney doesn't like. and unless arreola holds back because toney is his idol, i can't see this fight go the distance. toney, at this stage, wasn't comfortable taking feather-fisted oquendo's shots, how will able handling an aggressive, always forward coming real puncher?
You are right about Thompson, if Toney can't finally get into shape and turn back the clock some years he is going to get beaten soundly. Like you said, he'd have to make a 180 turn. Still, I wanna see this fight and Toney making that 180 turn - there is still hope. But I do not think Arreola could stop Toney. Arreola is sloppy, gets hit a lot, and a come-forward puncher is the type of fighter that suits Toney best - Arreola would run into one counter after another. Of course Toney should box Arreolas ears off, but since he'd probably take him lightly and not prepare seriously he'd show up in bad shape again and end up with another close decision in a boring fight. I could even see Arreola scoring an upset, but certainly not by stoppage.
I agree, the last fight Toney looked really good in was the first fight against Peter back in 2006. Toney also showed flashes of his former self against Rahman in June. In that fight Toney was able to maximize his assets by landing precise punches as well as occasional combinations, things which Toney wasn't able to do just a few moths later against Oquendo. But it is pointless to discuss such issues, Toney should prove what he has left in the tank by taking on a true thread like Thompson.
I agree, some seem very negative about it but Tony has both a top ten ranking and also presents a large target. He's not the fighter either of the Klitschko's are but fighting such a large man would be good preperation for Toney. If he wins well, it makes him a viable title challenger. And if he loses, he's likely to absorb a lot less of a battering than if he'd taken on one of the Klits.
Tua would be interesting and I doubt David could hit James. Although a Tua left to the body could do some damage.