Talent and skillwise they're comparable and its possible Toney may have even been a little better. The big difference thought is obvious, Mayweather was really disciplined in getting himself in shape, where as Toney was lazy and left it to relying on his pure talent and skill.
Qawi and Duran are both good mentions in this thread as natural fighters. Qawi like James Toney had a very short amauter career yet within a few years as a pro both were fighting at a world class level. Qawi was a naturally strong guy who could slip and counter all day and could fight in any era. Like Toney, he had issues outside of the ring that caused him to not reach his full potential.
What is talent? Natural aptitude or skill. Floyd grew up in a famed boxing family and was pushed from a young age. I think he pretty much maximised his talent in terms of what he achieved. Toney on he other hand prioritised Burger King over his boxing career. Therefore I believe Toney did less than he could have with his talent while Floyd maximised his. Comparing the two, you have Floyd who is unbeaten but who clearly took the path of least resistance above 140. Then you have Toney with a few losses but who fought all comers. Toney's loss to RJJ shows up some flaws but he also fought Mike McCallum, the type of fighter Floyd would never ever fight due to risk. In terms of the things that are harder / impossible to train such as chin and power I believe that Toney was more naturally gifted. On summary, Floyd did everything right from training, matchmaking and even ensuring his fights were fought on his terms to ensure he had a perfect record. A lot of his wins were extremely close, boring and in a more objective world would have been losses. Toney on the other hand cut corners but fought a who's who of dangerous fighters, coming home with the win in spectacular fashion on many occasions. He took some losses, particularly as he started taking the shape of the Michelin man and moved into HW, but his demolition of Evander Holyfield at HW clinches it for me. They were both old and past it and it was the natural gifts that enabled Toney to counter Evander to such an extent that he stopped an atg with a granite chin.
Well said. I'm glad you mentioned Mike McCallum. There are plenty of all time greats that would not go near the body snatcher let alone fight him three times like Toney did.
I don't think so. Toney was without a doubt one of the most talented fighters you'll ever see many other fighters who cut corners like he did in the gym would of never achieved half of what he did. But much of his success wasn't down to raw natural talent, it was his exemplary technique and skills which he honed over countless rounds of sparring which was his preferred way of preparing for a fight. But Mayweather too was an exceptional talent. Even if you take away his technique, he was a very athletic fighter with some of the fastest hands you'll ever see. I don't think Toney in a P4P sense was as fast as Mayweather.
What does this have to do with what I just said? Hardwork is a talent, just as is speed, power etc. All the speed in the world won’t mean **** if you don’t work hard. All the hard work in the world won’t mean **** if u have a super glass chin. See how that works? The ability to train very hard is a form of talent just as is speed, atheleticsm, power etc.
Toney was very talented but certainly not more talented than Floyd. Also Floyd was the better athlete, more dedicated etc. that is mot to say anything negative about Toney just how talented Floyd. shoulder roll perfected by old school trainers in Michigan.
Both were about equally skilled, but Toney was the more talented fighter in that he has a short amateur career and learned his great skills „on the job“. He was far more natural than Floyd. Toney was „born to box/fight“. Floyd had a boxing family an the US amateur boxing machinery behind him to learn his trade from a young age. Floyd was a bit more athletically gifted though. As far as skills go, they differ in that Floyd has better footwork, but Toneys transition from defense to offense and back was a lot more fluid - he really was a master at that, top 5 all time.
Toney used to spar instead of doing road work and that accelerated his decline. Masterful boxer though and he sliced through the divisions like a hot knife through butter.
He has always used roids, except he was caught at heavyweight. Sorry buddy. Once a cheater always a cheater
Mine as well, born fighter that man is. In an alternate world I dream of him in peak condition and dedicated coming into that Roy Jones fight
