By Jason Kim: Cruiserweight contender Denis Lebedev (22-1, 17 KO’s) is starting to make a name for himself fighting guys in their 40s. First it was 42-year-old Roy Jones Jr., who Lebedev stopped in the 10th round in his last fight last May. Lebedev shockingly was staggered by Jones in that fight shortly before stopping him with a series of big shots.

And now Lebedev, 32, will be fighting 43-year-old James Toney (73-6-3, 44 KO’s) on November 5th at the Khnodynka Ice Palace in Moscow, Russia. Let me be the first say that I think this is a terrible fight for Lebedev. Toney last fought in February of this year, beating Damon Reed by a 10 round decision while weighing a career high of 257 lbs.

Toney reportedly has burned off a lot of the blubber, but likely not enough to make the cruiserweight limit. What can you expect of Toney after he burns off the weight to make the 200 pound limit? Not much. Toney looks totally shot even before taking off weight, but he’s going to be completely drained at 200 lbs. A young cruiserweight like Lebedev, who is arguably the best fighter in the cruiserweight division at this time, would destroy Toney at this point.

I like this fight if it had taken place eight years ago around the same time Toney defeated highly hyped Vassily Jirov in 2003. However, Toney has been fighting at heavyweight since October 2003, and you can’t expect anything of Toney at this point against an in his prime cruiserweight like Lebedev. Just getting down to 200 lbs will do Toney in for this fight, and even if he were close to this weight, he’d still likely lose because of his advanced age.