By Scott Gilfoid: American heavyweight James Toney (75-8-3, 45 KO’s) surprisingly said that he feels that 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Anthony Joshua (2-0, 2 KO’s) will beat heavyweight contender Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30 KO’s) if they were to face each other in six months. Toney is really high on Joshua after seeing some of his recent pro fights.
Toney told IFL TV “I mean it [that Joshua would beat Deontay]. I watched the film. I’m very impressed with his skills level. To me, his skill level is better than Deontay Wilder. Deontay fights bums. No, I don’t think Deontay Wilder will be a heavyweight champion.”
I wish I could agree with Toney, but I’ve seen Joshua fight since his Olympic days and I don’t see him doing well at all against a fighter Deontay. Joshua is too slow, too weak, too stiff and too wide open defensively. Joshua has fought twice since turning pro this year, and he’s beaten Paul Butlin and Emanuele Leo. Both guys were able to nail Joshua with shots to the head, but they lacked the power to hurt him.
If you look at their resumes, you’ll notice that neither guy has many knockouts. Both guys have 3 knockouts a piece. They were tailor made for Joshua to beat because they didn’t have the power to hurt him like the much stronger and quicker Deontay. Joshua may have won an Olympic Gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics, but I saw Joshua as a very, very controversial gold medalist. In fact, I had Joshua losing all four of his fights in the Olympics, and I thought the judging was atrocious to say the least.
For me, Joshua didn’t medal in the Olympics, so I don’t rate him as an Olympic gold medalist because I thought he was beaten four times. As far as Joshua’s power and hand speed goes, he was out-punched by all four of his opponents in the Olympics. I thought all four had more power than him. It’s weird how a guy as muscular as Joshua is could lack punching power, but it seems to be the case with him. He doesn’t punch hard, and definitely nowhere near as hard as Deontay. The speed difference between Deontay and Joshua is staggering. Deontay is light years ahead of Joshua in the speed department, which is quite understandable because Johsua has a body builder type of physique, and body builders typically are slow when it comes to punching.
I think if Joshua were to face a guy like Deontay, we could see a 1st round knockout with Deontay nailing the 24-year-old Joshua and knocking him out with a single shot to the head. Of course, I don’t see Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn ever letting him fight Deontay, so I guess it doesn’t really matter what Toney is saying because the fight will never happen.
Joshua will be fighting this Thursday against a recent Hughie Fury victim Hrvoje Kisicek (5-6, 1 KO’s) in a scheduled 6 round bout at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. Why is Joshua fighting Hughie’s leftovers? Who knows. I did notice that Kisicek has only one knockout on his resume, so I guess that makes him harmless and the perfect opponent for Joshua.
Toney is taking part in the Prizefighter tourney this Thursday, November 14th at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom. I suspect the 45-year-old Toney won’t do well, although Toney doesn’t have anyone of quality to compete against in the tourney. It’s pretty much 2nd and 3rd tier heavyweights all the way, but I still doubt seriously that Toney has enough left in the tank to beat any of these guys.
Here are the fighters in the tourney:
Damian Wills
Larry Olubamiwo
Tom Little
Matt Legg
Brian Minto
Jason Gavern
Michael Sprott