James Toney: Can He Still Be A Factor In The Heavyweight Division?

By Boxing News - 01/22/2008 - Comments

toney3334533.jpgIn the latest boxing news, former three-time champion James Toney (70-6, 43 KOs) is reportedly planning on making a March comeback against an un-named opponent. Toney, now 39, has been out of action for almost a year since winning a 10-round split decision against Danny Batchelder in May 2007.

After the bout, however, Toney tested for a banned substance and was subsequently suspended from boxing for a year. Though the suspension was later lowered to six months, it’s still a lot of time for a boxer as old as the 39 year-old Toney, who hasn’t looked good in the ring since losing a controversial 12-round split decision to Samuel Peter in a World Boxing Council title eliminator bout in September 2006. Since then, Toney came back and fought Peter once again, this time looking in even worse shape and losing a lopsided decision in January 2007.

Toney didn’t look much better against Batchelder in May of 2007, appearing to be carrying an extra 25 lbs of blubber around his midsection. At this point, I’m wondering whether he can get serious about his training, enough so that he can be a factor in the heavyweight. At 39, he still is young enough to make a mark in the division, but he’s got to trim down to an in shape 220 lbs. I think he has the skills to compete with most of the top 10 heavyweights, perhaps even some of the champions like Sultan Ibragimov, Oleg Maskaev and Ruslan Chagaev. I think he matches up very well with Chagaev, who looks to be in about the same physical shape as Toney.

That would be an ideal opponent for Toney, a fighter like Chagaev that stands directly in front of him and tries to trade. Unfortunately, Toney isn’t about to be given any title shots on a silver platter, and will have to work his way up slowly, beating one prospect after another. He’s going to have to stay busy and fight often, because at his age, he can lose it overnight. Again, I think he still has the ability to be one of the top contenders, but only if he finally gets serious and takes off weight the correct way.

He can’t starve himself to make weight, as he’ll come in to a fight in a weakened condition. As we’ve seen in his bouts against Hasim Rahman and Samuel Peter, that’s not going to work for him. If he can fight once every 2-3 months, fighting top 15 fighters, I’d say he’d be in a perfect position to challenge for one of the titles by early next year.

However, he’s going to have to knock of a couple of named fighters along the way, someone like Tony Thompson or Eddie Chambers. I think he can do it, but he’s going to have to move quickly.



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