Toney’s toughest opposition will be coming from Brian Minto and Michael Sprott, and those guys are definitely beatable opposition for Toney as long as he lets his hands go. With the fights being 3 rounders, he’s going to have to forget about taking his time with these guys and just throw nonstop punches if he wants to win the tourney.
By Dan Ambrose: Former three division world champion James “Lights Out” Toney thinks Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) will knock WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) in their fight on September 14th. Toney thinks Mayweather is too skilled for the 22-year-old Canelo. Toney likes Canelo a lot as a fighter, but he doesn’t see him having the experience at this point in his career to beat Mayweather.
Toney said to esnewsreporting.com “Mayweather’s going to knock him out. He’s getting a high paid sparring partner. Alvarez is too stupid to pace himself. Alvarez’s going to get knocked out. A million-five Mexicans going to go home crying.”
By Mark Havey: For the younger fans of boxing, James Toney may be irrelevant. They may even hear his name without a flicker of recognition. Seen as a controversial figure, he talked the talk, and sometimes walked the walk. There were times when even in defeat he was brilliant. But to many times he was disappointing even in victory.
Toney was a 3 weight world champion. He was seen smoking cigars and lived the life of a celebrity. Well known for his dislike of training, he split opinions. Some say he was great and had a better defence than Floyd Mayweather Jr, a defence that inspired Mayweather. Others claim he was a wasted talent and a embarrassment to athletes.
Bernard Hopkins and James Toney were both middleweight champions in the 1990s although they were never in the same division long enough to be able to face each other. Toney won the title by knocking out the highly regarded Michael Nunn while Hopkins defeated Sergundo Mercado in a rematch to become champion. Hopkins held the title for a decade and made 20 defenses while Toney only stayed around for a few years before moving up to 168lbs.
What would happen if these two legends were to fight at 160lbs in their prime? Hopkins was and still is a master of his craft, and he knows how to pin point weaknesses and break an opponent down.
By Dan Ambrose: Some boxing fans may be sad to learn that former two time world champion Tomasz Adamek (46-2, 28 KO’s) won’t be facing 43-year-old James Toney (73-7-3, 45 KO’s) on September 8th as previously talked about. The 35-year-old Adamek’s promoter Kathy Duva was unable to make a deal with Toney, so instead Adamek may participate in the IBF ordered 4-fighter box-off tourney.
By Dan Ambrose: Tomasz Adamek (46-2, 28 KO’s) has picked out 43-year-old James Toney (74-7-3, 45 KO’s) to fight in front of his loyal fans on September 8th at the Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey. The fight will be a pay-per-view fight for Adamek back in his home country of Poland, and he’ll likely get a lot of fans willing to purchase the fight because of Toney’s well known name. He’s recognized even in Poland.
By Dan Ambrose: Continuing with his trend of facing over-the-hill older or rusty fighters, former two division world champion Tomasz Adamek (46-2, 28 KO’s) will be facing 44-year-old James “Lights out” Toney (74-7-3, 45 KO’s) on September 8th at the Prudential Center, in Newark, New Jersey.
By Jim Dower: 43-year-old former three division world champion James Toney (73-7-3, 44 KO’s) will be facing Bobby Gunn (21-4-2, 18 KO’s) in a 12 round bout on Saturday at the Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Toney lost his last fight against Denis Lebedev by a 12 round unanimous decision for the interim WBA World cruiserweight title last November.
By Gari Jones: In a totally one sided fight Denis Lebedev (W23, L1,D0, KO17) dominated James Toney (W73, L7, D0, D3, KO44) from start to finish to claim the interim World Boxing Association (WBA) Cruiserweight Title. While Lebedev looks to the future and a possible rematch with WBO Cruiserweight Champion Marco Huck, Toney has to look at this performance and realize that he simply doesn’t have it anymore.
By Jim Dower: No.2 ranked WBO cruiserweight contender Denis Lebedev (23-1, 17 KO’s) made it look embarrassingly easy in defeating 43-yer-old shot-looking James Toney (73-7-3, 44 KO’s) by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision on Friday night to capture the interim World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight title at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow, Russia. The judges scored it 120-108, 120-108 and 120-107.