Prime James Toney vs Andre Ward @168

[PBP]

Other than a prime Roy Jones who is an exception to every rule, if I were to pick one fighter to take to beat Andre Ward, it would be prime James Toney.

[Cardinal Buck]

I have little doubt that Ward would win. He hasn't lost a fight since he was 10 years old or something. He's too versatile for Toney. Toney never was unbeatable, just extremely stylish.

[Sweet Pea 50]

I miss these types of threads in NSB. Great posts.

Somehow, I see Toney catching Ward with something big on the inside, one of those looping, almost nonsensical, but educated uppercuts, and using the momentum achieved from said punch carrying him to a close S.D. win.

People would ***** and moan about it be "boring", but the fight would be slicker then trying to ice skate uphill in Alaska with oil drenched hockey skates.

[SeivUrBref]

Originally Posted by Cardinal Buck

I have little doubt that Ward would win. He hasn't lost a fight since he was 10 years old or something. He's too versatile for Toney. Toney never was unbeatable, just extremely stylish.

Toney was just extremely stylish? Never heard that before and if by that you are trying to imply that he wasn't that skilled only that he was extremely stylish then I have no idea what to say to you. That left me dumbfounded

[Cardinal Buck]

Originally Posted by AyoMaDu

Toney was just extremely stylish? Never heard that before and if by that you are trying to imply that he wasn't that skilled only that he was extremely stylish then I have no idea what to say to you. That left me dumbfounded

I implied nothing. I stated exactly what I meant. Great too watch, but not unbeatable...especially for boxers with good footwork.

[boliodogs]

I voted for Toney. The Toney that beat Barkley was to good for Ward in my opinion.

[Pacquiao'd]

dunno. awesome fight though

[timboslice708]

Originally Posted by boliodogs

I voted for Toney. The Toney that beat Barkley was to good for Ward in my opinion.

That Toney probably beats every MW not named Hagler/Roy Jones

[UnicornGirl]

Originally Posted by AyoMaDu

Wards not prime yet? I abso-fukn-lutely disagree.

No, I mean we haven't see his 'prime' yet. The Froch fight wasn't Ward's prime. there is no way that was his peak.

[raf727]

Originally Posted by Tmann400

I'm a big Toney fan. But, I disagree with what you just said. How is Ward a bad outside fighter. He's shown he can box inside, outside and at medium range. I think Ward would give Toney different looks throughout the fight, keeping Toney guessing. I'd say they're about equal in speed, if anything Ward being faster. They're also two COMPLETELY different fighters on the inside.

I think Ward's skill level, timing, the angles he comes from, chameleon-like versatility, and talent would at the very least make this fight very close, if not, Ward pulls out a 115-113 116-112 kind of win. That's coming from a LONGTIME Toney fan. Toney struggled badly with "boxers" like Ward. Guys who played the angles, who had elite boxing skills, who could give you different looks. Toney did best with guys he could allow to come to him, where he could relax and time guys while laying back on the ropes. When guys flipped the script on Toney, and used lateral movement and played the angles, he had big problems.

All I can say is, this would be a magnificent display of elite, high speed chess-like boxing.

Toney has way more handspeed than Ward, and Toney can crack. Ward isn't like freakishly fast like RJJ was, I don't even consider him to have much handspeed. He is a very good well rounded boxer, not excellent in anything specific but covers all his bases. James Toney had some of the best timing of all time, thats why he is one of the greatest counter punchers ever and arguably the greatest in-fighter of all time. Ward would lose bad. He had trouble with Montell Griffin, but I don't see Ward able to fight that kind of fight with him.