By Rick Reeno
The talking is almost done. This Saturday night, two legends will collide in the octagon for bragging rights. The Ultimate Fighting Championship debuts in the state of Massachusetts at the TD Garden in Boston. One of the most talked about fights on this particular pay-per-view card, UFC 118, will showcase a boxing vs. mixed martial arts encounter when James "Lights Out" Toney makes his MMA debut against Randy "The Natural" Couture.
Toney, with a record of 72-6-3, 44KOs as a boxer, and a former middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champion, will put his money where his mouth is, when he challenges Couture, who sports a record of 18-10, 10 by TKO/Submission. Couture is a former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion. Toney's record has key wins over Evander Holyfield, Vassily Jirov, Mike McCallum, Tim Littles, Iran Barkley and Michael Nunn. Couture's record is equally impressive, with key wins over Tim Sylvia, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Vitor Belfort, Mark Coleman, Pedro Rizzo and Maurice Smith
How did this fight come about? UFC President Dana White told BoxingScene.com that it started with a war of words. White made it clear that Toney-Couture was not put together for the sole purpose of buyrate numbers. Over the last few years, plenty of boxers have trashed the UFC, and plenty of them have discussed how easily they could dismantle a UFC fighter. Toney is the first boxer [in terms of the UFC] to actually take it a step further by signing a contract to fight a top UFC mixed martial artist.
"It started with him chasing me all around the country, calling me names. He was chatting about me, the sport and the fighters in it. James Toney picked a fight for himself and now we're going to do it on Saturday. What happened was, when all of the smack was going back and forth between me and Toney, Couture called me and said 'if this fight happens, I want it.' Toney wanted [UFC heavyweight champion] Brock Lesnar," White said to BoxingScene.com. "Lot's of guys have talked smack. Only one guy has stepped up to the plate."
"We're not doing this fight because we thought it would do well on pay-per-view. That was never our thinking. James Toney ran around talking smack. He picked a fight. I'm a fight fan. I love fights. I think that my job is to make the fightw that the fans want to see. When Toney started doing this, more and more people said, 'let's kick this guy's ass.' That's how it all went down. We ended up making the fight and we'll see what happens on Saturday."
"A lot of fighters have talked smack and a lot of fighters have said a lot of things. But he's actually doing it. Let's be honest here, I have a lot of respect for James Toney. He's been one of the best for years and years. He's a bad dude. He's a mean dude. This just didn't pop up out of nowhere. Toney was talking smack in 2002 and wanted to fight Tito Ortiz."
Based on the expert opinions being voiced in both sports, boxing and MMA, Toney may have bit off a little bit more than he could chew by making his MMA debut against a fighter on the level of Couture, regarding as one of the best wrestlers to ever compete in the UFC. Besides his UFC credentials, Couture has an impressive amateur background as a wrestler. He was a three-time Olympic team alternate (1988, 1992 and 1996); a semifinalist at the 2000 Olympic Trials; a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division-I All-American and a two-time NCAA Division-I runner-up at Oklahoma State University. In 1992, he was the Division-I runner up at 190 pounds, coming in second after Mark Kerr.
"Randy is one of the best guys to come up with gameplans and to go in there and expose guys weaknesses....probably the best. I haven't sold this fight with 'come watch this unbelievable war.' I've been pretty much saying that I'm 99.9% sure that Couture goes in, double-legs him and puts him against the fence and smashes his head," White said.
"Like I've been saying, it's not like I've been trying to sell this fight as some unbelievable war, but I'm not ignorant either. What happens when they get in there on Saturday night, it's a fight. And anything can happen in a fight, and James Toney is a real guy and he can knock Couture out with either hand. He has more knockouts than Couture has actual fights. James Toney is mean and nasty and anything can happen."
What if Toney upsets the odds? What if Toney knocks Couture out cold?
"It absolutely, positively could happen. People make it like I'm this guy who is trying to destroy boxing. Boxing is destroying itself....it has nothing to do with me. The fact that the biggest fight [Mayweather-Pacquiao] that can be made isn't happening, shows you where boxing is and what they're doing. I love the sport and I'm not trying to bash it. Toney could win the fight. Toney is a boxer and Randy is a mixed martial artist. Toney has now dabbled in MMA now and what's going to happen when they get in the Octagon is a fight. A fight is going to happen and anything can happen in a fight," White said.
But, White knows that he's going to take a lot of heat, from boxing fans and especially Toney, if the upset actually occurs. The simple thought of an upset sends ripples down the spine of White.
"[If Toney wins] he would climb up the ladder at heavyweight and fight somebody else. Let me tell you what, and a lot of boxing people can imagine what my life will be like if Toney wins this fight. I'll have to deal with Toney for another eight months to a year. It's going to be fun. I'm going to get a lot of sh*t. I would be lying if I didn't say that I was nervous about this fight. When they walk out on Saturday night into that octagon, and say 'let's do this' - it's going to be fun," White said.
