By Dr. Peter Edwards

This Labor Day weekend is filled with a mixed bag of boxing tricks. James "Lights Out" Toney (69-4-2, 43 KOs) goes head to head with Samuel "The Nigerian Nightmare" Peter (26-1, 22 KOs). The fight takes place in Los Angeles' Staples Center, with the winner receiving a mandatory title shot against WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev.

Rather than focus on a very interesting encounter between a great small fighter taking on a good big man, most of the media have turned their focus on the waistline of Toney.

In his last couple of bouts, Toney has not been in great shape. In 2003, Toney made his debut in the heavyweight division when he faced Evander Holyfield. That night he weighed 217 pounds. Since the Holyfield fight, Toney has broken his weight record with each passing fight. Not a very common occurrence among A-level prizefighters.

Below is a list of Toney's weigh-in weights for his heavyweight bouts.

1. Holyfield 217 Pounds. 10/03
2. Booker 227 Pounds. 9/04
3. Ruiz 233 Pounds. 4/05
4. Guin 235 Pounds 10/05
5. Rahman 237 Pounds. 3/06

As you can see, Toney has been getting bigger with each passing fight in the heavyweight division. On a 5'9 frame, that is a lot of weight to carry. For the upcoming bout with Peter, both Toney and his trainer Freddie Roach promise a much trimmer, in-shape James Toney.

The superior speed and boxing skills of Toney have made him a survivor in each fight, regardless of how much weight he accrued prior to the bout. He had a close call against Hasim Rahman when he fought the former champion to a draw, a verdict many felt should have gone to Rahman. Toney admitted that he was very sick prior to, and during the fight, which affected his performance in the ring and his training outside of the ring.

"None of these bums can stay with me. I will be in shape for this. Peter is a big, slow, one-dimensional robot. I have always been ready to fight anybody, any time, anywhere. My talent speaks for itself. On Sept. 2, it will be 'Lights Out' for Sam Peter. I will put him to sleep. It'll be his 'Nigerian Nightmare'," Toney said.

The pre-fight hype has been the usual foul-fest antics coming out of Toney's mouth during interviews and press conferences. It brings more attention to bouts and causes usually quiet opponents to open up. Peter is known as one of the hardest fighters to interview in the game, he rarely talks smack and usually answers questions with two-word answers.

But, even Peter could not resist matching words with Toney.

"No boxer, including Toney, can deal with my power," Peter said. "Toney likes to talk but I am going to shut him up once and for all. Toney hasn't looked good in a fight in a long time, and he is not going to look good against me. James Toney has had a great career. But his time has come and gone. This is Samuel's Peter's time."

In every single heavyweight bout, Toney is outsized, but Peter takes the size margin to a new level.  Peter, considered as one of the biggest punchers in the heavyweight division is looking to become the only fighter to knock Toney out. 

Toney, captured his first world title at the middleweight level of 160 pounds, followed by title wins at super middleweight and cruiserweight. On April 30, 2005, Toney became the third fighter in boxing history to start his career as a middleweight and go on to capture the heavyweight title. He decisioned  John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title. The title reign did not last long as Toney the outcome of the bout was changed to a no-contest when Toney tested positive for a banned substance.  On March 18, 2006, he received another shot at heavyweight gold. This time he fought to a 12-round draw with Rahman, the WBC heavyweight champion.

If Toney has any aspirations of being able to land another title shot, he must beat Peter to push the mandatory bout with WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev. If Peter wins, it will certainly be the end of the road for Toney. This is likely his last chance to position himself for a heavyweight title shot.
 
Peter on the other hand is also in a must-win situation. After a string of powerful knockout performances, the undefeated power puncher was handed the first loss of his career when he was outboxed over 12-rounds by the more experienced Wladimir Klitschko on September 24, 2005. Going into the Klitschko fight, Peter was being labeled as the second coming of Ike Ibeabuchi.

What we found with Klitschko was that Peter was a green fighter that had a lot to learn in the ring. After knocking Klitschko down on three occasions in the fight, he was unable to follow-up, his punches were often off the mark and he could not put any combinations together. He also forgot to pace himself during the bout, which resulted in fatigue in the late rounds.

If Peter loses the bout to a 5’9 middleweight-turned-heavyweight that is 38-years-old and near the end of his career, then the 25-year-old contender is going to take a serious hit in terms of credibility.  He will be recognized as yet another one-dimensional puncher.

Toney has speed on his side and will likely slip most of Peter’s punches. But, if Peter begins to work the body and hit Toney on the shoulders, arms, legs and fully concentrate on landing punches regardless of the body part, then Toney’s 38-year-old body is going to be put to the test. Toney is going to test Peter’s stamina by making him miss and making him pay, and if Peter doesn’t throw enough punches because of fatigue worries – it will play right into Toney’s hands with the scorecards.

Peter will have to pace himself to avoid fatigue, but at the same time he must throw enough punches to win the round and keep the fight in the middle of the ring. When Rahman kept Toney in the middle of the ring, he was easily winning, but when Toney let Rahman back him into the ropes – it was a totally different fight.

Toney ropes plenty of dopes when fighters back him up to the ropes and throw big volumes of punches while tying to knock him out, as he slips a majority of them and lands accurate counters in return. Peter must not become another dope that Toney will rope.

Neither fighter can afford to lose, and both fighters are starving for a win.