Just how great is james toney?

[RageX]

That is exactly what I have been trying to say. For some reason people have a hard time understanding how spending 99% of your training camp trying to make weight effects your performance on fight night.

Its not just the physical strain of having to make weight although that is a huge part of it. It is all of the other preparations that you could not do because you were busy trying to lose weight. The running you had to do instead of sparing and mitt work. The starving yourself so you are grumpy, and cant focus when you do get to spar and do mitt work.

It really pisses me off when people who have never had to make weight in their life discount how truly difficult it is.

There is a saying. Fights are won and lost in the gym. All of James Toneys losses were lost in the gym. They were never because Toney was outskilled, with the exception of Roy Jones, who is 50/50 to beat Toney had Toney been in shape.

Your only defending him because you have him in your Avatar.

[TheGreatA]

Wow, some of these Toney fans are going WAY overboard. James was a good fighter, could've been a great one but his style doesn't match well with Jones' AT ALL. Toney fought at his best as a counter puncher when his opponent came forward at him but Jones didn't do that.

Jones had faster, superior footwork (that Toney never really had), he also had faster hands and worked as a counter puncher who would at times leap in with unorthodox left hooks and rights, potshotting his opponent to impress the judges.
Toney had real trouble countering a fast moving target like Jones, he couldn't predict what Roy was going to do next. Toney couldn't bring his great inside game against RJJ either.

I'd pick Toney over almost any pressure fighter provided he comes into the fight well-conditioned like against Barkley (his calmness in the ring, inside work, right hand counters, upperbody movements and chin are unbelievable) and I pick him to outbox a lot of guys too but not Roy Jones.

RJJ had his number.

[Nwahs !!]

Your only defending him because you have him in your Avatar.

Umm? I never thought anyone would confuse Tux the Linux penguin for James Toney.

[-Antonio-]

His fights were lost in the kitchen. Him being lethargic in his younger years was because of his battle with weight imo. Toney is a gym warrior, sparred round after round with the toughest guys.

Then again he's admitted he hates running.

[sterling]

Get a grip of reality, you calling world champions and hard workers like Tarver, Woods and Johnson bums? In that case EVERY fighter Roy Jones fought was a bum so Roy must be another bum too, just slightly above those other bums.

Sure Roy was weight drained, shot and all that, whatever makes you feel good, but he still got knocked out by both Tarver and Johnson when he was a highly regarded fighter so those wins DO count as achievements for both.

First off every boxer is a hard worker.
Secondly roy jones jr's best win was toney and bhop thats why his competition was always critisized they even had a press conference about it.
Tarver and johnson what a joke do u think they could of even hurt jones in his prime ? no and why did they want to fight him when he was coming from heavywieght and not before ? hmmm a lil fishy there maybe saw a opportunity but oh well.
Gleen didnt even hit him cleanly jones jus fell hard on the back of his head the fall knocked him out more then the dam punch hahah and tarver is jus a joke always been a bum nothing gd to say about him.

[GunStar]

Wow, some of these Toney fans are going WAY overboard. James was a good fighter, could've been a great one but his style doesn't match well with Jones' AT ALL. Toney fought at his best as a counter puncher when his opponent came forward at him but Jones didn't do that.

Jones had faster, superior footwork (that Toney never really had), he also had faster hands and worked as a counter puncher who would at times leap in with unorthodox left hooks and rights, potshotting his opponent to impress the judges.
Toney had real trouble countering a fast moving target like Jones, he couldn't predict what Roy was going to do next. Toney couldn't bring his great inside game against RJJ either.

I'd pick Toney over almost any pressure fighter provided he comes into the fight well-conditioned like against Barkley (his calmness in the ring, inside work, right hand counters, upperbody movements and chin are unbelievable) and I pick him to outbox a lot of guys too but not Roy Jones.

RJJ had his number.

No James is an all time great and is great.

Here is a little article from James Toney's Biography.

Toney accepted the fight, believing that he would be able to make the 168lbs. limit one last time. The fight was set for November 18, 1994. Toney went into training camp for the Jones match a mere 6 weeks prior to the fight, weighing 214 lbs. By the day of the weigh-in Toney had stepped on the scale weighing a weak looking 167 lbs. He had lost 47 lbs in just 6 weeks. Toney was severely dehydrated and his camp knew it. After the weigh-in, Toney was hooked up to an I.V. in order to replace his body with fluids and he was kept on it all night until the next day of the fight. On fight day, just before entering the ring, Toney had weighed himself in the dressing room. It was reported that he weighed 186 lbs, which meant that he had gained an incredible 19 pounds in less than 24 hours. As Toney climbed into the ring and removed his robe, he revealed a soft looking body which lacked muscle tone. It became apparent that this was not the same fighter. In spite of the fact that Toney was so grossly out of shape, Jones still seemed content to fight a safe cautious fight. The result was a boring 12 round decision win for Jones. This became Toney’s first loss after 46 pro fights. After the fight, Toney admitted that he had been weakened by making the weight and stated that he would move up to the Light Heavyweight division.

[Nwahs !!]

First off every boxer is a hard worker.
Secondly roy jones jr's best win was toney and bhop thats why his competition was always critisized they even had a press conference about it.
Tarver and johnson what a joke do u think they could of even hurt jones in his prime ? no and why did they want to fight him when he was coming from heavywieght and not before ? hmmm a lil fishy there maybe saw a opportunity but oh well.
Gleen didnt even hit him cleanly jones jus fell hard on the back of his head the fall knocked him out more then the dam punch hahah and tarver is jus a joke always been a bum nothing gd to say about him.

As one of the most successful amateurs of all time, and a world champion, its hard to classify Tarver as a bum, but he is no match for a Prime Jones.

[sterling]

Wow, some of these Toney fans are going WAY overboard. James was a good fighter, could've been a great one but his style doesn't match well with Jones' AT ALL. Toney fought at his best as a counter puncher when his opponent came forward at him but Jones didn't do that.

Jones had faster, superior footwork (that Toney never really had), he also had faster hands and worked as a counter puncher who would at times leap in with unorthodox left hooks and rights, potshotting his opponent to impress the judges.
Toney had real trouble countering a fast moving target like Jones, he couldn't predict what Roy was going to do next. Toney couldn't bring his great inside game against RJJ either.

I'd pick Toney over almost any pressure fighter provided he comes into the fight well-conditioned like against Barkley (his calmness in the ring, inside work, right hand counters, upperbody movements and chin are unbelievable) and I pick him to outbox a lot of guys too but not Roy Jones.

RJJ had his number.

oh this isnt even about RJJ but they have had a similar career i mean come on we all know roy jones had the advantage over toney because of his style.
Toney was wieght drained also had to shave of a few pounds theres no excuse there but he was never dominated.
RJJ has lost to bums they fell of the radar a bit like toney but unlike RJJ toney kept on fighting showing his will to get back up there.
RJJ jus quit imo after losing thats why there records look so much different now and RJJ biggest win is toney.

[TheGreatA]

Toney wasn't even 30 when he started losing. Roy Jones is nearly 40. Glen Johnson and Tarver were NOT bums.

Montell Griffin wasn't a bum either but Thadzi? He was a decent fighter and a title contender but he had no business beating Toney.

And Roy Jones is still fighting, he is fighting against Tito next week.

[Ironside]

As one of the most successful amateurs of all time, and a world champion, its hard to classify Tarver as a bum, but he is no match for a Prime Jones.

Prime or not, Tarver would beat Jones.