Goosen calls Vitali a coward; looks to make Toney vs Byrd

[Brother Mouzone]

First he said he'd fight Toney or Rahman. It was set. His gay ass (as proven by my photo above)...pulled out for his injury. Then he was saying he wanted Brewster. So he went from Toney to Rahman to Brewster to...Maskaev? Come on.

i agree 100% vitali is ducking all these guys if you ask me whoever wins a fight in the hw he says he wants to fight and forgets about the guy he said he wanted to fight before.......he should get striped of his title this guy does not deserve to be # 1 he is not a true fighter or champion he is the reason the hw div is in the state it is in ...i thought i would never say this but i have more respect for RUIZ than vitali atleast he like the other hw is willing to fight and unify... something vitali obviously does no want to do ...

[Moon]

I appreciate Gossen's urgency. If Toney is to ever face Vitali it better happen soon, otherwise James' body could crap out.

Two other things ....
1) Toney-Vit is not exactly a fight that fans are screaming to see, unlike Goosen claims. Toney fans sure. Everyone else, maybe.
2) I didn't see anything in the Ruiz fight to suggest that Vitali would fall to Toney.

[The Devil]

From **********:

After reading our breaking news regarding Vitali Klitschko possibly facing Calvin Brock on September 24, James Toney's promoter Dan Goossen told **********.com, "The whole heavyweight mess has always been about Vitali Klitschko. All of the other top heavyweights are willing to fight the best except for Klitschko. They're always for the low risk, high reward and it's a shame because it's bringing the lighter weights to the forefront of our industry, which has always been carried by the heavyweight division. The heavyweight division should drive this industry, but when you have someone, and God knows why he has so much influence on being able to dictate who he's going to fight these problems arise. He recently tried to fight a double-A baseball team and him being supposedly the powerful Yankees. Then that fight gets nixed and he moves up to a triple-A opponent. I like Calvin, I've known him for years and I've promoted him before but when everything is said and done, boxing fans shouldn't have to watch the Yankees play a triple-A team when the Dodgers are there ready to go head to head with him." Read on to see what else James Toney's outspoken promoter had to say.


GL: So although Calvin Brock appears to be a promising young talent, you don't feel he's deserving of a title shot?

Dan Goossen: " The real fans won't be satisfied and some reporters will probably write that it's a step up from Oleg Maskaev, but warriors and great champions want to prove their worth. Look at Castillo and Corrales. Mayweather and Hatton, they want to fight the best. His biggest money fight is James Toney. And what does he try to do? Fight Oleg Maskaev. His biggest fight is still James Toney and who does he try to fight now? A triple-A farm club. He's beaten Jameel McCline, who dropped him and he just fought Kenny Craven. Who has he beaten? We've got a world champion in James Toney that the public would love the see, the industry would love to see and it's the kind of fight that the division needs, but Vitali Klitschko doesn't want to fight anyone."

GL: Since we all know that, has that prompted you to focus on negotiating Chris Byrd versus James Toney with King? That would certainly be the best fight for James if Klitschko doesn't get made and Wladimir and Williamson face each in a box-off.

DG: "You know I'm really so disgusted by this whole thing because our industry needs big fights. This man fights Danny Williams and his PPV numbers were in the toilet, he's not going to earn any new fans if he takes on anything less than a risky fight. It's this kind of mediocrity that hurts our business. To me, he's raping the system. He's trying to generate money and rip the public off. That's why I admire guys like James Toney, Chris Byrd and Hasim Rahman. They're willing to fight. Lamon Brewster, willing to fight. They're real fighters, and you can't respect Vitali if he's running away from every challenge. Let's assume Vitali wants the biggest challenges, the blame would still lay at his feet if he allows other people in his ear to tell him differently."

"You ask any of the top pound for pound fighters who they want to fight and they'll tell you the biggest threats out there to him. And that's Vitali hasn't gotten the respect of the American public because he won't do it."

GL: Tell us about Byrd-Toney already.

DG: "Look, I've had talks with Don. Byrd wants it, Don wants it, we want it and obviously James will take it. It's a real heavyweight fight."

GL: If Klitschko doesn't want to fight James next, is it important to put Toney in a serious fight like Byrd, especially after so thoroughly explaining why Klitschko has been acting like a coward?

DG: "It goes beyond that. The best fight is Vitali and James. As you know, Chris will fight anyone and Rahman is fighting Barrett. But we could only get to one great heavyweight champion with Klitschko. I'm not talking options and neither is Don, but still the only one who refuses to partake in it is Klitschko. It's not a matter of standing behind our word. The best thing for boxing is one heavyweight standing on top of the division. It would take about a year to do. Then you take Samuel Peter, Brock and Audley Harrison and every other talented young heavyweights. In a year or so we could have one true champion and one great young heavyweight.

"We're determined to fight the best out there and so are the other top heavyweights. Vitali Klitschko should not be rewarded for ducking his responsibilities. I think what all this boils down to is that Shelly and Vitali thought that Don and I wouldn't be able to agree about James fighting Vitali. Don wanted the fight as bad as me and James did. And that shocked them. They never thought Don would give his approval without options. The bottom line is, we need to get the best heavyweights fighting the best heavyweights. Clearly, that's not what Klitschko's about."

"I like Calvin Brock, but let him beat someone else before he fights the heavyweight champion. Let him beat someone like Sam Peter or Audley Harrison. I'll tell you this flat out, we offered them Audley Harrison and they turned him down. Why reward someone for not wanting to fight another up and coming heavyweight with a title shot?"

Whoever GL is should be ashamed for kowtowing and not asking any questions about the steroids. I am a huge Toney fan, and I want an explaination.

[Mike Tyson Jr.]

vitali sucks balls but I
cant support a dude who
cheats with steroids.

[AintGottaClue]

man this is pathetic, a man who doesnt have a belt and just got cought using roids is now entitled for a bigger or equal spilt against the champ? please toney fears vit he didnt take 60-40 and when he priced himself out of the fight he covered it up saying o i woulda taken it but blah blah balh. toney is a ***** who dont want none of vitali

[Bozo_no no]

Two things not mentioned in this thread that have already been misconceived:



1) Goosen and Toney have agreed to take a 35 - 65 split to make the fight happen.

2) Toney's suspension is up in August, and he has a fight date of Sept. 24th, the same date Vitali has




When Gooesn went on the record saying they would take the smaller purse, Finkle responded saying they were already too far along in the negotiations with Oleg Maskiev.

Now that's fallen through, and they're looking at Brock.

To me, the reson I find this so strange, is that Vitali stands to make more money fighting James Toney than he does in any other Heavyweight fight (it would be a substantial PPV), and Toney (if he wins) would be the best win on his resume.

They both have a date of Sept 24th. If it's true that Goosen and Toney will look to fight Byrd on this date if Vitali isn't interested, you have to wonder what will do more buys, Byrd vs Toney with a King undercard, or Vitali vs Brock (?) on HBO.

Its no contest. Vitali vs Brock wouldn't even be a PPV I wouldn't think.

[S0UTHPAW]

Goossen's Vitali bashing is just to get the fight, no real info there. But why is Goossen going after Vitali so hard if the fight with Byrd is there for the taking? Remember a big point to this thread is that Toney is the draw not Vitali, and Goossen spreads some love in this article for Byrd, just make that fight happen. Byrd may not be a draw, but neither is Vitali remember.

I like Toney and Goossen, but with just using the info in this article Chris Byrd ( The most fearsome boxer in history ) can say the same thing about Toney. Toney is ducking Byrd, Toney is a coward, the fight is right infront of Toney/Goossen yet Toney just looks away a heads after another fighter who they say is not a draw!

P.S. I do not believe Toney is ducking Byrd anymore than Vitali is ducking Toney.

[legend]

Toney is the draw according to who? Toney's camp? Just because his camp claims he's the draw doesn't mean ****. They're supposed to hype up their own fighter but they can't use their own hype as leverage to negotiate. It's up to the public to decide who the bigger attraction is.

What has Toney done to even warrant such hype? Beat an old Holyfield? Beat Booker? Barely beat John Ruiz only to get busted for steroids and stripped of a belt that nobody even cared about to begin with? YEAH!! TONEY's DA MAN!!

[Bozo_no no]

Goossen's Vitali bashing is just to get the fight, no real info there. But why is Goossen going after Vitali so hard if the fight with Byrd is there for the taking? Remember a big point to this thread is that Toney is the draw not Vitali, and Goossen spreads some love in this article for Byrd, just make that fight happen. Byrd may not be a draw, but neither is Vitali remember.

I like Toney and Goossen, but with just using the info in this article Chris Byrd ( The most fearsome boxer in history ) can say the same thing about Toney. Toney is ducking Byrd, Toney is a coward, the fight is right infront of Toney/Goossen yet Toney just looks away a heads after another fighter who they say is not a draw!

P.S. I do not believe Toney is ducking Byrd anymore than Vitali is ducking Toney.

There's nothing to this post.

Byrd was all about fighting Toney after James beat Ruiz. They had a date for July/August.

When Toney got the suspension, Byrd backed out and said he had no interest in fighting Toney.

The reason Toney wants to fight Vitali is simple. He's got the Ring belt, and is the most hyped fighter in the division.

There is no way you can attempt to slight Toney for targeting Klitschko over Byrd. It makes sense from a money and prestige point of view, as beating Vitali would see James end up with the Ring and WBC titles.

Now that Vitali appears to have no interest in fighting Toney, the Byrd option is being revisited. Byrd can be enticed into taking the fight, because King co promotes Toney, and can make the purse worth while.

In the end, if Toney fights Byrd and wins, he gives himself more amo to get Vitali in the ring.

[Bozo_no no]

Toney is the draw according to who? Toney's camp? Just because his camp claims he's the draw doesn't mean ****. They're supposed to hype up their own fighter but they can't use their own hype as leverage to negotiate. It's up to the public to decide who the bigger attraction is.

What has Toney done to even warrant such hype? Beat an old Holyfield? Beat Booker? Barely beat John Ruiz only to get busted for steroids and stripped of a belt that nobody even cared about to begin with? YEAH!! TONEY's DA MAN!!

If you're telling me you think Vitali would make more money fighting anyone outside of Tyson, I'm going to tell you you're crazy.

Toney isn't enough of a draw to demand a bigger purse, that's why he's agreed to take the low end on a split.

But he is enough of a draw to ask: why wouldn't Vitali fight this guy if he (Vitali) would make a bigger purse than he would in almost any other figtht?

A Toney vs Vitali PPV is the biggest money fight at Heavyweight (not involving a Tyson freakshow element).

I really don't think there's any denying that.