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James “Lights Out” Toney has now fought four times as a heavyweight and while many seem to think he’s a possible future heavyweight champ, some people just can’t seem to envision the idea of Toney as the undisputed heavyweight champion.
Is James Toney’s pursuit of heavyweight superstardom a serious menacing threat to the heavyweight division or simply an exercise in futility and plain old denial of one’s physical limitations in the division? Or is he just a heavyweight mercenary out for the money?
James Nathaniel Toney was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan on August 24, 1968. Currently he is fighting out of Sherman Oaks, California. Toney (69-4-2, 43 KOs) has captured titles as a middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and cruiserweight. He is a former IBF middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champion.
Toney won the WBA heavyweight belt from John Ruiz via unanimous decision in April of 2005, but after Toney failed a post-fight doping test and the steroid Nandrolone was found in his system, the fight was ruled a no-contest and the belt returned to Ruiz. He currently wears the IBA heavyweight belt, a lightly regarded bauble in the increasingly putrid pond of alphabet organizations.
As an amateur, Toney compiled a record of 31 wins, 2 losses and 29 of those wins by KO. At the tender age of 20, Toney decided to turn pro. After racking up a professional record of 25-0-1 with 18 KOs, Toney challenged Michael Nunn for his IBF middleweight title in May of 1991. In a fight where Toney was behind on the scorecards, he made a miraculous comeback by stopping Nunn in the eleventh round and capturing his first major title. That very same year, Toney was named Ring magazine’s Fighter of the Year. [details]
Is James Toney’s pursuit of heavyweight superstardom a serious menacing threat to the heavyweight division or simply an exercise in futility and plain old denial of one’s physical limitations in the division? Or is he just a heavyweight mercenary out for the money?
James Nathaniel Toney was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan on August 24, 1968. Currently he is fighting out of Sherman Oaks, California. Toney (69-4-2, 43 KOs) has captured titles as a middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and cruiserweight. He is a former IBF middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champion.
Toney won the WBA heavyweight belt from John Ruiz via unanimous decision in April of 2005, but after Toney failed a post-fight doping test and the steroid Nandrolone was found in his system, the fight was ruled a no-contest and the belt returned to Ruiz. He currently wears the IBA heavyweight belt, a lightly regarded bauble in the increasingly putrid pond of alphabet organizations.
As an amateur, Toney compiled a record of 31 wins, 2 losses and 29 of those wins by KO. At the tender age of 20, Toney decided to turn pro. After racking up a professional record of 25-0-1 with 18 KOs, Toney challenged Michael Nunn for his IBF middleweight title in May of 1991. In a fight where Toney was behind on the scorecards, he made a miraculous comeback by stopping Nunn in the eleventh round and capturing his first major title. That very same year, Toney was named Ring magazine’s Fighter of the Year. [details]
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