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James Toney is insistent: the weight doesn’t matter – neither his weight when he steps into the ring this Saturday against Hasim Rahman, nor the weight that people are giving in speculating the results of the fight, based partially on his poundage.
James Toney is confident – he wouldn’t be an elite pugilist otherwise, nor would he be James Toney, the trash-talking multi-division titlist who tends to back up what his mouth spouts out, all the while providing the kind of quotes that only Bernard Hopkins or Antonio Tarver could similarly utter.
And the insistence and confidence come from his relevance, the reasons why, at 37 and more than 17 years into his professional career, his name is mentioned on the short list of exceptionally skilled, entertaining fighters.
“My legacy [is] already there,” Toney told reporters on a teleconference call last week. “I’ve done [something] that only a few people have been able to do.”
Toney had been referring to being one of only three middleweight champs in history to win the heavyweight world title, joining Bob Fitzsimmons and Roy Jones Jr. Never mind that his unanimous decision over John Ruiz to pick up the WBA strap last April became a no contest when Toney tested positive for a banned substance. For over twelve rounds, steroids or not, he had schooled Ruiz, a feat that many had been unable to do – not Kirk Johnson, Fres Oquendo or Andrew Golota, and not even Hasim Rahman. [details]
James Toney is confident – he wouldn’t be an elite pugilist otherwise, nor would he be James Toney, the trash-talking multi-division titlist who tends to back up what his mouth spouts out, all the while providing the kind of quotes that only Bernard Hopkins or Antonio Tarver could similarly utter.
And the insistence and confidence come from his relevance, the reasons why, at 37 and more than 17 years into his professional career, his name is mentioned on the short list of exceptionally skilled, entertaining fighters.
“My legacy [is] already there,” Toney told reporters on a teleconference call last week. “I’ve done [something] that only a few people have been able to do.”
Toney had been referring to being one of only three middleweight champs in history to win the heavyweight world title, joining Bob Fitzsimmons and Roy Jones Jr. Never mind that his unanimous decision over John Ruiz to pick up the WBA strap last April became a no contest when Toney tested positive for a banned substance. For over twelve rounds, steroids or not, he had schooled Ruiz, a feat that many had been unable to do – not Kirk Johnson, Fres Oquendo or Andrew Golota, and not even Hasim Rahman. [details]