by T.K. Stewart
James Toney turns 40-years young on Sunday, but that doesn't keep him from reliving the old days. 'Lights Out' claims that "back in the day" (around 1986) he had a minor altercation with football and baseball star 'Neon' Deion Sanders at a Michigan university football camp for promising high school football stars.
"I played football as defensive back and quarterback in high school," said Toney who grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "I weighed 205 pounds to be exact," boasted the former middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight champ, who turned pro in 1988 at a weight of 160 pounds.
"But it wasn't much of a scuffle," said Toney of the dispute with Sanders who would go on to play for five different NFL teams and four Major League Baseball teams.
"We was in football camp and the Michigan camps was one of he biggest camps in the world. We got in an argument over a bed, it wasn't much of an altercation," said Toney who shrugged off the dispute.
"It was two hits -me hittin' him - and him hittin' the floor," he chuckled. But these days, coming off his recent controversial rematch against Hasim Rahman, Toney has other things on his mind.
"The Europeans are scared to fight me," says Toney. "Klitschkos, Valuev, Sergei Liakovich, all these punk bitches are scared to fight me. They got titles but I'm makin' more money than them, that's one thing I can say. I'm makin' more money than these chumps. Hey, the bottom line is they can't beat me inside the ring," said Toney who is never at a loss for words.
"Sam Peter? I already beat him, but they robbed me. Hasim Rahman? Ruiz? Look I beat all the heavyweights in the division. Now I want Wladimir Klitschko or his big sister Vitali. Either or. It doesn't matter because the time is up. I've wasted the last two years but now I'm back and I got the heavyweight division on lock-down. Trust me."
While Toney's career has had numerous stops and starts over the past several years because of injuries and two suspensions for positive steroid tests, he has consistently called for fights against the Klitschko brothers. It's not clear who his next opponent will be, but right now Toney says he'll fight anybody.
"That includes Sam Peter, Klitschkos, Valuev, Maskaev, whoever want it, come get it. I'm comin' for ya' and whoever want it come and get it. I'm the people's champ and that's all that matters."
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