|
 James Toney Tackles the Heavyweights
By David A. Avila (October 2, 2003)
 Send this page to friend Give us your feedback
 MAX STAFF Fight Picks -
Toney vs Holyfield The picks are in. See who Mike Katz and the MaxBoxing staff pick to win and why. Here is where we lay it on the line. See our Fight Picks
As a high school defensive back in his home state of Michigan, James Toney relished bone crunching one-on-one confrontations on the open football field and never liked relying on others. As a prizefighter the feeling is intensified.
“Where I come from they have real fighters,” said Toney, the IBF cruiserweight title-holder who says he was raised in Detroit. “I don’t need pads to do what I do best, that’s hurting people.”
This Saturday, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Toney (66-4-2, 42 KOs) gets a chance to fight the “Real Deal” in Evander Holyfield (38-6-2, 25 KOs), the four-time heavyweight champion of the world. And like facing an All-American halfback in the open field, it will only be two people in front of thousands of fans at the arena and or hundreds of thousands watching on Showtime pay-per-view.
Little known to fans, Toney is a history buff who loves to watch old films of fighters from the past.
Like a jazz musician studying riffs from trumpet players like Fats Navarro and Clifford Brown, Toney studies boxers from the past like Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore and Jersey Joe Walcott. These are the men who provide the riffs and improvisations that ‘Lights Out’ takes with him to the ring. He’s made a study of their 1940s and ‘50s techniques resulting in his ability to shrug off blows, deflect punches with his arms and counter with deadly accuracy.
“He’s like the old fighters I used to see on the Gillette boxing shows in the ‘50s,” said Tim Douglas, an ardent boxing fan from Los Angeles who plans to see the fight in Las Vegas. “There aren’t many fighters like James Toney who will fight anybody at any weight.”
Despite weighing more than 215 pounds as a football player, Toney’s career began as a junior middleweight and quickly matured into a middleweight where he beat Merqui Sosa for the little recognized IBC title in January 13, 1991. Sosa was undefeated at the time. Two fights later on May 10 of the same year, he moved to middleweight and upset the IBF champion Michael Nunn in the 11th round. He was behind on points against the speedy fighter and pulled it out with a picturesque left hook knock out.
“I never try to win by decision,” said Toney, recalling that fight 12 years ago. “I never want to leave it to the judges. I want to be the judge, jury and executioner.”
With weight an issue after successfully defending the title against such stalwart fighters like Mike McCallum, Reggie Johnson and Glenn Wolfe, Toney moved up to super middleweight and captured the IBF 168-pound title against rugged Iran Barkley who had just beaten Hall of Fame fighter Tommy “Hit Man” Hearns for the second time. The fighter called “Lights Out” turned the switch off on Barkley after 10 rounds.
After defending the title three times and participating in seven non-title fights, Toney met with another unbeaten fighter named Roy Jones Jr. on Nov. 18, 1994 and learned an important lesson about fighting with physical impairments such as the flu.
“I was sick, man,” said Toney, who hates that he has to explain the lop-sided loss to Jones who also scored a knockdown by catching Toney off balance. “I was never hurt by Roy Jones.”
That loss put Toney on a tailspin and out of control. His weight became a constant problem and like an Indy race driver with his gas tank on empty, losing is inevitable. In the next three years the virtuoso boxer would suffer a loss each year, despite having the superior power and boxing knowledge.
“People didn’t believe in me,” said Toney, who has reeled off 12 consecutive wins without a loss since May 14, 1997.
The turning point for Toney was marriage.
“After I got married I had to a family to care for,” said Toney, 35, whose gruff manner and intimidating stare keeps many boxers from entering the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood where he trains under the guidance of Freddie Roach. “It wasn’t about just me any more.”
With a renewed interest in fighting, he ventured back to the gym after an almost two year lay-off. Once he put on the gloves, it was obvious that he still had the skills that made him one of the most feared fighters in the world.
Roach, who was recently voted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame as a trainer, said Toney is the best fighter he’s ever seen.
“James is a natural-born fighter,” said Roach, a mild-mannered man who was a top fighter in his youth. “He does things inside the ring you can’t teach. He is so relaxed in the ring.”
Outside of the ring, rumors swirled that Toney was uncontrollable and violent.
When a motion picture company came to the gym looking for a candidate to play Joe Frazier in the movie “Ali,” Toney was not even considered. Only after constant pleading was the Michigan transplant given a chance. And even then, a massive former heavyweight was assigned to protect the actors like Will Smith should Toney run amok.
It wasn’t needed at all.
“I told Will that I wasn’t going to hurt him,” said Toney who had to film sequences with Smith in the ring. “I’m a man of my word.”
The filming commenced with nary a problem and now Toney has additional roles in movies coming up including a Wesley Snipes film.
“Right now I’m not even thinking about movies,” said Toney. “I just want to win this fight.”
Long-time friend and advisor John Arthur, who goes by the name “Pops”, said his protégé’s mentality is razor sharp.
“I’ve known James through his ups and downs, I’ve never seen him this way before,” said Arthur. “I can’t see anybody beating James when he’s like this.”
Toney, who vaulted back to super stardom after his victory over undefeated Vassiliy Jirov, sees this fight against heavyweight great Holyfield as a steppingstone to the heavyweight title.
“It is a pleasure to fight a great champion like Evander Holyfield. I thank him for giving me the opportunity. I want to fight the best opposition. I have always wanted to fight as a heavyweight,” said Toney. “He’s going to have a long night. It’s going to be him and me in there. Nobody else.”
Just like his days on the gridiron.
 James Toney "Lights Out" granted MaxBoxing exclusive access. This is real, raw gym action, James Toney style, and not for "sissies" (as Lights Out would say).
Watch Now
 Evander Holyfield Exclusive one on one interview talking about fighting James Toney on October 4th.
Watch Now
 James Toney Exclusive Interview from training camp at the WildCard Boxing Club. Toney tells us the exact round he's gonna KO Evander on Oct 4th. Also featuring trainer Freddie Roach.
Watch Now
Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums
David Avila's Archives - Click Here
|
