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Toney Should Show Goossen
the Way to the Four Seasons
by Kevin Iole (April 23, 2003) Photo © Gary Randall
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LAS VEGAS, April 23 — Maybe playing Joe Frazier did something for James Toney.
The one-time middleweight champion for a long time seemed more inclined to impersonate Eric “Butterbean” Esch than he did a real fighter like Frazier.
There was never any question about his talent. Toney had that in droves.
But fighters who make a lot of money often get satisfied and that’s what appeared to happen to Toney. Where once he trained with a maniacal passion, he simply became a maniac.
He would rant and rave and scream and shout, but he did little in the ring that made anyone want to do anything other than grab a pair of earplugs. He ballooned up to 270 pounds as he almost became a cartoon-ish sideshow.
He was Bernard Hopkins’ mouth and Morrade Hakkar’s talent.
But about the time he portrayed Smokin’ Joe in the movie “Ali,” the lights seemed to come back on for the guy knows as “Lights Out.”
Promoter Dan Goossen saw it. He was in desperate need of an attraction. His fledgling company, Goossen-Tutor Promotions, wasn’t going to hit the jackpot with Derrick Harmon vs. Glen Johnson or Robert Allen vs. Tito Mendoza.
Goossen’s modus operandi in the past would have been to lay out a wad of cash to sign a big name fighter and hope that big name paid off. If he didn’t, well, the Goossens would commiserate about their bad fortune in the presidential suite at Four Seasons.
But Goossen knows this may be his last chance, too. If he blows it with Goossen-Tutor, it’s hard to imagine he’ll find someone else to bankroll him as he has so skillfully done through the years.
So Goossen has to play it smart. He has to take a sixth-round pick and make him an All-Pro. He doesn’t have the budget right now to sign the first overall pick. Carson Palmer is not an option.
Goossen took a look at Toney and became intrigued. He was on the losing side when Goossen stunned Michael Nunn oh so many years before. There was no question that Toney had the talent to take Goossen where the ambitious promoter wanted to go.
Goossen, though, works with a budget these days. The late jack Kent Cooke once said he gave Hall of Fame football coach George Allen an unlimited budget and Allen exceeded it. There have been many in boxing who have said the same of the flamboyant Goossen.
Not so these days, however. He’s been looking for a Jaguar with only enough pennies in the bank to buy a Camry — and a used one, at that.
That was OK with Goossen, though, who looked at Toney and saw what could be.
“Mark McGwire not only recaptured his greatness, he was better in his later years,” Goossen said of the now-retired home run king.
And Goossen has a point there. From 1989, when he was 25, through 1995, when he was 31, McGwire had .2,499 at-bats. He hit 193 homers and drove in 521 runs in that period with a batting average of .243.
But from 1996, when McGwire was 32, through the end of his career in 2001, when he was 37, he had 2,528 at-bats. He hit 306 homers and drove in 667 runs in that period with a batting average of .279.
So, maybe James Toney is not the throwback to the Jake LaMottas and Carmen Basilios like he likes to say. Maybe this guy is boxing’s version of Mark McGwire.
“When James Toney is focused and James Toney is prepared, James Toney wins. Period,” he said. “It’s that simple. A lot of the stuff that happened to me, I did to me.”
He seems determined to recover from the self-inflicted wounds and chose the star-searching Goossen to assist him.
Goossen has never met a reclamation project he didn’t like — how many boxing writers did Goossen call last summer, begging for Tim Witherspoon stories? — and he jumped at the chance to work with Toney.
He made the leap, though, only after being convinced that Toney’s dinner bill wouldn’t be equivalent to some of Goossen’s hotel bills.
“James had this little dark side of his career where he ballooned up near 300 pounds,” Goossen said. “He won through that period only because he has an incredible amount of talent. It wasn’t because of a burning desire or a fire in his belly to be the best.
“I just made a determination with James that I wasn’t going to sit and commit my abilities to promote him if he wasn’t going to commit his. The first week or two, frankly, things were a little shaky.”
Toney likes to see where he stands with people and he tested Goossen. He would say he would go to the gym and then would skip a session or show up and leave early.
Goossen was ready to walk.
“I told him that if he mentally agreed to give it all he had, he still could be one of the greatest,” Goossen said. “He looked at me and said, ‘Dan, you’re right. I will.’ He made that commitment and he hasn’t hedged once. He’s worked out three times a day. No drinking. No drugs. He’s been phenomenal.”
On Saturday, he gets a chance at salvation. The glory that was lost when he was dominated by Roy Jones Jr. and whipped twice by Montell Griffin can be recaptured if he beats Vassiliy Jirov in the most important fight in the cruiserweight division since Evander Holyfield fought Dwight Qawi on July 12, 1986.
In Jirov, though, Toney fights one of this era’s most underrated fighters. Jirov is a vicious body puncher who will have an easy time of it if Toney is not in shape.
Jirov will sap his strength, wear him down and stop him if Toney pulls a Kevin Kelley.
Don’t expect that to be the case, though.
Toney is the more talented guy and he’s still hungry. He has the something that could make him special. He’ll break Jirov’s spirit and then break him down physically.
Look for Toney to stop Jirov late or score a clear decision.
And then Goossen will be able to afford the Four Seasons suites again.
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E-Mail Kevin Iole at keviniole@lvcm.com
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