Toney's big Chance

Tom Donelson

19.04 - The cruiserweight division is the forgotten division. It is often a place for overweight light heavyweights who cannot make the transition to heavyweights or small heavyweights who just don't have the power to compete at the higher level. The cruiserweight division was designed to give 190 pound fighters a place to compete as the heavyweights were evolving into gargantuan giants.

With Jones victory over Ruiz, this division loses even more measure as Jones simply went up to heavyweight and bypassing the division and I would suspect that no one including many boxing pundits even know who are the cruiserweight champions. For those who are interested, the best in the division is Vassily Jirov. Jirov is a 6'1" lanky boxer who is a smooth technician with power at the 190-pound range. He fights a pressuring style in a southpaw stance.

James Toney is the enigma that has baffled many pundits, myself included. He is slick boxer with a power who has moved up from middleweight and fought at the heavyweight division. Toney can be a cutie, with great upper body movement- capable of avoiding punches. Toney is one of those fighters that we pundits hate. Toney does not always come into shape for his fight and he does not always fight for full three minutes. There are times that Toney is so in love with his defense that he sometimes forget to punch as he dodges one shot after another. Toney occasionally allows inferior fighters to stay in fights but if there is one man who could test the undefeated Jirov, it is Toney who has never been stopped and has a solid chin to go with sneaky power. Toney is a cutie who knows every trick. It has been nearly a decade that Toney has been involved in a big match and that fight was with Roy Jones. Toney has been one of the better fighters over the past decade and under appreciated for the skills that he possesses.

Toney began his professional career at the age of 20 and after seven fights; Jackie Kallen took over as his manager. The former publicist for the Kronk gym guided Toney to a championship bout against the then undefeated IBF middleweight champion, Michael Nunn. Fighting in Nunn's hometown, Toney upset the champion with an 11th round knockout. In less than two months, he defeated the always-tough Reggie Johnson in Vegas. Over the next three years, he fought and won 20 fights before losing to Roy Jones, Jr. In between fights, Toney weight would balloon over 200 pounds and he always had difficulty in making weight.

Toney moved up to the Super Middleweight where he demolished Iran Barkley and pummeled the champion's face to a bloody mess. Before he fought Roy Jones, he defeated Anthony Hembrick in a light heavyweight fight. In one dramatic fight that showed his character, he took on Tim Littles. The first three rounds, Toney gave Littles a boxing lesson till both men heads collided. In between rounds and blood spurting on Toney's fight, the fight doctor threatened to stop the fight. Toney told his corner, "I will knock the mother fucker out" and like a caged lion hungry for food, Toney knocked his opponent out in a ferocious attack. Littles laid on the canvas for several minutes.

Toney's next fight was against the former light heavyweight champion, Prince Williams. In a fight that could be a preview of Toney's fight with Jirov, Williams attempted to impose supposedly strength but Toney merely rolled with Williams punch and counter punch hard shots back to Williams's body and head. In the 12th round, Toney ended the fight with a knock out. Toney demonstrated that he was a stronger fighter that people gave him credit for.

Toney's fight with Jones was to be his moment to solidify his claim as one of the best pound for pound. Toney's weight, like in the past ballooned upwards above the 200 pounds range, and he was force to get in shape as he trained. Jones, on the other hand, was in supreme condition for the fight. Jones fought a strategic fight and won an easy decision. After this, Toney moved up in weight and fought Montell Griffin, who was handed a controversial decision. Toney, irritated with the fight and his management, left Jackie Kallen and hired a former Light Heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad to be his trainer and Stan Hoffman to handle the business side of his career. (Later, Toney would manage his own career and replace Mustafa Muhammad with Freddie Roach, his present trainer.)

For the past five years, Toney has been a good fighter but not quite the great fighter that he showed potential in becoming. With weight ballooning in between fights, Toney's biggest problem appeared to staying in shape but his boxing skills allowed him to survive within the ring. His savvy and power gives him advantage.

Toney now has one more chance to solidify his own place in boxing history and at the same time introduce boxing fans to the Cruiserweights. Jirov is the perfect foil for Toney and if nothing else, Toney's defensive skills will be tested as Jirov will attack and pressure. Jirov will not allow Toney time off but then Jirov will never have faced a boxer with Toney's skills. Toney's is the more skilled fighter but Jirov does have technical skills. Toney's is confident that he will win and his real goal is that after Jirov's fight, he wants to fight Roy Jones, Jr. This is the one fight that still scars him and he still feels that he can beat Jones. The only way, he can force this fight is to beat Jirov and beat him decisively. Toney fights for history and glory. Only victories over good fighters will ensure his place. Jirov, like Toney, is one of those unappreciated fighter and is unknown except to the most hardcore of boxing fans. Too bad, for this fight should be a great fight. Both fighters deserve better.