James Toney

You won’t see it on BoxRec and chances are it won’t generate too many articles or post-fight reports, but all-time great James Toney is set to fight again – in Bristol, England on November 25, against Sam Pomphrey, 2-0 as a pro.

It’s a white collar bout and 27 year old Pomphrey, a good amateur boxer who boxed in a number of tournaments before briefly going pro (both bouts taking place at light-heavyweight, Pomphrey winning both via decision; his debut against a guy who was 6-36-2, his second fight against a 0-1-0 fighter) – is understandably excited about the prospect of sharing the ring with a living legend.

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Boxing great James Toney celebrates his 49th birthday today, yet we do not know for sure if his fighting career has yet reached its end. Back in May, “Lights Out” fought what was dubbed his “final” fight, stopping journeyman Mike Sheppard in a heavyweight bout.

But the lure of one more fight is there for Toney as it is for every fighter who finds it so incredibly hard to walk away. I messaged Toney’s manager John Arthur shortly after the Sheppard win, asking him if it really was the end for his fighter:

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Fight fans surely remember the time boxing great James Toney met MMA great Randy Couture in one of the first big-name crossover fights of its kind. It was back in 2010 that Toney, agreeing to fight Couture under MMA rules, climbed into the cage.

The fight, one that saw Couture win inside a round (just over the three-minute mark, having “choked” Toney) was a big deal, even if it was nowhere near as big as the upcoming Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight. Mayweather will of course fight MMA’s McGregor under boxing rules; something Toney tells Sky Sports he would have loved to have done in a return fight with Couture.

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