Let’s play boxing promoter…

I think being a boxing promoter is such a fun occupation – especially the matchmaking. If I were a boxing promoter, I would not only try to match the best … read more

Top 10 by Decade – Part II: Cruiserweights

Ranking fighters across different eras is a very tricky business. In Part 1 of the new “Top 10 by Decade” series, we explored the heavyweight division with a new scoring … read more

Gerald McClellan vs. James Toney: Who would have won this epic?

How boxing history, or to be more precise, middleweight boxing history, could have been different had this fight taken place – as it came so close to doing. It’s the … read more

James Toney arrives in UK for “exhibition bout,” gives his take on Joshua and Wilder

All-time great James Toney has seen it all, done it all and he’s fought ’em all, yet he’s still trying to keep on keeping on. Here in the UK on business – Toney will fight 2-0 light-heavyweight Sam Pomphrey in Bristol on Saturday night in what is either an exhibition bout or a white collar fight, depending on the way things go ahead on Saturday – and Sky Sports caught up with him.

James Toney to fight Britain's Sam Pomphrey in white collar bout in Bristol, UK November 25

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.

Happy Birthday, James Toney – where does “Lights Out” rank all-time?

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:

James Toney recalls his disastrous move into MMA, says his fight with Randy Couture “has nothing to do with Conor McGregor”

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.

James Toney victorious in his “final” fight, stops Mike Sheppard to win WBF belt

Last night in Michigan, in a fight that was barely covered, 48 year old future Hall of Famer James Toney improved to a quite amazing 77-10-3(47) with a TKO win over veteran journeyman Mike Sheppard. Toney, weighing a hefty 249 pounds, unloaded some hurtful body shots, sending Sheppard down.

The younger man (Sheppard is 41) got up but was counted out in the act of rising, the fight waved off. Sheppard is now 24-21-2(10).

“One Last Time?” James Toney to fight again; will face Mike Sheppard for WBF strap in May

James Toney, once a truly great fighter, is not quite ready to call it a day and retire just yet. The 48 year-old (49 in August) will reportedly face journeyman Mike Sheppard for the vacant WBF heavyweight strap on May 13, the scheduled 12-rounder to go down in Ypsilanti, Michigan. So far there is no word of any TV coverage, not even an internet presentation.

Toney, a remarkable 76-10-3(46) – numbers compiled without “Lights Out” ever succumbing to a single stoppage defeat – was last seen in a losing effort. It was back in August of 2015 when Toney was simply out-worked by another heavyweight journeyman in Charles Ellis, Toney dropping a decision in Missouri. Who knows what we can expect from Toney-Sheppard.

James Toney: Has “Lights Out” hit the switch for the final time?

“He didn’t pay his electric bill, so his lights must go out,” James Toney ahead of his 2003 clash with Evander Holyfield.

Some fighters, be they greats or mere club fighters, never make an official retirement announcement. Instead, usually after a loss, they just fade away quietly; fans only realising they haven’t seen them in the ring for quite some time before wondering where their one-time hero is now. It looks as though it might be this way for one of the greatest defensive fighters in history, a man who, in his own words, “kicked some ass all the way from middleweight up to heavyweight.”

The fighter in question is James Toney and although it could be wishful thinking speaking about how Toney, aged 47 (48 next month) and an astonishing 89 bouts into a career that began in 1988, might have called it a day – after all, Toney could remerge with yet another return fight at any time – things have been quiet lately.