Toney-Jirov: One for the Fans

By Fred De La Riva

27.04 - It's been a while since I've written anything even remotely associated with boxing. The war has hit close to home. Thank God for tonight. It is better to see two men fight a "war" in the ring, than to see hundreds of thousands of men fight a real one. Toney and Jirov defined themselves tonight. They both fought brilliantly and valiantly. This fight will go down as one for the ages. Right up there with Ali/Frazier, Foreman/Lyle, Ward/Gatti, Morales/Barrera.

At the start of the fight, it was obvious that the better skilled fighter was Toney. His stronger, crisper punches were evident. His "old-school" style beffudled Jirov, but it did not discourage him. With the best chin this side of Mickey Ward, Jirov was not about to give up his title without a fight. He threw punches at the same rate of work, men 60 pounds lighter than him would have trouble throwing. A fighter of a lesser caliber would have wilted under Jirov's massive attack, but Toney isn't an ordinary fighter. He is the Michelangelo of his sport.

He painted his masterpiece tonight.

I watched in awe as he rolled with Jirov's punches. As he bent his waist to avoid some more punches. As he used every inch of the ring to his advantage. Though the HBO commentary made it sound like both men were fighting their fights, not to my eyes. It was Toney's fight. Toney had an answer for everything Jirov did. There were two types of fighters in that ring tonight. An incredible, tireless, extremely well-schooled and courageous fighter and a master.

Had Toney chosen to throw the left hook more often, the fight would not have gone the distance. He landed it viciously whenever he was willing to let it go and it was that same punch that staggered Jirov in the closing seconds of the 12th round. The strong barrage of punches that followed finally dropped the iron-chinned Jirov, but it was amazing that Jirov got up. The fact that he was still ready to fight while out on his feet, only served to cement his standing as one of the toughest fighters in the sport today.

I was not surprised to see that HBO's Harold Lederman had the fight scored evenly as this fight was a tough one to score. Jirov was definetely the busier of the two fighters and landed his fair share of punches, but Toney was as accurate as I have ever seen a fighter be. Tonight's fight was not only a fight for the ages, but it was one for the fans. And to me at least, it proved to be a much needed break from the war. Thank you Jirov. Thank you Toney.

Feel free to contact the author at delariva69@sbcglobal.net