Toney Sends Holyfield to Canvas in 9th Round, Casamayor Wins Slugfest

Photo: Tom Casino

The Holyfield-Toney and Casamayor-Corrales bouts will be shown in their entirety on SHOWTIME Saturday, Oct. 11, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

04.10 - IBF Cruiserweight champion James "Lights Out" Toney sent legendary four-time heavyweight champion Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield to the canvas in the ninth round and his corner decided to stop the bout on SHOWTIME Pay Per View. In other scheduled 12-round bouts on the telecast, Joel Casamayor scored a minor upset in a six-round slugfest stopped at the recommendation of the ringside physician over Diego "Chico" Corrales and World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion Cruz Carbajal retained his title with an eighth round knockout of challenger Gerardo Espinoza. The tripleheader, which took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, was promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions.

Toney (67-4-2, 43 KOs), of Los Angeles, by way of Grand Rapids, Mich., proved that he could handle a heavyweight as he kept hitting the former champion at will before Holyfield's trainer Don Turner had seen enough and told referee Jay Nady of Las Vegas to stop the bout following the knockdown at 1:22 of the ninth round. The IBF cruiserweight title Toney won with a 12-round decision over Vassiliy Jirov on April 26, 2003, was not at stake. That victory represented the 34-year-old Toney's first world title triumph in nearly nine years after holding world titles at 160 pounds and 168 pounds.

Holyfield (38-7-2, 25 KOs), of Atlanta, had trouble from the get go against Toney in suffering his second straight setback. The only heavyweight in history to win a world title on four separate occasions, Holyfield was knocked down in the ninth round after Toney kept pounding away. Holyfield, who turns 41 on Oct. 19, became only the second man following Muhammad Ali to capture the heavyweight crown three times when he stopped Mike Tyson in the 11th round on Nov. 9, 1996.

Known worldwide for his warrior spirit and superior boxing skills, Holyfield is one of the most popular and respected athletes of his era, and has battled every premiere heavyweight including Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Michael Moorer, Ray Mercer, Hasim Rahman and Chris Byrd.

Casamayor (30-1, 19 KOs), of Miami, by way of Guantanamo, Cuba, won the IBF elimination bout after hitting Corrales with a shot to the jaw that split his lip and eventually forced ringside physician Margaret Goodman to stop the bout after six action packed and hard hitting rounds by both fighters. One of the most prolific amateur boxers in history, Casamayor captured the WBA interim 130-pound title with a 12-round decision over Antonio Hernandez on June 19, 1999. After successfully defending the interim crown in November 1999, the 1992 Olympic gold medallist captured the WBA world title with a fifth-round TKO over Jongkwon Baek on May 21, 2000. Casamayor made four successful defenses before suffering his only defeat on a disputed 12-round unanimous decision to undefeated WBO 130-pound kingpin Acelino Freitas on SHOWTIME Jan. 12, 2002. Since the defeat, the current WBA No. 1 130-pound contender has gone 3-0, including a 10-round unanimous decision over Nate Campbell on Jan. 25, 2003, from Temecula, Calif.

Corrales (37-2, 31 KOs), of Sacramento, Calif., was upset the bout was stopped and begged physician Goodman to let the bout continue for one more round. Corrales captured the IBF belt on Oct. 23, 1999, with a seventh-round TKO over Robert Garcia. After successfully defending his crown three times, Corrales lost a battle of unbeatens when World Boxing Council (WBC) titleholder Floyd Mayweather defeated him in Las Vegas on Jan. 20, 2001. Corrales entered the grudge match in less than stellar condition and wound up suffering a 10th-round TKO. Since returning to the ring following a well-documented, two-year hiatus due to personal, managerial and promotional problems, he has gone 4-0 with four knockouts in 2003. In his most recent outing, the World Boxing Association (WBA) No. 4 130-pound contender knocked out Damian Fuller out in the third round on June 20 in Carson, Calif.

Carbajal (24-11-1, 20 KOs), of Veracruz, Mexico, retained his title as he sent challenger Gerardo Espinoza to the canvas at 1:07 of the eighth round. Carbajal hit Espinoza with several shots to the head and the body before referee Robert Byrd of Las Vegas called a halt to the action. He won the WBO title with an upset ninth-round TKO over Mauricio Martinez on March 15, 2002, in Veracruz. In his lone defense the following Sept. 27, he registered a shockingly easy fourth-round TKO over former world champion Danny Romero in Isleta, New Mexico. Carbajal has been a streak hitter since turning pro. He won his first seven starts by knockout and was unbeaten (12-0-1) after 13 outings. But from September 1995 to February 1998, he went just 2-8. Carbajal has won his last five fights, however, including a brutal second-round TKO over Steve Dotse on April 12, 2003, in Las Vegas.

Espinoza (27-5, 25 KOs), of Tijuana, Mexico, dropped down a notch in weight to challenge Carbajal for the world title. The current No. 7 WBO 122-pound contender, Espinoza won the NABO 122-pound crown with a fourth-round TKO over Manuel Ibanez in March 24, 2003 in Tijuana. The tough, hard-punching youngster registered a third-round TKO over Cristobal Valle to capture the NABO 118-pound belt on March 5, 2001. In his last start, Espinoza scored a third-round TKO over Cristobal Valle on Aug. 18 in Tijuana.

SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING's Steve Albert and Al Bernstein called Saturday's action from ringside with Jim Gray serving as roving reporter. Nick Charles and Steve Farhood, who call the fights on SHOWTIME'S popular "SHOBOX: The New Generation" boxing series, served as hosts for the event. The executive producer of the SHOWTIME Pay Per View telecast was Jay Larkin, with David Dinkins Jr. producing and Bob Dunphy directing.

Holyfield-Toney was produced and distributed by SHOWTIME Pay Per View.