...when he turned up: James 'Lights Out' Toney giving a clinical masterclass of 'The Sweet Science' to a hapless Iran 'The Blade' Barkley: jabs, great bodyshots, insane in-fighting, power-shots, almost clockwork counters, ring generalship...and all done with consumate ease and professionalism with zero fucks given attitude. Enjoy:
Yeah, no disagreements here. One of the great clinical beatdowns of all time. Another clinical beatdown that I love .. Hopkins vs punk ass Glenn Johnson.
Made all the more sour for boxing fans that they never got to see that James Toney vs Roy Jones Jr two years later. Robbed of a fascinating fight...
the comments are full of Charlie Murphy references - what's that about? what did he say about this fight?
yeh DubbleChin sent it to me eventually after Cupey stalled for about 2 years now that everything is on youtube it's crazy to imagine paying for tapes/dvd's back in the day, or leaving my computer on all night to download fights round by round via modem
In his own way... yes. I enjoy masterful clinics from guys with a wide variety of styles. If you ask me what I think is the BEST clinical beatdown of all time, I posted it last week. IMO it's Jose Napoles vs Curtis Cokes.
It does seem nuts. And if you wanted good quality, the things were not cheap. Especially in the 90's when it was mostly VHS.
Barkley was one brave SOB, he walked into one shot after another in that fight... A math made in heaven for an ace counterpuncher like Toney
Barkley was a bit like Cleveland Williams, a damaged man going in against a guy physically and stylistically designed to destroy him.