Guy fought 90 professional fights, over 5 divisions. From middle to heavy. 77-10-3 Never stopped, and as good a boxer as I’ve ever seen
Without REALLY Knowing Exactly How Much Schooling/Tutelage Toney Received in His Developmental Years, REED Can Say Dude was One of the More NATURAL Fighter's He's Ever Seen.... Little to No WASTED Effort/Movement/Punches, GUTS, Reliable Beard, a Legit Mean Streak, Enough POWER to Hurt Most Foes w/a Couple Well Placed Shots and One of THE Best Ring IQ's the Sport of Boxing's Ever Seen... James Toney was Among the Most EFFICIENT Fighters That Ever Lived... REED
James Toney was absolutely beautiful to watch when he was on. The counterpunching, combinations, subtle defensive movements. He was also one tough MF, I was pretty much in awe of his toughness after that 3 fight period when he fought Rahman and then Peter twice.
Appreciation for what? He was a fat lazy underachieving slob who only used his talents when he felt like it. You wanna appreciate that? Fuck that. Imagine being fucking Picasso or something and only half ass painting when he felt like it or when he needed some kfc money. Fuck appreciating this inaudible slob. He should be condemned for wasting his talents.
Toney isn't much of a waste of talent. To me, a waste of talent is a guy who never fights up to his potential and doesn't accomplish much. Toney fought up to his full potential in quite a few fights - he just had some gaffes in-between. He's a HOFmer, a three-division champion, and a top 5 all time super-middleweight. There's been far more extreme cases of wasted talent.
True master craftsman and an artist in the ring. Wasn't always the most consistent and can blow hot and cold but when he was truly on form he is amazing to watch. He's an example of an ATG that could have been even better if he was more disciplined but still had a very well respected career overall.
I rewatched Toney-McCallum 1 and Toney-Jirov so much the weird VhS distortions became part of the fight. Probably my most rewatched fights
If James was screaming that fighters are born not made, he was being dishonest. If there were no Bill Miller, there would have been no James Toney. There wouldn't have been an Emmanuel Steward either, because Bill Miller trained him too. His education was complete. But it took the first fight with McCallum to bring it out of him. After that fight he became James Toney. In the early 90s he said that his goal was to be heavyweight champion- he may have still been a middle at the time, or just moved up to 168. And he did it, I believe. Which casts a different light on the "fat and lazy" nonsense that stupid people spout.
When I heard him talk I noticed he had a effeminate way about him. But then I thought well hell he is british maybe thats normal for that part of the world. Is really gay?
That interview was pure gold. For all of the supposed bad blood between eubank and benn, they seem to dislike toney so much more in just a few minutes
Been a while since i've watched it but Toney-Jirov is one of my faves as well. Probably the only time i can recall off the top of my head really looking forward to a Cruiserweight fight in a "mark that date on the calendar" kind of way. Always love a good clash of styles.
Eubank was geniunely offended by Toney's yo momma joke . I think it's a cultural thing. In america momma jokes are part of trash talking its rude but its expected. Nigel and Eubank seemed shocked by JT uncouthness lmao.
Benn looked ready to go. Had Toney been in the studio with them, I think Benn would have charged him!
I dont know anything about the UK fighters. Just seems like they have a different sense of humor. They have a reputation for having good manners. Thats about all I know.
I don't know where that's come from, but a handy lad from a council estate - which is what at minimum 80% of boxers in the UK are - and good manners don't often go together
I mean when I think UK fighters Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno and Eubank come to mind. Not exactly what I would call brash and uncivilized. Unlike James Toney and Adrian Broner who are good shit talkers. Nothing against JT fun to see him roast fighters but UK fighters just seem a bit dull....square?
Back in the 1990s a lot of that brash talk was unheard of. We didnt go in for it till Naz. Lewis tried it with Bruno it came off all wrong. Back then fighters either shook hands and got on with or genuinely disliked each other. There was none of this smack talk baloney, really. So Benn and Eubank didn't really know how to respond to that from Toney and they didnt know hom well enough to hate him like they did each other.
I owned fuck all like a lot of kids then.... Got a pair of Wilson trainers in 1992 that i wore till they literally came apart. Russell, LA Gear, Nike Air, Toney himself wore Pony gear, Reebok Pump, Stussy...... all the cool MoFos owned that shit. Gola, Patrick, Hi Tec, SRi etc for the unmonied unhip.
