Essential The Official Boxing Random Thoughts Thread...All boxing heads ENTER.

[Dallas' 4 Eva]

Did u have the same energy towards Floyd fighting twice a year?

I didn't like that fukk shyt either.

Or giving us the Pac fight 5 years too late. Love Floyd, but he aint immune to this criticism either.

 

[patscorpio]

Gatti was a brawler amongst world level comp. Hed dominate off skills amongst non world level comp

Gatti didnt register really any top level comp wins but he had numerous good/great b level comp wins at least

 

[patscorpio]

this fight was hard to watch..this was before the diva shyt cotto fought like he was supposed to....cotto really beat the shyt out of zab man..PR specials and everything

 

[Dallas' 4 Eva]

If Pac really don't fight this year.

The whole welterweight division is being held up because of the Pac sweepstakes. I'm starting to understand why Dana White runs the UFC the way he does. One fighter shouldn't have that much control over a weight division(or multiple weight divisions).

Canelo keeping great fights from happening at 160 and 168, Anthony Joshua had the whole heavyweight division on standby last year for a pudgy Mexican who don't even want to stay in shape. Pac not fighting and when he does fight he wants to fight Mikey Garcia(), meanwhile everyone else is waiting for they turn at the table.

A fighter shouldn't have a stranglehold over the sport like that, and you wonder why boxing went from being one of the biggest(if not the biggest sport) in the US to a niche sport.

 

[patscorpio]

one thing about wlad thats not really talked about is his conditioning...dude fought 21 years...69 pro fights...been ko'ed badly in 4 of his 5 losses...ive never heard of him suffering any injuries..meanwhile vitali used to get awful injuries that eventually shortened his career

 

[bigbadbossup2012]

I didn't like that fukk shyt either.

Or giving us the Pac fight 5 years too late. Love Floyd, but he aint immune to this criticism either.

 

[patscorpio]

If Pac really don't fight this year.

The whole welterweight division is being held up because of the Pac sweepstakes. I'm starting to understand why Dana White runs the UFC the way he does. One fighter shouldn't have that much control over a weight division(or multiple weight divisions).

Canelo keeping great fights from happening at 160 and 168, Anthony Joshua had the whole heavyweight division on standby last year for a pudgy Mexican who don't even want to stay in shape. Pac not fighting and when he does fight he wants to fight Mikey Garcia(), meanwhile everyone else is waiting for they turn at the table.

A fighter shouldn't have a stranglehold over the sport like that, and you wonder why boxing went from being one of the biggest(if not the biggest sport) in the US to a niche sport.

pac only has one of those belts..spence has 2 and got into that accident fukking all types of plans..the ibf at least called the interim but the WBC nothing

the only 147 champ thats not held up is crawford

 

[patscorpio]

Not a very promising sounding and looking live stream

how he talks is whatever..but why is his face swollen?

 

[Dallas' 4 Eva]

pac only has one of those belts..spence has 2 and got into that accident fukking all types of plans..the ibf at least called the interim but the WBC nothing

the only 147 champ thats not held up is crawford

Pac fought last July bruh, it's damn near April and we don't even know who his next opp is.

Spence had the accident, but he was gone backdoor his fight with Porter with a Danny fight in January.

Crawford over there not even trying to be competitive, eating right hands like scooby snacks from euros who can't even beat extra average ass Ray Robinson.

Only the glamour weights(outside of 147) are interesting. Heavyweight has potential, but it aint there yet. These big nikkas need to get on they shyt.

 

[Dallas' 4 Eva]

Pac deserves his share of the blame too. They both was acting like some diva ass nikkas bruh.

 

[patscorpio]

Pac fought last July bruh, it's damn near April and we don't even know who his next opp is.

Spence had the accident, but he was gone backdoor his fight with Porter with a Danny fight in January.

Crawford over there not even trying to be competitive, eating right hands like scooby snacks from euros who can't even beat extra average ass Ray Robinson.

Only the glamour weights(outside of 147) are interesting. Heavyweight has potential, but it aint there yet. These big nikkas need to get on they shyt.

the thing is breh...147 hasn't been moving like that for years...ive said it for at least 5 years now that 147 wasn't it..thats why im not trippin on whats going on lol...last year you saw the division actually move a little and then it went right back to form lol

130, 160, and CW im more concerned about them cooling off recently...but i cant care on how welterweight moves anymore..until they give me a consistent back to back years of fades

 

[bigbadbossup2012]

Pac deserves his share of the blame too. They both was acting like some diva ass nikkas bruh.

Floyd was right for making him take a test, nothing diva about it.

 

[malbaker86]

 

[patscorpio]

ill be real on this...i see whyte or povetkin knocking him the fukk out

 

[patscorpio]

the GOAT Lights Out...I wish there was a Lights Out in boxing today..lol at the bolded on wilder ...GOAT

JAMES TONEY’S GREATEST HITS: LIGHTS OUT

BY DOUG FISCHER
Editor’s Note: This feature originally appeared in the November 2019 issue of The Ring Magazine.

THE CONSUMMATE THROWBACK FIGHTER RECALLS SIX ‘LIGHTS OUT’ PERFORMANCES DURING A LEGENDARY CAREER THAT SPANNED TWO DECADES AND FIVE WEIGHT CLASSES

James Toney was both a throwback fighter and one of the faces of a brash new era in the sport.

Although Toney was part of the next wave of boxing stars that defined the 1990s along with Riddikk Bowe, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Terry Norris, Shane Mosley and his hated rival, Roy Jones Jr., his boxing mentality was decidedly old school.

Toney would fight anyone, anywhere, anytime. He’s proud of the quality of his opposition, especially early in his pro career, which began in October 1988 and was kicked into high gear when, as a 20-to-1 underdog, he got a shot at IBF middleweight titleholder Michael Nunn in May 1991 and beat the pound-for-pound-rated southpaw with a dramatic come-from-behind 11th-round stoppage.

“I always wanted to fight the best, and I never avoided anyone in my whole career,” Toney told The Ring during a one-on-one interview in August at Buddy McGirt’s Gym in Northridge, California.

“I fought Michael Nunn and Mike McCallum in the same year,” continued the Michigan native, who earned The Ring’s 1991 Fighter of the Year award on the strength of those two performances (the McCallum fight ended in a split draw). “After I beat Nunn, I fought Reggie Johnson – the No. 1 contender – the next month. Who does that?”

Toney, who turned 51 on August 24, is also proud of having been a fighting champion.

“In 1992, I fought three title fights – including my second fight with McCallum – and two non-title fights,” said Toney, who fought 12 times in 1989, his first full year as a pro, and 10 times in 1990.

“In 1993, I fought two title fights – including Iran Barkley, who had belts at light heavyweight and super middleweight – and five non-title bouts. In 1994, I fought three title fights – including ‘Prince’ Charles Williams, the (IBF) light heavyweight champ, and Roy Jones – and two non-title bouts.”

His first championship run, which combined IBF middleweight and super middleweight reigns, ended with his unanimous-decision loss to Jones. It would be almost nine years before he fought for another major world title, but it was a wild ride that thrilled fans and fascinated sportswriters.

‘I don’t know who changed the routine in boxing or why they did it, but fighters these days only spar on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I don’t play that shyt!’

A big part of Toney’s appeal and media interest was his hot temper. The product of a broken home and rough upbringing in Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, it never took much for Toney’s inner rage to explode into his surroundings when he felt disrespected. His volatile nature made him a polarizing figure in boxing, but his outbursts and antics – which included verbal abuse and sometimes physical attacks on his opponents at press conferences and weigh-ins – went hand-in-hand with the often vulgar and violent “gangsta rap,” which he was quite fond of and was very popular during his peak years.

Like that vitriolic brand of hip-hop, Toney enjoyed crossover success for a number of years but had pretty much run his course by the end of the decade. Most fans believed he had burned out on the sport following a loss to unheralded light heavyweight Drake Thazdi in 1997. And they were right. Toney retired for one year (1998) and gained 100 pounds during his time away from the ring.

However, while his persona may have mirrored gangsta rap, his boxing craft, which was taught and developed by jazz aficionado Bill Miller, was pure Bebop. And that brilliant blend of offense and defense enabled Toney to make an improbable comeback in his 30s. His extended encore – which included a cruiserweight world title, The Ring’s 2003 Fighter of the Year award and legitimate heavyweight contender status – was guided by Freddie Roach and co-manager John Arthur, but Toney’s ability to mix it up with much bigger men was mainly due to a boxing foundation that was built by the old sage from Detroit.

“Everybody knows about Emanuel Steward, and most think he was the main trainer at Kronk Gym, but Manny had help,” Toney said. “Bill Miller, Luther Burges, Walter Smith – these were the main guys developing the first champions out of the gym. When Bill and Manny had a falling out and I parted ways with my trainers, Bill became my head coach in 1989.

“He sat me down and said, ‘We’re going to do this my way. You’re going to be a champion if you listen to me, I promise.’”

Toney learned how to box like the pro fighters of the 1940s under Miller’s tutelage, which meant learning the finer points of craft: jabs, feints, proper hand placement and footwork, head- and upper-body movement, blocking and parrying, inside technique, combination punching and counterpunching (which he had an uncanny knack for).

Toney, who only had 33 amateur bouts, put Miller’s teachings into practice during countless rounds of sparring.

“The only way to be a great fighter in this era is to box every day, and by that I mean you have to get your sparring in,” Toney said. “Bill Miller is one of the greatest trainers of all time, and he told me the only way to be a real boxer is to box every day.

“I had a gym back home in Michigan for a while, and every day everyone just came in to hit bags. One day, I came in and told them I want all these bags out. I told everyone in there, ‘If you ain’t boxing, don’t come to my gym.’

“I don’t know who changed the routine in boxing or why they did it, but fighters these days only spar on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I don’t play that shyt! I’m going to do it my way, and that’s the best way. From 1987 to 2013, I boxed every day in the gym.”

With Miller, who parted ways with Toney in 1995 and passed away in 2012, the education continued after gym hours at his house reviewing footage of fighters from past eras.

“Bill was a fight collector,” Toney said. “He had a giant VHS tape collection and I watched them every night after training, before I went to bed. I would take a look at the greats – Henry Armstrong, Ezzard Charles, Jersey Joe Walcott – and also some of the old-time fighters most fans don’t know about … Battling Siki, Gypsy Joe Harris. He introduced all these greats to me.”

Toney’s career far surpassed those of Siki and Harris, and had he been more disciplined, it could have been on par with Armstrong and Charles. With 92 pro fights, he fought 21 more bouts than Walcott, which was clearly too many, judging by his severely slurred speech today. However, he appears healthy; his spirits were up the day The Ring visited for this interview, and his mind remains sharp (he instantly recalled dates, locations, names and other details of every fight discussed).

Toney did it his way, learning the finer points of boxing while enjoying the finer things in life.

When asked if he regretted fighting as long as he did or fighting at heavyweight, which brought on an added degree of physical punishment, he said he wouldn’t change a thing other than be more dedicated to the sport.

“The only man that could truly beat me was me,” he said.

“It was always my dream to be heavyweight champ. I’m proud that 18 years after I turned pro at 157 pounds, I fought the No. 1 contender, Sam Peter, and I know I beat him. fukk the judges!

“If I was 35 years old today, I’d challenge all the top heavyweights, starting with Deontay Wilder – because he’s the easiest.”

That’s ole “Lights Out” for ya. He still loves boxing but adds that he doesn’t like the way the sport has changed, pointing to the inactivity among top fighters and their unwillingness to challenge themselves.

“Boxing has become soft, and I have a word for what it suffers from,” he said. “I call it ‘bytchitis.’”

Toney has mellowed a lot with age, but he’s still got some gangsta rapper in him and he remains at heart a fighter – one that certainly didn’t suffer from bytchitis, as evidenced by six of his greatest hits.