James Toney's destruction of Evander Holyfield

Man, this fight bummed me out at the time. But looking back, HW toney was fun to watch. Almost didn't make sense how this round guy was so slick, so smooth.

And we can agree that whatever PEDS possibly done cancel each other out in this fight.
 
That was a great display by Toney, he really took Evander to school. Big stoppage to have on your record.
 
revoltub said:
Man, this fight bummed me out at the time. But looking back, HW toney was fun to watch. Almost didn't make sense how this round guy was so slick, so smooth.

And we can agree that whatever PEDS possibly done cancel each other out in this fight.
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I was pissed that Holyfield lost at the time, but he was still game for years after this.


IMO that Valuev fight was a ridiculous robbery. Holyfield should've had the record for oldest fighter to win the title and been a five time HW champ.


RE the PEDs, maybe I'm naive, but I honestly don't think that Toney was using until he ruptured his Achilles and couldn't train properly anymore.
 
I loved this this fight because it showed what Holyfield was capable of against some that was slick enough to avoid his headbutting. Holyfield had nothing for Toney.
 
Great fight and an amazing display of skills, how TOney was able to shut down his inside game, something that a ton of legit HWs and SHW have struggled with.
Just imagine if Toney had Holyfield's work ethic...
 
Prefect said:
I loved this this fight because it showed what Holyfield was capable of against some that was slick enough to avoid his headbutting. Holyfield had nothing for Toney.
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Wasn't Holyfield at or close to his best though.

Cruiserweight Holyfield (1988) vs. cruiserweight Toney (1999) would be interesting.
 
defjaam said:
Wasn't Holyfield at or close to his best though.

Cruiserweight Holyfield (1988) vs. cruiserweight Toney (1999) would be interesting.
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Holyfield was 41 and had lost his last fight, nearly a year earlier, to Chris Byrd. Holyfield hadn't really had a solid win for 5-6 years--just a bunch of razor close fights and draws.
 
I think this version of Toney might have been one of the hardest heavyweights to beat. I don't recall any other fight at HW where he came in shape, but this version of Toney just looks unstoppable. Sure Holyfield wasn't at his peak, but neither was Toney and Holyfield was probably on even better shit than Romero. There's a gym story of one of the Klits brothers getting knocked out cold against Toney when he was a middleweight at Freddy's gym, and I believe it. Toney came in out of shape and with camp problems in some of his biggest fights and tended to only train to the level of his opponent, but when he was focused and prepared he was probably the greatest technician ever.
 
SimbaSpice said:
I think this version of Toney might have been one of the hardest heavyweights to beat. I don't recall any other fight at HW where he came in shape, but this version of Toney just looks unstoppable. Sure Holyfield wasn't at his peak, but neither was Toney and Holyfield was probably on even better shit than Romero. There's a gym story of one of the Klits brothers getting knocked out cold against Toney when he was a middleweight at Freddy's gym, and I believe it. Toney came in out of shape and with camp problems in some of his biggest fights and tended to only train to the level of his opponent, but when he was focused and prepared he was probably the greatest technician ever.
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Toney left MW like 92/93 doesnt line up timeline wise to be true.
 
realdealgeale said:
Toney left MW like 92/93 doesnt line up timeline wise to be true.
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This could be a made-up story, but I may have just gotten the timeline wrong (LHW or CW). I don't remember the clip where I saw this. I suppose putting too much weight in gym stories is probably not a good idea.
 
SimbaSpice said:
This could be a made-up story, but I may have just gotten the timeline wrong (LHW or CW). I don't remember the clip where I saw this. I suppose putting too much weight in gym stories is probably not a good idea.
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Ive heard that story too, or at least a version of it. Something about toney besting one of them in sparring.
 
Easy work for James. The body work really paid off.

A bloated middleweight with a great chin can be a hell of an opponent for a lot of heavyweights. They're just not used to dealing with a person who has that kind of skill-set.

Toney had a massive back, shoulders and arms when he was doing steroids and he fit well around that 200 lbs mark:

 
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Bad style match up IMo. Holy inside game didn't seem impressive to me. He club alot and depended on it to bend them for the uppecut but a seem roll destroyed his whole offense.

Byrd beat Holy Easy too
 
Smokes said:
Bad style match up IMo. Holy inside game didn't seem impressive to me. He club alot and depended on it to bend them for the uppecut but a seem roll destroyed his whole offense.

Byrd beat Holy Easy too
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His inside game wasn't great but his workrate was great in his younger days. Holyfield relied on his physicality and toughness a lot, once he lost a step, the gaps in his skill got exposed by some of the more skilled fighters, like Byrd and Toney.

Let's face it, after all the wars, with how Holyfield preferred to fight, he was never going to be a force in his 40's.

We should remember how many problems Jirov presented to Toney by just being physical, swarming constantly and throwing a lot of punches. Old Holyfield on the other hand wasn't capable of stepping up the pace and was slow enough to where Toney had an easy time picking him apart. He clearly had problems taking it to the body too, whereas in previous times he was like a tank, as far as durability goes.
 
SimbaSpice said:
I think this version of Toney might have been one of the hardest heavyweights to beat. I don't recall any other fight at HW where he came in shape, but this version of Toney just looks unstoppable. Sure Holyfield wasn't at his peak, but neither was Toney and Holyfield was probably on even better shit than Romero. There's a gym story of one of the Klits brothers getting knocked out cold against Toney when he was a middleweight at Freddy's gym, and I believe it. Toney came in out of shape and with camp problems in some of his biggest fights and tended to only train to the level of his opponent, but when he was focused and prepared he was probably the greatest technician ever.
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Toney didn't knock out Klitschko, LOL... Must be Wladimir since he was coached by Freddie Roach for a while,.... There's a lot of gym stories floating around, but if Wladimir and Toney had a real boxing match, Wladimir would have definitely won.
 
defjaam said:
Toney didn't knock out Klitschko, LOL... Must be Wladimir since he was coached by Freddie Roach for a while,.... There's a lot of gym stories floating around, but if Wladimir and Toney had a real boxing match, Wladimir would have definitely won.
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I would favor the juiced-up Toney that showed up against Holyfield against Wlad. I can't imagine the robotic style of Wlad working against this version of Toney.
 
HW Holyfield was hot and cold, and he definitely wasn't on a great night when he fought Toney. That being said the boxing lesson is very impressive.
 
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