Toney-Couture Mismatch
James "Lights Out" Toney is a former world champion in three different weight divisions, middleweight, super-middleweight and cruiserweight. Actually, make that a five division champion if you include overweight and grossly overweight. It is truly sad to see how far he has let himself go physically, often appearing out-of-shape and immensely obese for many fights later in his career. He is without a doubt one of the most skilled fighters to enter the ring in the last 25 years. He is also one of the most skilled eaters to enter a restaurant in the last 50 years.
Blessed with both power and speed in the ring (and at the dinner table, Toney now says that his goal in life is to show the world that the sport of Boxing is supreme. More precisely, Toney wants to prove Boxing's greatness by participating in a MMA match. I guess James Toney has taken more head shots than I originally believed. An all-time great fighter, he is a master defensive boxer with crushing knockout power in both hands. To see him knockout Vassiliy Jirov for the IBF cruiserweight title (April 26th, 2003) was to watch a master at work, feinting his opponent out of his trunks time and time again. He hurt Jirov with a left hook, then masterfully, went to the belly to get Jirov to bring his hands down before Toney knocked him out with a hook to the head. Adept at blocking and parrying punches, Toney is also a master at rolling his shoulders to avoid shots. Watching him feint and juke and jive in the ring is to watch a genius at work.
Toney, a sure-fire first ballot Hall-of-Famer, is evidently unaware of the irony and danger of his decision to enter the MMA in order to prove the superiority of the sport he so loves. Increduously, Toney has signed on to fight former UFC World Champion Randy Couture at UFC 118 in Boston, on August 28th, 2010. Couture is an all-time great at his sport too. He is also one of the few gentlemen in all of sports, which is indeed rare these days. I would truly hate to think James Toney is risking his life simply because he is in need of money. Toney has had a stellar, boxing career and certainly has earned many millions of dollars over the course of his long and storied career.
Toney's true reason for participating in the upcoming UFC event may never be known to anyone but himself. We don't even know for sure if he will show up. Toney always likes to keep people guessing. One thing is for sure. Toney has never lacked for confidence in anything he has ever done in his career. His rock solid belief in himself and his skills has been one of the reasons for his successful career. Toney truly believed that he could never be beaten in a boxing ring. More often than not, he was right. In Randy Coutoure however, he is fighting a man who is much more skilled and experienced in MMA fighting than Toney. Couture is a past world champion in the UFC and a man who is well-respected and feared in the octagon. Couture is always humble when he wins, and when he loses, which is exceedingly rare, he accepts it like a man, gives credit to his opponent and refuses to make excuses.
James Toney has had a truly great boxing career. That won't mean spit if he is not able to knock out Randy Couture quickly in their match. MMA fighters, like boxers, take years to master their various disciplines. It is not something you can pick up in a matter of months.
Whenever I think of James "Lights Out" Toney, his dramatic come from behind victory over Michael "Second To" Nunn (May 10th, 1991)always comes to mind. At the time of their fight, Nunn was considered to be the best middleweight in the world. Toney seemed to be sleep walking his way through the fight. After the tenth round, Bill Miller, Toney's old and venerable trainer, told Toney, "James, we're running out of rounds! You have to go get him now." Toney promptly went out for the 11th round and knocked out Michael Nunn in dramatic fashion to capture the middleweight world title.
Toney's career has had its ups and downs and share of controversies. He won a share of the world heavyweight title by thrashing the often thrashed John Ruiz. Toney's victory was later changed to a no-decision as he tested positive for a banned substance. I have always been a big fan of James Toney's skills inside the ring. His behaviour outside the ring has often been boorish and unprofessional to say the least. However, when he enters the ring, he always comes to fight and to prove he is superior to his opponent. However, I truly fear for his well-being once he steps into the octagon as I believe this time, he has indeed bitten off way more than he can chew, swallow and digest. One can only hope that Toney comes to his senses and backs out of this impending career and life-ending match before he is forced to change his name from James "Lights Out" Toney to James "Tap Out" Toney.
