Boxing Perspective: James Toney – Half Empty Or Half Full?

I’ve been thinking a lot about James Toney lately. I’m starting to linger in the camps of people who think he should retire. When do we start seeing the glass as half empty as opposed to half full when it comes to Toney? Without question he will be in the boxing hall of fame someday; if he doesn’t that would be the true robbery. But as good as Toney still is, can he still shake things up?

I’m beginning to think not.

With Toney fighting his weight as hard as he fights his opponents he is already limited. A fully conditioned Toney would not be a heavyweight; he would be a cruiser at best and those days are far behind. There have been plenty of heavies who have been out of stellar condition, who have still been competitive, but they usually have had something Toney hasn’t. Power. Toney hasn’t knocked out an opponent since the elderly Evander Holyfield three years ago. For Toney to move up in weight and no longer have the comparatively chiseled frame he had in the lower weight classes, it’s no wonder he hasn’t come close to putting an opponent down for a ten count.

But Toney definitely has something left. Fantastic defense that he embarrasses opponents with and pin-point accurate punches have allowed him to stand in with the much bigger opponents and now we can combine an unquestionably iron-cast chin after the bout with Peter. But in the long run, are those skills really aiding him or are they and advancing age turning him into a ticking time bomb in which the explosion will leave what’s left of him in league with the likes of Muhammad Ali or Meldrick Taylor?

There’s something to be said for being knocked out and losing as opposed to putting in a hard 36 minutes with your opponent rattling your brain in your skull over and over again and losing. Whether you scored the Peter fight in Toney’s favor as I did or you feel Toney was robbed or you feel Peter won, Toney got an L at the end of the night and a fighter has to begin wondering if it’s still worth it.

He’s been boxing professionally just shy of 20 years and he has a wife and children. A future without boxing has to at least be on the horizon at 38 years old. I’m not going into a conspiracy on this, but I don’t think boxing even likes Toney anymore. A fat, old fighter who is still faster than more than half the heavies in the division is no good for boxing.

It would be redemptive if Toney could knock a couple of these guys out; he could call fighters out for avoiding him. Win or lose, the fact that he was able to do what he did to Peter and to Guinn is humiliating to guys who are supposed to be boxing’s “future’. Granted, Guinn isn’t on a winning streak right now, but he is still relatively young and could be boxing for at least another 5 years.

What’s next for Toney? He could give any heavyweight a run for his money, but if the end goal is to become the champ or at least ranked in the fans’ minds as the number 1 fighter, can he do that? There is no question Toney is on the decline in his skills, however good he still is.

No doubt he can get another fight against a name if he wants it. But in a world where fighters can experience a freeze-out based on arbitrary or at best confusing ranking systems of the main three straps, it won’t be a problem for their holders to sidestep him and the other belt contenders can all just fight each other. After this loss to Peter, James Toney has probably fought his last significant fight.