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Since the retirement of Lennox Lewis, the “clinically dead” heavyweight division has been in search of a much-needed star to resuscitate the worst division in boxing. Let’s begin by looking at all the champions. In the WBA, John Ruiz reigns supreme. Now I am not going to knock the “Quiet Man’s” hustle, he gets the job done. The name of the game is winning and he certainly does that. However, if you try to evaluate his last performance against Fres Oquendo, trust me, you would have a much better time watching paint dry. To know who John Ruiz is, you would have to be a serious boxing fan. He is not a household name; therefore, he is not a draw at the box office. To be honest with you, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Golota edged out Ruiz when they fought in a very, very close decision. Which in actuality would only have complicated things further in the heavyweight division. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that neither John Ruiz nor Andrew Golota is marketable.
Now your WBC champion Vitali Klitschko a.k.a. “Dr. Ironfist” is almost the total package. As opposed to Ruiz and Golota, Vitali is marketable, he gets pay-per-view buys, he has an endorsement with Boss, and the women love him. As for his skills in the squared circle, to be frank they should change his nickname from “Dr. Ironfist” to “Dr. Iron-chin.” Vitali possesses a tremendous chin, as well as an enormous amount of courage. In June of 2003, when Vitali and Lennox Lewis mixed it up, Vitali made a statement to the boxing world. He proved that he deserved to be in that ring with the champion at that time. As for his chin, during that fight Vitali absorbed three uppercuts that lifted the heels of his feet off the canvas. I mean those were the uppercuts of death. Anyone else would have been decapitated. And if you remember the cut on Vitali’s eye, you and I both know that he was more than willing to continue fighting.
If my memory serves me correct, Vitali’s cut required sixty stitches to close the wound. Vitali’s courage is never to be questioned. He is very athletic and has not great, but good boxing ability. But Vitali does have one flaw, and this is crucial. Vitali lacks power. Yes, I said power. Now you’re probably saying to yourself, how does a guy that has won thirty-four out of his thirty-five fights by knockout lack power? Pay attention, as I explain. All of his knockouts have come against extremely low quality opponents. To give you an idea, he got knockouts over guys like Vaughn Bean, Obed Sullivan, Levi Billups, and Jose Ribalta. All of which are journeymen way past their prime. I mean Ribalta had a record of 39-14. I don’t know about you but a knockout victory over someone like that doesn’t impress me.
Now in the two biggest fights of his career, he lost. The first loss came to Chris Byrd and the second came to Lennox Lewis. Someone of Vitali’s size should not lose to someone like Chris Byrd. But he tore his rotator cuff in that fight so he had an excuse. But the thing that sticks out in mind, and makes me say that Vitali Klitschko lacks a punch, was the second round of the Lewis fight. Vitali had Lennox on spaghetti legs; I mean Lewis was very hurt and he couldn’t finish him off. Now we all realized that Lewis doesn’t have the greatest chin in the world, Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman proved that theory to be true. There is no way around it; Vitali should have put him away. In life, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. And the lack of punching power might come back to haunt him one day.
In the previous paragraph, you may have gotten the impression that it is imperative for a heavyweight to pack a punch. Don’t tell that to Chris Byrd, the IBF heavyweight champion. Chris Byrd has stood alone at the top of the IBF for two years. As a result of not being a natural heavyweight, he has an excuse for not having any power. Also, the fact that he isa very likeable guy contributes to his flawless streak over the past three years. As I look back at his recent performances, I came to the conclusion that Fres Oquendo got the better of him on September 20th, as well as getting edged out by Andrew Golota in April. Apparently, the judges thought differently, he got the decision against Oquendo and came out of the Golota fight with a draw. Maybe nice guys finish first after all, but who knows?
Byrd’s pitty-pat style tends to provide problems for some people and if the fight goes the distance, he certainly has the advantage. This is the reason why other heavyweights aren’t so quick to fight him. Another thing, Chris Byrd is not a marketable fighter; so in other words, fight him at your own risk. If you think you’ve got him by decision, chances are you didn’t, and if you’re lucky enough to knock him out, you’re not making a big purse. Chris Byrd fought Jameel McCline last November. I went with Byrd, not so much because Byrd is better, but because McCline fights scared. Trust me, if he didn’t fight scared he would have knocked Chris Byrd into next week.
In the WBO, which is the last recognized sanctioning body in boxing, Lamon Brewster stands on the mountaintop alone. Lamon Brewster is the champion. Is this some type of joke? I mean, you can’t be serious; this had to be the biggest laugher of the year. How does a man who lost to Clifford Etienne have the right to be called “champion.” Lamon Brewster doesn’t have the talent to be a champion of anything. Let’s look at the facts, against Wladimir Klitschko, was anyone impressed with his performance? I can’t think of an adjective that can accurately describe how awful Brewster looked that night. Look, I have nothing against the man himself. He seems like a real down to earth individual. But we are talking about Lamon Brewster the boxer, not Lamon Brewster the person. He beat Wladimir because Wladimir ran out of gas. It’s as simple as that. Now in his last performance against the unknown Australian Kali Meehan, Brewster was far from impressive. Anyone that thought that Brewster won that fight should schedule an appointment with his or her optometrist. Meehan won that fight. I am going to go out on a limb and say that I guarantee Brewster won’t be a champion for much longer.
On overall skill, the best fighter in this division is Wladimir Klitschko. But he lacks stamina, courage, and possesses a “glass jaw.” Therefore, Wladimir doesn’t make the cut. Ask yourself, who else is around? Evander Holyfield? Whom we all know shouldn’t be fighting anymore. Your serious boxing fans didn’t even care about his bout with Larry Donald. So we can rule those two out. Who else is left? A thirty-seven year old, punch drunk Riddick Bowe? Being honest, no one else besides him is taking his comeback seriously. So Bowe is out of the equation. Who else is left? There is still “Iron” Mike, who to this day is still a huge draw at the box office and also packs a very mean punch. However, Mike’s boxing skills have eroded and his reflexes have diminished. As a result of the upset loss to Danny Williams, Mike Tyson goes back to the drawing board. And at the advanced age of thirty-eight, the drawing board is not where you want to be, especially if you’re Mike Tyson. This means that he would need about four tune-up bouts, before fighting for a title. Time isn’t on Mike’s side. Also, keep in mind that Mike is coming from a knee surgery. So there is no telling how healthy he will be before he steps into the ring again.
So who can be the man to carry the heavyweight division on his back? Remember Dominick Guinn? Wasn’t he supposed to be the future of the heavyweight division? All of that became a farce when he lost to Monte Barrett in his hometown, then to Sergei Lyakhovich. As for the overrated “Baby: Joe Mesi, he is very lucky that there wasn’t an extra fifteen seconds in that tenth round against Vassiliy Jirov. And speaking of Vassiliy Jirov, he has the talent but not the size.
So again, I propose the question, to my serious boxing fans out there, who can carry the heavyweight division on his back? Give up? I’ll tell you. James Toney that’s who. James Toney may not be the natural heavyweight and may not have devastating punching power, but he is the total package. From his unorthodox style to where he shoots his jab from his hip all the way down to his superb defense, James can do it all. And unlike your Wladimir Klitschko’s, James Toney doesn’t have a “glass jaw.” Here is some food for thought, for all my fight fans, in seventy-four professional fights, James has never been hurt. That fact is just mind boggling, for the simple reason that he has fought in five different divisions, and we all know that a fighter isn’t dealing with the same power he once did when moves up. In seventy-four professional fights, James Toney has only been knocked down twice, the first coming in 1991 at the hands of Reggie Johnson, and the second in 1994 as a result of Roy Jones’ clever fakes. The knockdown to Roy was more of a result of Toney being off balance. But the point that I am trying to make is that he hasn’t been knockdown in ten years and he hasn’t lost a fight in seven years.
James may not have the punching power of a Mike Tyson or a Hasim Rahman, but he punches well. It’s an art to see James Toney put his punches together. He puts them together in such a fashion where he breaks you down piece by piece. Just ask Evander Holyfield, no one thought Evander was a shot fighter until he fought James Toney. The other scenario, if you do happen to go the distance with James, the beating he hands out is extremely convincing. He showed it against Vassiliy Jirov and he did it against Rydell Booker. Now if you’re one of those people that said, “James didn’t look good, he should have knocked him out,” when he fought Booker, I am going to say that you’re insane.
His performance against Booker was terrific, considering he had been out of the ring for eleven months. James was sidelined with an Achilles heel injury and against Booker; James showed no signs of ring rust. James Toney is a strong and tough individual. He enjoys fighting, he doesn’t duck anyone, and when he becomes champion, he will defend against all comers. This man is quoted as saying, “whenever I see two people fighting, I have no other choice but to get jealous, because I just love fighting.” Boxing needs more fighters like this. James Toney is one of a kind, and I am just talking about his boxing ability. His persona is a whole other article. To make a long story short he talks the talk and walks the walk. Oh trust me, he is very marketable. He won’t have any problems selling a fight.
Let’s see how he matches up against the current champions. Against John Ruiz, who is very dangerous and fights well on the inside, James would have to double and triple up on his jab, then follow with his right hand. James is too smart to let Ruiz get on the inside. Before John could get inside, trust me James will tie him up. James would beat Ruiz by decision. Now against Vitali Klitschko, his size could prove to be a problem for James. However, Vitali is a threat from the outside and James would have to adjust by being the aggressor in this fight. By cutting the ring off, James disarms Vitali from using his reach. Fighters that have long arms like Vitali, have lots of trouble fighting on the inside. In an inside battle, the edge goes to James, for the simple reason that he has more experience fighting this type of fight. Another thing, Vitali’s power is suspect, like I mentioned before. If he couldn’t finish a wobbly, out of shape Lennox Lewis, who we all know has a suspect chin; I doubt he can hurt James. Who let me remind you has an exceptional chin. In this fight, James would win by a TKO in the late rounds. Vitali will run out of gas as a result of James working the body.
Chris Byrd, well, we all know he isn’t knocking anybody out. So it’s not even a thought that he can hurtJames. In this fight, it would just be a matter of time, before James catches him. Byrd can only ride his bicycle but for so long, eventually James will knock him out in the middle rounds. As for my “man” Lamon Brewster, all I got to say is, that he would get “waxed” if he fought James Toney. This fight would be like re-living Fernando Vargas versus Raul Marquez all over again. Lamon Brewster is going to require reconstructive surgery on his face, after James is done with him.
So at the ripe age of thirty-six, James is showing no signs of slowing down. Barring injuries and providing he gets a shot at the titles, mark my words: In 2005 James Toney will have two-thirds of the heavyweight championship. Hopefully allowing for a unification bout in 2006.
