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James Toney had to be restrained from getting in Dino Duva’s face before yesterday’s weigh-in for tomorrow’s heavyweight showdown between the former three-division champ and hard-hitting contender Samuel Peter. Twenty minutes later, Toney had to be restrained from jumping in Peter’s barrel chest after the Nigerian tipped the scales at an imposing 257 pounds and the veteran weighed in at a rotund-but-solid 233 pounds.
This is nothing new, of course. Toney “going off” at a press event is as much a part of his repertoire as his shoulder-roll and counter-right hand.
The combination of an opponent and the press usually produces the ‘Three Rs’ from Toney, and you know it isn’t “Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic”. When the camera lights are on fans can expect a lot of Ranting, Raving and Rampaging from Lights Out.
Toney was trippin’ at the “No Risk, No Reward” kick-off press conference, which was held at the posh Palms Restaurant across the street from the Staples Center, where tomorrow’s 12-round WBC heavyweight title eliminator will take place.
The histrionics that ensued at The Palms was no different from Toney’s antics at his pre-fight pressers for John Ruiz, Rydell Booker, Vassiliy Jirov, all the way back to Dave Tiberi in February of ’92. Anyone remember when Toney had to be held back from attacking Mike McCallum at the post-fight press conference following their memorable draw in December of ’91?
Toney’s been “going off” at press events for 15 years, maybe more. You get the feeling that he’ll be able to keep ranting, raging and rampaging until he’s 85, maybe until he’s 100, if he lives that long.
The question that fight fans and boxing insiders should be asking themselves going into tomorrow’s big fight is how long can Toney keep fighting dangerous fighters like Peter? Anyone who is considering betting on the Nigerian underdog has probably been pondering this since Toney-Peter was made.
If Toney was a tad closer to his physical prime, not to mention injury free in recent years, most observers would not even question if Toney can beat Peter – it would be a forgone conclusion that the Michigan native, who is defensive genius and counter-punching master, would out-box, out-slick and out-class the young puncher for 12 one-sided rounds.
Many fans and boxing writers still think that will be the case Saturday night, but facts are facts:
Toney, who turned 38 last Thursday, is not in his physical prime and the card-carrying tough guy has suffered more than one debilitating – potentially career-ending – injury in the past three years.
After earning ‘Fighter of the Year’ accolades in 2003 for his comeback victories over Jirov and Evander Holyfield, Toney’s snapped the Achilles tendon in his left leg during a sparring session in training camp for Jameel McCline in January of 2004. The injury cancelled the heavyweight matchup that was to be televised on Showtime in February of ’04 and put Toney’s career on hold for close to a year, during which time he hit the free weights as much as he hit the buffet.
A rocked-up Toney, who carried 10 more pounds than the 217 he weighed for Holyfield, came back in September of ’04 to face undefeated but unheralded Rydell Booker on a Fox Sports Net-televised event. However, Toney ripped both the bicep and triceps muscles in his left arm early in the 12-round bout and stubbornly continued to use the injured arm until the final bell. Although Toney severely battered Booker around the ring in every round, he almost caused a career-ending injury by fighting through what must have been unbearable pain.
According to Toney’s co-manager and conditioner John Arthur, Dr. Tony Daly, who also performed the surgery on his left leg, said that he had “never seen an arm so tore up”.
“Dr. Daly and other doctors thought he’d never use the arm to box again,” Arthur continued. “People don’t know this, but there’s a cadaver muscle that was inserted in his arm.
“With out it, James wouldn’t be able to extend his arm all the way.”
Some observers have noted that since the surgery on his left arm, Toney has not let his left hook go with the same regularity that he did before the muscle injury. His jab is still decent, but he seldom doubles up with his hook to the body and head, or head and body, as was the norm before the injury.
“In the heat of passion, he’ll let everything go,” Arthur counters.
Toney took the rest of ’04 off to recover from his surgery and to rehabilitate his arm. Gone was the weight-lifting program, but it wasn’t replaced with any hardcore cardio training and when he grabbed the opportunity to face then-WBA title holder John Ruiz with barely one-month to train his body had the soft look of aging and inactive fighter during the short camp (thus, this writer’s ‘FatMan’ moniker for Toney was born).
Neither Toney nor his left arm were 100% when he fought Ruiz at Madison Square Garden in April of 2005, but he still had the experience, skill and natural talent to out-point the awkward and rugged New Englander. The FatMan didn’t get to keep the WBA belt because he subsequently failed a drug test for steroids, and more than a few fans – some of whom are conditioning specialists or former body builders – emailed this writer after the New York State Athletic Commission changed the Ruiz result to a ‘No Contest’ to point out that Toney’s injuries, both the Achilles rupture and the muscle tears to his arm, are classic examples of steroid use.
However, Toney and his representatives produced documentation that showed that he used prescribed steroids (a medication called pregnenolone) to recover from his left arm injuries; they took a gamble taking the Ruiz fight on short notice – and lost. Toney didn’t bother fighting New York’s fine ($10,000) or 90-day license suspension. He got on with his career by out-pointing the lackadaisical Dominick Guinn in fairly easy fashion by the end of ’05.
He was favored to beat Hasim Rahman earlier this year when they tangled for Rock’s WBC title, but Toney got sick a week prior to the fight.
Not just a little sick – Toney doesn’t do anything half-way.
“He was vomiting before the fight, literally right before he stepped into the ring,” said Arthur. “He was vomiting after the fight in his dressing room.”
Getting sick before an event happens in boxing, as it does in any sport, but it also can be a sign that an athlete’s body is getting old when he becomes ill as the result of hard training.
Toney’s 37-year-old body, already weak from his illness, was further punished by an in-shape Rahman, who relentlessly pounded the sides and lower back of the former middleweight whenever the two clinched during the 12-round bout that ended in a disappointing majority draw.
Many fans think Toney, who weighed a career high 237 pounds for the Rahman bout, would have easily defeated the notoriously inconsistent heavyweight had he just got his weight down to the 220-pound range; however, what must be taken into consideration at this stage of Toney’s career is that maybe he CAN’T train as hard as it will take for him to get down to the 220-pound range without suffering some kind of injury or getting sick.
The flu bug that hampered Toney’s performance vs. Rahman not only made him weak before the bout, but it led to more bodily damage after the fight, as he was so severely dehydrated that he required an emergency IV on the plane ride back to Los Angeles. Once back home, Toney was taken to the hospital where he stayed for two weeks because of inflammation and trauma to his left kidney. Team Toney claims the near kidney failure was caused by more than 200 kidney punches, which are illegal, that Rahman landed during their fight. Toney’s promoter, Dan Goossen, filed complaints to the WBC in regard to Rahamn’s illegal body punches and the referee’s (Eddie Cotton) failure to prevent them – but even if the sanctioning organization would have ordered an immediate rematch the damage to Toney’s body has been done.
When taking into consideration Toney’s advanced age, the severe muscle and tendon injuries he sustained in ’04, the damage to vital organs he suffered earlier this year, and add to that the cumulative physical punishment he’s absorbed from being a pro boxer (as well as a notorious gym fighter) for 18 years – not to mention his self-indulgent life style that includes over-eating, drinking and constant cigar smoking – one has to wonder when it will all cost him in the ring.
We all know Toney’s spirit is willing – the crazy S.O.B actually got up on one leg from the canvass after falling in screaming agony when his Achilles tendon ripped and demanded that his sparring session continue – but when will his body have enough?
If you ask Toney, he’ll tell you he can keep it up forever.
“I’m not human,” he told the boxing press at a media workout held at the Wild Card gym last week.
“I can’t be stopped and I’ll never stop,” he said. “I can keep going for as long as I want.”
In 77 pro bouts, Toney has never been stopped. He’s only been down twice, versus Roy Jones in ‘94 and Reggie Johnson in ‘91, but never visibly hurt.
No light heavyweight, cruiserweight or heavyweight has ever knocked Toney off his feet. If Peter were to do so tomorrow night, the 10,000 fans that are expected to fill the Staples arena would stand and gasp in unison. If Peter knocks Toney out, as he has predicted, it would be a truly shocking achievement.
Nobody has ever come close to defeating Toney by trying to knock him out – go and ask Iran Barkley, Prince Charles Williams, Vassiliy Jirov and Evander Holyfield if you don’t believe this to be true.
However, Toney has been out-slicked (by Jones), out-hustled (by Montell Griffin, twice but barely), and out-worked by (by Drake Thazdii). In each loss, Toney was not at his best, physically speaking. He was sick and weight-drained for Jones, under-trained for Griffin and overweight for Thazdi, the last man to beat Toney (nine years ago).
It says here that Toney cannot afford to be sick, under-trained or overweight vs. Peter. Toney’s demeanor and physique at yesterday’s weigh-in suggest that he’s healthy, conditioned and relatively at weight.
It’s clear that the while the media is fixated on Toney’s weight, the fighter’s team was focused on getting the veteran through training camp injury and illness-free – an acknowledgement that they are working with a mature fighter.
Last Friday was Toney’s final day of sparring, but Arthur was considering canceling it the day before. “We’ve come this far without any trouble,” he said at Thursday’s media workout. “I don’t want to risk any injuries.”
Arthur added this in regard to Toney’s weight, which he correctly predicted would be between the high 220s and low 230s:
“I don’t want James to be 100-percent lean, it’s not good for him.”
Toney directed this final note to the boxing writers in attendance at last week’s open gym session:
“This is a boxing match, not Mr. Olympia,” he bellowed at the end of his workout. “It shouldn’t be about what I look like or how much I weigh.”
No, it shouldn’t.
It should be about skill, intelligence, heart and determination – qualities that Toney has proven to possess time and time again.
The hunch here is that, tomorrow night, the younger, bigger, stronger man will match Toney in the latter two qualities and prove to have more of the first two attributes than most observers give him credit for. The hunch here is that fans will witness a hard, grueling fight, but age and Peter’s power will eventually catch up with the boxing master.
Saturday night, youth should be served.
If this prediction turns out to be wrong, don’t expect this writer to chastise Peter for any lack of technique or ring knowledge. Full credit will go to the Old Man.
And more power to Toney if he can continue to defy the odds – shoot, continue to defy nature. Maybe he’ll go on to win the heavyweight title and become the Jersey Joe Walcott or Archie Moore of this era.
If so, rant-on, rage-on and rampage-on, old man.
