Check out this slimmed down James Toney!!

[frasd]

Anyone notice what his T-shirt said? Poke at Haye maybe.

[JT Rock]

I would like to see some sparring of him with the weight loss too

[greynotsoold]

I don't think the weight loss has been that drastic; I remember seeing threads here weeks ago about him being down to 210, 213 something like that. Archie Moore used to cut weight drastically, in days, and win fights on his wits at 46, 47.
It was interesting to see his punch selection through most of that video. From what I recall Ledbedev leans in a lot and didn't Jones sting him with a right, then pause to raise his arms before jumping on him? If Toney has anything left this should be an easy fight for him, as Ledbedev, while appearing strong and willing enough, is a target.

[Nameless]

Happy that he gets back in shape. However, to me, it's a matter of too little too late. Toney's in his mid 40 and didn'T have a Hopkins spartan life. TO me it's too late and though it's pleasant to see, he's no more relevant to boxing.

[Pugilistic]

Toney looks in great shape.

For me though, this has what happened to Chris Byrd moving down to light heavyweight written all over it.

Byrd dropped from heavyweight to light heavyweight. He looked in great shape until he got in the ring. He ended up getting stopped late in the fight.



Some fans don't seem to realise that Toney is shot. the guy is 43 and has looked terrible in recent bouts. Some fans blame it on him being seriously overweight but i think the weight issue is an old arguement.

His weight used to be the problem but now it's just a case of his age catching up to him.

I think Lebedev is gonna outwork him clearly. Toney's defense will get him through the fight but he will look terrible.

[Fenster]

When has anyone lost that much weight and not been a complete shell on fight night?

A serious look at Toney to get sparked is in order....

Normally I would agree with you but this is pure fat loss here. Its not like a scenario like Roy when he moved back down from heavy to light heavy or something. Losing a shitload of fat off your frame can only be a good thing. Its not like hes gona be ripped at 200lbs, just a more healthy weight instead of a tub of goo.

IF and thats IF Toney has lost that weight in a very short time frame however, that will affect him negatively. He will be weak as shit. But from what I hear thats not been the case but no way of knowing for sure I suppose.

Are there any comparisons that can be made as to when other fighters have done this? I cant recall any shedding a shitload of fat to gauge it.

Good point, never thought of that.

Looking at the odds I can't believe Toney is a 6/1 shot. I'd rather chance your theory at 6/1 than bet 10/11 Lebedev KO's him.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

Wasn't Chris doing daft crap like running as if he were training for marathons..? Can't see Toney doing that, surely!

[J_C]

When has anyone lost that much weight and not been a complete shell on fight night?

A serious look at Toney to get sparked is in order....

Normally I would agree with you but this is pure fat loss here. Its not like a scenario like Roy when he moved back down from heavy to light heavy or something. Losing a shitload of fat off your frame can only be a good thing. Its not like hes gona be ripped at 200lbs, just a more healthy weight instead of a tub of goo.

IF and thats IF Toney has lost that weight in a very short time frame however, that will affect him negatively. He will be weak as shit. But from what I hear thats not been the case but no way of knowing for sure I suppose.

Are there any comparisons that can be made as to when other fighters have done this? I cant recall any shedding a shitload of fat to gauge it.

Good point, never thought of that.

Looking at the odds I can't believe Toney is a 6/1 shot. I'd rather chance your theory at 6/1 than bet 10/11 Lebedev KO's him.

Its definitely worth a go, 6/1 is a really good risk/reward in this case I think.

[Gandalf]

That really is a cracking price on Toney. The bookies are really counting Toney out, but considering that Toney has been half arsed at HW in recent years, I am sure they are not factoring in a motivated and in shape James Toney.

He's going to suprise a few IMO.

[Tam Seddon]

How is Toney going to handle losing this weight? Will he lose his stamina? His ability is better than lebedevs but Toneys workrate is poor. I don't know if ability on it's own will keep off Lebedev. I can see him being more busy than Toney. I think it will be a close fight but I'm really not sure what Toney will be like. It would be good to watch if losing all the weight makes him a better fighter. We will see !

[Spicoli]

I don't see a replay of Byrd really but like Byrd...you can drop the lbs but you can't drop the years. That and physically he can be right but that doesn't mean he's trimmed the sloth in his head that let him get in that condition in the first place and waddle around the ring running on fumes.

Alot of this will come down to Lebedevs mentality and looking past that infamous Toney mystique. He needs to set the tone from jump off and treat Toney like the faded fat man we've all seen over last number of years.

[Gandalf]

I don't think it will look like Chris Byrd either. Byrd lost a load of weight, but a lot of that was muscle. With Toney all you have is a fat man losing fat. Rather than hinder him, it will simply mean he is closer to his proper fighting weight and won't be so out of shape. His movement will be much better for a start and his punches will pack more weight as Toney really was small compared to the HW's. It's remarkable how easily he was able to handle HW and testament to his talents. Age is my only worry with this one, but I don't think Lebedev is all that and Toney likes men who come at him. In recent fights Toney has had much bigger men dancing all around him, in this fight he has an equally sized man coming at him. Toney should really make him look a little bit silly.

[Rantcatrat]

It's an interesting fight. I wouldn't be shocked by Lebedev brutally ending Toney's career or Toney giving Lebedev a boxing lesson. I'm leaning toward Lebedev knocking Toney out but not by much.

[Althugz]

Who Knows? Im not getting all nostalgic hoping for something that might result in Fensters way of thinking.. The Toney that beat Holyfield was tremendous. This guy could pull a chris Byrd and get mopped. Good on Toney for deciding to treat his body right other than that i will be CAUTIOUSLY optimistic.

If he looks good, somehow a Toney vs Hopkins is an absolute must. Even if the fight was predicted to stink to the high heavens. It will sell great and Im watching!

First thing I thought when I saw this vid..and I hope it doesn't go that way. Toney is just a different breed. He was born for this so hopefully the weight loss doesn't hamper him..heck, it can't hamper him anymore than the fat did!

It can either go the way Fenster thought or he's gonna look awesome!! Definitely up for a Hopkins/Toney encounter. Would be mouth-watering but those who aren't big fans of skills and wit being displayed should look away now.

[FinitoElDinamita]

Why do people keep bringing up Chris Byrd into into this? He had to lose muscle unlike Toney who lost fat gradually.. Losing fat and muscles are different, plain and simple.

And Toney aint got an ordinary chin like byrd either.. Lebedev gonna knock out Toney huh.. lol smh

Whether it's in the real world or inside the boxing ring, this shit is about CREDIT... You look at Toney's history and tell me Lebedev is gonna knock him out.. smh

On top of that, Chris Byrd couldnt punch a hole through a wet paper towel so his opponents never had to worry much about incoming punches. They were able to put alot more into their offense because of of their opponent's inability to punch.

That's how George knocked him out.. He never had to worry about Byrd's power so he attacked with that much more authority..

Lebedev doesnt even have that kind of luxury. Everytime he misses, he's going to pay and that'll make him think twice before throwing..