James Toney: Lights Out Too Late?

James Toney: Lights Out Too Late?

By Lewie Laing

Boxing quite often has fighters overstaying their welcome, like a drunk at the bar wanting one for the road, long after ‘last orders’ were called. Boxing is all some fighters know, boxing is all some fighters have and no matter the level reached or financial rewards gained, walking away means a loss of identity and a loss of life as they know it.

James Toney’s professional career would span 29 years, across 4 decades, and even included a disastrous crossover fight in the UFC. By the time he finally retired for good in 2017 at the age of 48, he had accumulated losses to some on his record that at one stage would not have been worthy of lacing his gloves, never mind sharing a boxing ring with him. 

This, however, is the sport of boxing. Overnight, father time slows the body down while the mind still operates at 100%, leaving fighters believing they can fight another day and still hang with the best. Either that or, mismanagement outside of the ring, trusting the wrong people and living an unsustainable lifestyle can lead a fight back to the lion’s den, aiming to keep their head above water financially, inflicting irreversible damage. 

Toney started his professional career at middleweight, fighting 12 times in the first year, 9 of those fights ending inside the distance. Within two and a half years, ‘Lights Out’ had fought 26 times, with only one blemish, a majority draw with Sanderline Williams, a draw that would be avenged two fights later, Toney winning unanimously. 

Toney’s first major world title came against the impeccable, undefeated, heavy favourite IBF middleweight champion, Michael Nunn. Nunn had not lost in 36 previous fights. Toney was behind on all three judges’ scorecards before sending Nunn to the canvas in round 11, the round the fight was stopped. James Toney was just 22 at the time and already showing why he was such an eye-catching world champion. 

Toney would box aggressively with a high guard, head always on the move, awaiting the perfect moment to counter his opponent. He was as comfortable on the ropes, slipping and sliding as he was pressuring his foe on the front foot. ‘Make ’em miss, make ’em pay’, as the saying goes. 

Following his underdog heroics, Toney kept himself active, defending his IBF title 5 times within the next year, drawing with Mike McCallum but again avenging that draw 4 fights later. Toney then moved up to super middleweight and beat the three-weight world champion, Iran Barkley. Barkley held wins over Thomas Hearns at both middleweight and light-heavyweight. Toney dominated the fight with Barkley’s trainer stopping the contest in the ninth round, crowing Toney a two-weight world champion.

Toney continued his aggressive charge through boxing’s landscape of fighters, fighting and winning seven times over the next 18 months, setting up an undefeated, mouthwatering clash with Roy Jones Jr. In a fight that went the distance, Jones won comfortably, briefly flooring Toney in the process. This was to be the last fight at the weight for Toney, his performance that night was partly blamed on the struggle to make the super middleweight limit.

A move up to light-heavyweight followed and with it, a second loss. Toney fell short against the then-unbeaten Montell Griffin, who would subsequently defeat Toney again two years later before a win and a loss in back-to-back fights with Roy Jones Jr. 

Between the two Griffin losses, Toney would win nine fights on the bounce, taking his career at that stage to 53 wins, two draws two defeats, and two world titles at two different weights. It is worth bearing in mind it was only 1996 by this point. Toney had only been a professional for 8 years and he was averaging 7 fights a year, fighting absolutely anyone. Even fighters just turning pro don’t fight 7 times per year, never mind those at world championship level. 

In 1997, ‘Lights Out’ started with a win against a previous opponent, Mike McCallum at cruiserweight over 12 rounds. Unfortunately, this was followed by another defeat, this time to Drake Thadzi. Toney had come in over the light-heavyweight limit with the IBO belt on the line, meaning only Thadzi could win the belt. A sign, perhaps, that Toney now belonged permanently at cruiserweight or the dedication to his craft was declining.

Just one month later, Toney was back under the bright lights, again fighting for the IBO title, only this time at cruiserweight, against American Steve Little. A win by a unanimous decision would set Toney on a run of 12 straight wins at cruiserweight from 1997 to 2003. In that time, Toney beat Vassiliy Jorov to win the IBF cruiserweight title crowning him a three-weight world champion. No doubt he would have defended it and gone for more of the cruiserweight belts had the heavyweight division and a certain Evander Holyfield not beckoned. One stand-out point to make through that spell of James Toney’s career is that his activity had dropped over those six years, only fighting two to three times per year. Toney at this stage was in his early to mid-thirties and had fought 72 times as a professional fighter, in a sport like boxing, your body and mind can only take so much.

Toney went up against 40-year-old Evander Holyfield in 2003, winning by TKO in round 9. By the time this fight came around, Holyfield had been a heavyweight since the late 1980s, established and had held world titles at the weight following his move up from cruiserweight in which he had also been the unified world champion. Toney had come from further down the weights starting at middleweight and so regardless of age, the win for ‘Lights Out’ was certainly an outstanding one regardless of the version of Holyfield that he beat. 

Controversially for Toney, the Holyfield fight may have been his last, best, night. Following the Holyfield win, Toney beat Rydell Booker before facing off against WBA heavyweight champion, John Ruiz. Toney won on the night, a unanimous decision over 12 rounds but the fight was to be ruled a ‘no-contest’ due to a failed drugs test. Toney had weighed a career-high 233 pounds against Ruiz, something the drug, nandrolone, found in his urine sample, could have influenced. Toney proclaimed his innocence and his promoter Dan Goossen had said it was due to cortisone that metabolized into nandrolone following surgery on an injured bicep before the Ruiz fight. This was argued against and the WBA stood by their decision to change the result to no-contest and Toney was suspended for 90 days. 

As with every failed test in this sport, we, the fans and paying public never get the truth. Fighters openly admitting their wrongdoings when being caught would probably gain more credit than those whose careers end up tarnished anyways, following lengthy investigations and hundred paged reports justifying their innocence. For Toney, was it a case of bad luck and misfortune, or guilty as charged? As always in these scenarios in this sport, we will never know. 

Toney returned six months later to beat fellow heavyweight Dominick Gunn before facing off against Hasim Rahman for the WBC title. The fight ended in a majority draw.

Back-to-back defeats to Samuel Peter and a win against Danny Batchelder led to a rematch with Rahman, a rematch that was sadly cut short due to a clash of heads at the end of the 3rd round that left Rahman unable to continue due to a cut. It was ruled originally as a TKO win for Toney but because the fight did not reach the 4th round, it was changed to a ‘no-contest’. 

Toney fought twice more picking up wins against Fres Oquendo and Matthew Greer before a change in direction came out of the blue in 2010. At the age of 42, Toney signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC. A change at such an age and into a sport entirely different to the one Toney had mastered for over 20 years, hinted at desperation. The multi-weight boxing world champion was taken down and submitted by UFC Hall of Fame fighter, Randy Couture, within one round, bringing the fight to an end and with it, Toney’s UFC contract. The fight drew heavy criticism and Toney was cast into the dark by the UFC and Dana White.

The lights on James Toney’s career may have dimmed dramatically by the time he stepped back into a boxing ring in 2011, his natural habitat, but they certainly were not out, although, for many, they probably wish the bulbs had blown. Boxing has a knack for leaving the lights on for fighters, long after their heart and desire have left the building. Turning off the light and closing the door is probably the biggest fight a boxer faces, certainly one of the most difficult. 

Toney would return to a win against Damon Reed before moving, somehow, back down to cruiserweight to face highly-rated Dennis Lebedev. Lebedev would beat Toney via a unanimous decision for the WBA Interim cruiserweight title. 

Toney returned to heavyweight and stopped Bobby Gunn in five rounds before losing to then, up-and-coming Australian heavyweight, Lucas Browne in 2013, who would go on to hold the WBA regular heavyweight title down the line. You’d think following this defeat, Toney and those around him would have known his better days were behind him. However, Toney fought on, winning his next fight before entering Sky Sports Prizefighter heavyweight Tournament. Eight fighters, fighting in a knockout-style format over 3 x 3-minute rounds, all on the same night. Toney would beat Matt Legg by TKO in the quarter-final before losing in the semi-final to Jason Gavern, who would go on to lose the final against winner Michael Sprott. The event was held in London, England and so fighting in the UK is something Toney achieved that night if nothing else. 

The lights would finally go out on James Toney’s career in 2017 when after a defeat to Charles Ellis two years prior, Toney beat Mike Sheppard bringing his professional career to a total of 92 fights, 77 wins, 47 by stoppage, 10 defeats, 3 draws and 2 no-contests. Toney fought from middleweight up to heavyweight and was not stopped once, a testament to his chin and boxing defence. 

A marvellous career for a marvellous fighter barring the failed drug test, a throwback fighter who fought anyone across five weight divisions, becoming champion in three of those. There are lessons fighters of this day and age can take from Toney and his no-nonsense approach.