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10/05/2003 Archived Entry: "Toney, 'Father Time' Too Much For Holyfield"
Toney, 'Father Time' Too Much For Holyfield
By JD Vena
If trying to make sense of last night’s match-up between James “Lights Out” Toney and Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield is a little difficult for you, here’s one way of thinking about what transpired last night. Last night’s fight was between the greatest cruiserweight of all time and today’s best cruiserweight. The latter, Toney was nearly 6 years junior to Evander, who for 15 years had imposed his undying will and skill to defeat top heavyweights despite being outweighed in nearly all of those contests. In those fights, Holyfield had the know-how and a natural instinct to counterpunch his bigger foes until they wore down. He had the time to think and he was always a step ahead of his opponents having boxed in nearly every weight class since he was 8 years old.
In stopping Holyfield in 9 rounds, what last night’s one-sided victory proved was that Toney, who despite weighing a hefty 217 pounds, appeared to have a solid foundation and more tools than Evander could deal with at his advanced age. It shouldn’t be too hard to digest Holyfield being manhandled by a 5’10ish puffed up cruiserweight. After all, the first man to ever record a knockdown over the Real Deal was in fact a blown up cruiserweight who ate his way into the heavyweight division.
If you don’t recall, in the second defense of the undisputed heavyweight title he won from Buster Douglas, Holyfield was caught with a chopping right to the chin by last minute replacement, Smokin’ Bert Cooper. Only falling into the ropes and given a mandatory 8 count to help clear his senses, saved him from retaining the title and going on to becoming one of the most accomplished heavyweights of all time. Cooper was considered a known quitter, however when he felt like it, was capable of hurting any heavyweight. After losing to Holyfield, an out of shape Cooper nearly decapitated then unbeaten Michael Moorer and a year earlier had gone toe to toe with Ray Mercer in extending the Olympic gold medalist the full 12. It was his lack of skills and desire which kept Cooper from the winner’s circle.
If last night’s episode of boxing told us anything is that a cruiserweight with skills, and Toney is overflowing with them, has a chance of becoming an Evander Holyfield in this age of heavyweights. From the opening round, Toney made it clear that he belonged in a ring with a heavyweight. In displaying patience with a faster starting Holyfield, he showed the ability to take a punch and fight on the inside. Toney, who is vastly more skilled than Holyfield owned the battle on the inside and soon set the pace, becoming the first man to actually have Holyfield backing up. If you noticed, Toney was also the first man to have worked Evander’s body effectively. When Toney was able to work the body, it was clear that Holyfield was wearing down at a rapid pace. Father time just made it a little easier.
Most heavyweights who attacked Holyfield’s 30-inch midsection usually paid for it. Holyfield was a master of counterpunching with his left hook and used it whenever someone dared to go to the body. But Toney, a master boxer knew how to nullify that punch by smothering it or ducking under the punch with his shifty upper body movement. Toney would actually make Holyfield pay for trying to counterpunch with him. An older Holyfield couldn’t think with Toney.
Though he probably would have bested him in his heyday, Holyfield may have never been able to out-think Toney and it’s conceivable that Holyfield was in the ring with the best overall boxer, not opponent, he had ever faced. Though it would be easy to favor a younger Holyfield, he had never graced the ring with a fighter as fine-tuned as Toney and in terms of men weighing over 190 pounds, what fighter could you say possessed more on the dime skills than Toney? Sure, a fighter like Ali had the blazing hand speed and incredible movement, but it was his athleticism which helped him get away with committing some of the mistakes he had made. Your writer isn’t hailing Toney as an all-time great heavyweight but if faced with a smaller heavyweight, even if Toney is physically overmatched, a heavyweight just doesn’t possess a boxing upbringing to compete with the prowess of Toney. Against an aging Holyfield, the genius of James Toney was simply too much for the four time heavyweight champion.
So who is capable of beating Toney, the best cruiserweight champion since Holyfield? Roy Jones is possibly one of them and if last night’s fight proved anything, it’s that if there is a smaller heavyweight capable of beating Roy Jones, Jr. it may be Toney, who is now at the very top of his game. Speed, movement and supreme conditioning, Jones’ major attributes seems to be the right antidote of beating Toney, but what if, for a split second, Jones makes one mistake? If there is an active fighter today who could capitalize, it’s James Toney.
Results from Mandalay Bay:
James Toney TKO9 (1:42) Evander Holyfield
Joel Casamayor TKO6 (3:00) Diego Corrales
Cruz Carbajal TKO8 (1:07) Gerardo Espinosa(Retains WBO bantamweight title)
