Hands up who was ever seen a fighter successfully tie up Toney on the inside? If Wlad even tries that will be the greatest gift he could award Fatboy.Lefthookhappy19 wrote:Im tellin you guys, Toney has NO Chance. 100%. I sure hope the bookies are as deluded as some of you.
Toney would never be able to even get there. But lets say he does get on the inside? Wlad will be able to out muscle and tie him up at will, so it won't matter. This is Toney's retirement fight. Their's hardly a guy in history who would be a worse matchup for a heavyweight Toney. Chris Byrd is a good few inches taller than James, and was actually in decent shape. Byrd fought Wlad before, he knew what to expect and what to plan for. He still got smoked.
When you guys see them facing up you will release Toney never really had a shot at this. Expect Wlad to REALLY push for this fight.
PS: Toney won't take Wlad punches for long despite his chin. Wlad hits like a truck. Toneys face will be a mess. And Toneys stamina is shit. After every burst of activity he has to take a rest.
The Byrd fight flattered him, he may have been a champ but i think he was the only opponent that 2006 Wlad could put in a confident, dominant perfomance against.
Toney clearly doesn't have true HW power but unleashing stinging, accurate 3 punch combos on the inside will soon have that familar slack jawed deeply worried expression appearing on Wlad's face soon enough.
Toney will shoulder roll and counter accurately every time Wlad steps in. The only concern from the fans point of view is that Manny could well tell Wlad to use the jab almost exclusively and don't step in or commit under any circumstances.
I get the feeling though that Toney is just looking for paydays now and doesn't care too much about the result. He was so mellow and complimentary after the draw with Rahman it told me he was just happy to get the work and there was nothing real about all the pre-fight talk.
Some American writer said he could see Toney realising that he needs to be in good shape for this one and continually injuring himself (into retirement) trying to attain it. I could quite easily see that happening.
Overall this is a genuine 50:50 match against opposites which i would be intrigued to watch. An ageing, too small, out of shape boxing genius/natural fighter and a huge athlete in his physical prime with all the physical tools but none of the natural ability or mental fortitude.
Now i must leave for the airport. Can't keep Corrales & Castillo waiting!