James Toney’s speech

[JamesPhilips]

I know he’s never been a very good speaker but he sounds unintelligible here. Quite worrying

[TheLeprechaun]

Sad to see. Great little fighter. Well great big fighter too I suppose.

I thought Bowe sounded slurred after the first Golota fight. Took some brain damage in that one.

Looking back at Ali's career and it's shocking to see him allowed to fight the last couple of fights, especially Berbick. Not only was his speech slurred but you had so much footage of him talking sharply and in a quick manner and then you had this slow lumbering voice. Alarm bells should have been ringing there.

[polecateddy]

It’s the sparring with Toney. You’ve just got to see him sparring with hitters like Danny Green on YouTube to see he must have a lot of decades long damage built up.

[Teddy's Toupee]

He's dying his beard again.

[big lennox]

That's really sad to hear his speech like that. A formidable boxer and will have so much knowledge to pass on.

With Riddick Bowe it seemed to be instantaneous: his speech in his interview after the Golota rematch was suddenly very different from before hand ( what an epic fight it was).

It does seem to be the American boxers, with their gym wars, who seem to suffer more than most.

[Controversial]

Toney has been bad for a while but I couldn't understand him in that video. Too many end up like this or with mental health issues or some sort of addicton, it's a brutal sport.

Meldrick Taylor in a really bad way too, this video was from 9 years ago

[gilgamesh]

Honestly Toney's speech don't seem too much worse than it did in say 2003. He always kinda talked slow, and sh*t, and I personally understood most of what he was saying there.

[margaret thatcher]

in these threads, no matter how utterly incomprehensible someone is, no matter if dude has drooled a river on his own lap, there's always a post that they simply always were like that

man's brain has clearly been fried, taking punches to the head for decades can do that

[Steveh583]

Those Sam Peter and Rahman fights did him no favours at heavy

[HomicideHenry]

For as long as I can remember James Toney was always somebody hard to understand, lol. But there was a dramatic change from the time he became a heavyweight.



He sounded clear after Vasily Jirov.



He started slurring after the Holyfield fight.



He sounded clear after Rydell Booker.



He started slurring after Ruiz fight.



He sounded clear after Dominick Guinn.



He was slurring after Rahman.



He was slurring after Peter.



He was slurring after Peter again.



He sounded okay after Rahman.

I can't find any post fight interviews after he squeaked out a decision over Fres Oquendo, but it seems to me that 2003 is when it started becoming noticeable and by 2008 it was something permanent because if you fast forward to 2010...



They were already using subtitles for his interviews when he was going to take on Randy Couture in the UFC so it was definitely him campaigning as a heavyweight where this brain trauma began to happen.

[KiwiRider]

For as long as I can remember James Toney was always somebody hard to understand, lol. But there was a dramatic change from the time he became a heavyweight.

Wow, 107:50 at the post fight ringside interview, even while catching his breath he is a different guy than today. There is no argument you can make other than he is well brain damaged.

[margaret thatcher]

i remember back in those days thinking toney looked chubby at cruiser, but after seeing him as a blob at hw for so many years after that he looks downright chiseled there

and ya, much better speech too, never eloquent but you could understand him at least