BoxRec

I've been wondering how far James Toney could've gone had he been allowed by management to let himself go right ahead and become a heavyweight while he was still in his prime.This would've been natural and especially desirable for James Toney pretty much at any point of his carear as he would usually bulk right up to 200+ lbs shortly after any given Bout,even quite early in his carear. He seemed to really resent and deeply dread the insistence of his management insisting on keeping him at a starved state of physical being to make weight in his pre-heavyweight days,where he fought WAY below what he felt naturally strongest at.

I think left to his own devices Toney would've been a heavyweight allready right around the time he fought Roy Jones Jr,and would've been faring quite well actually,especially that he'd be a much younger much more busy and capable version of the Old James Toney Hw that we watched with at least a bit of amusement based entertainment value.Not that he really was someone to be really laughing at,even at his way past prime state of physical being.

So basically,how would Toney fare at Hw had he made a much earlier transition,say,in the early 90's.Right after the Jones Jr fight..? List some various opponents he likely would've faced and how it would've turned out in you're opinion. :geek2:

I don't think his Heavyweight career would've ever been much more successful than it was when he did in fact get there. I could see him beating guys like David Tua or Shannon Briggs or people like that in the late 90's or early 2000's.

But I mean at one point he was able to rise to just about everybody's consensus Top 5 as a Heavyweight when he did go there. So I'd say he had about as good of a Heavyweight run as he ever would've.

If he had fought Holyfield in 1996 or 1997, he would've lost.

gilgamesh wrote:If he had fought Holyfield in 1996 or 1997, he would've lost.

I think he would've lost to the 96 or 97 version of Holyfield as well. But i Do think it would'nt be an easy fight for Holyfield. He'd have to dig hard to keep Toney at bay and basically outwork him rather than outslug or outbox em. I think Toney would've been a Tank at Hw in his youthfull prime. A small tank with limited punch but a respectable Tank nevertheless.Obviously theyr'd be More speed,especially hand speed than the later year Hw incarnation of Toney.And Surprisingly Good power as he DID always feel ALOT stronger weighing 200 plus,even while in his early 20's. Yeah,not Tua or Tyson power but still enough to have just about any fellow Hw's respect,Prime Holyfield included.
I can easily see them having a surprisingly competitive trilogy way back then(ala-Paquiou-Marquez) had Toney been allowed or encouraged to make the jump Much Earlier.

I think against Someone like Lennox Lewis,it'd simply be a very bad style matchup for Toney but against guys like Holyfield,Ray Mercer,David Tua,Chris Byrd or Michael Moorer,we would've had some awesome competitive epic clashes. Bert Cooper,though obviously limited in alot of ways would've made an exciting scrap with Toney as well. They'd be slugging away for a few greatly entertaining rounds but i definately think Toney with his superior stamina and boxing skills would've won,likely by 7th Rd Highlight reel worthy Tko.

Toney wasn't starved at 175. The man just liked doughnuts too much. It's not unreasonable for his management to want him to fight at weights where he wasn't entirely composed of lard. The fact that he was able to gain some notable wins at heavyweight point to the fact that he was an extraordinary fight, not that it was his natural weight. A 190lb Toney would have been WAY better at heavy than the 235lb Toney.