JAMES TONEY IS THE NEW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD?
By Ron Brashear
Inside Boxing Writer/Columnist
(IB – April 30, 2005) – If someone would have made this statement anytime during
the 90’s, I would have said, “You have got to be kidding me!” However, given the
current state of the Heavyweight division, we are saying that now and its 2005!
At least as far as the WBA version of the title is concerned. James “Light’s
Out” Toney improved his professional record to (69-4-2, 43 KOs) and captured the
WBA Heavyweight Championship by winning a unanimous decision over John “The
Quiet Man” Ruiz (41-6-1, 28 KOs) in Madison Square Garden and Televised on HBO.
This was a co-promotion for Goosen Tutor and Don King Productions. The scores
were 115-112, 116-111, & 116-111.
The most interesting thing about Toney’s victory is that he accomplished it
while coming into this title fight weighing 232 lbs (the largest of his career).
Given this, you know questions are going to fly off the handle. Is Toney so good
that even when he is not in good shape, he can man handle a fighter like John
Ruiz? Scary thought! If that is in fact the case, what can he accomplish in the
heavyweight division if he were to get himself into superb physical condition?
One would have to believe that Toney could potentially be successful in unifying
the Heavyweight Division, which includes Vitali Klitschko, Cris Byrd, & Lamon
Brewster.
Or will the questions surface like; how did John Ruiz get to become Heavyweight
Champion anyway? If Ruiz can’t beat and out-of –shape blown up middleweight,
shouldn’t he call it quits?
James Toney clearly dominated this fight by displaying the better hand-speed,
and even the more powerful punches. There was one knock down in the fight in the
7th round, however the playback appeared to reflect that it was more from the
result of Toney stepping on Ruiz’s foot than from the power of the left hook to
the head.
However, it was the overhand rights from James Toney that kept Ruiz back at a
distance and he just seemed to be unable to dodge them all night.
Before we come down too hard on the “The Quiet Man”, we may want to let the dust
settle a little more and await to see the result of Toney’s next outing. I
believe a lot of the questions might get answered. Toney even admitted after the
fight that he wasn’t in great shape’ “I wasn’t in tip-top shape but I was able
to dig down and take care of him.”
I personally believe Toney will have to get himself into better shape if he
wants to unify the division. So at this stage, the only person that appears to
be able to stop Toney, is James Toney. It’s sort of like; “Skip a few meals and
you will be rolling like a new set of wheels!”
Nevertheless, James Toney cashed-in on the situation of the current Heavyweight
Division, and he deserves to be commended for it! Good for you - James Toney! We
can now only ask that his does the boxing world a major favor, go defend his new
title against the top of the class! We all would love to witness a memorable and
exciting Heavyweight title fight!
You have just gone InsideBoxing.com
Ron Brashear can be contacted at brashear@insideboxing.com, ron@brasheargear.com