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James Toney
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James "Lights Out" Toney (born August 24, 1968) is a professional boxer from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
ney had his first professional fight on October 26, 1988, beating Stephen Lee by a technical knockout in the second round. A draw with Sanderline Williams was the first blemish on Toney's record, although he beat Williams by unanimous decision three months later.
On March 10th 1989 his manager Johnny "Ace" Smith was killed outside of the Page One Bar in Detroit.
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Encyclopedia
James "Lights Out" Toney (born August 24, 1968) is a professional boxer from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Early career
Toney had his first professional fight on October 26, 1988, beating Stephen Lee by a technical knockout in the second round. A draw with Sanderline Williams was the first blemish on Toney's record, although he beat Williams by unanimous decision three months later.
On March 10th 1989 his manager Johnny "Ace" Smith was killed outside of the Page One Bar in Detroit. Only a short time later Jackie Kallen became his manager.
A notable win by Toney in his early career was over fellow middleweight prospect Merqui Sosa for the lightly-regard IBA title in 1991.
Middleweight Champion
IBF Middleweight champion Michael Nunn defended his title against Toney on May 10, 1991, in Nunn's hometown of Davenport, Iowa. Nunn was favored to win the bout, and out boxed Toney for much of the fight, leading on the scorecards when Toney knocked him out in the eleventh round.
Toney defended his title against Reggie Johnson one month later, being knocked down for the first time in his career in the process. He then easily defeated Francesco Dell'Aquila in October 1991. Former WBA junior middleweight and middleweight champion Mike McCallum held Toney to a draw in December 1991. Toney was named 1991 "Fighter of the Year."
His next fight, against David Tiberi of Delaware, resulted in a controversial win for Toney. Many observers saw Tiberi the victor, and Delaware Senator William Roth held a Senate hearing on boxing as a result of this decision.
Two more defenses of Toney's middleweight title followed, including another controversial decision over Mike McCallum in their rematch.
Super Middleweight Champion
Toney moved up to the super middlweight division and won the IBF Super Middleweight title from Iran Barkley in a dominating performance on February 13, 1993. He made three defenses (including one of former IBF light heavyweight champion Charles Williams) before meeting IBF middleweight champion Roy Jones Jr. on November 18, 1994]. Jones won a landslide decision over Toney.
Years without a title
His fight after losing his title to Roy Jones saw him lose to Montel Griffin at light heavyweight in February 1995. After then winning a series of fights at light heavyweight, cruiserweight, and even heavyweight, he again faced Montel Griffin in December 1996, and once again lost a close decision. He beat old foe Mike McCallum in February 1997, but then lost to journeyman Drake Thadzi in his next fight.
He continued to fight at cruiserweight and light heavyweight, beating a variety of undistinguished opponents.
Cruiserweight Champion
In August 2002, Toney beat Jason Robinson in an IBF Cruiserweight title elimination fight. This set up a fight between Toney and IBF Cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov. After a postponement, the fight came off on April 26, 2003, and Toney won a unanimous decision.
Immediately afterward, Toney moved up to heavyweight.
Heavyweight career
Even when Toney was a middleweight, he insisted that he would one day be the heavyweight champion of the world. His good handspeed, slick defense, and exceptional counterpunching have enabled him to defeat physically better (but technically less-skilled) opponents. His October 4, 2003, victory over aging former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield was Toney's entry into the heavyweight division. After a shaky first round, Toney picked the Atlanta legend apart with shots to the body and head before stopping him in the 9th round.
On April 30, 2005, he defeated John Ruiz by a unanimous decision in a 12-round match for the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight Championship. However, as of May 18 2005, it was reported that Toney failed his post-fight drug test, testing positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol. This led to the New York Athletic Commission changing the bout's official outcome to a "no-contest," deducting the win from Toney's career record, and banning him from boxing for 90 days. The WBA ordered that Ruiz be reinstated as its champion and that Toney be ineligible for another WBA Heavyweight title shot for two years. Toney defended himself by claiming that the steroids were given to him by a doctor to treat an injured arm that occurred during his victory over Rydell Booker in his previous fight. Toney was also subject to a civil lawsuit by Ruiz claiming that Toney's illegal use of steroids gave him an edge in the fight.
In his bout after the Ruiz fight, Toney won a unanimous decision victory over former heavyweight contender Dominic Guinn. Toney next fought against Hasim Rahman on March 18, 2006, for the WBC Heavyweight title. The result was a twelve-round majority draw. Toney weighed a career-high 237 lb for his lackluster performance.
Toney's next two outings were split decision and unanimous decision losses on to Samuel Peter. The first fight was held in Los Angeles, California on Sept 2, 2006, and was a controversial decision. The return bout was held in Hollywood, Florida, on January 6, 2007, and Toney once again lost a decision to Peter. Both fights were WBC eliminator bouts for the belt held by Oleg Maskaev.
Toney returned to action in May 2007 and won a ten round split decision over Danny Batchelder. Following the bout, Toney once again tested positive for boldenone and stanazolol and was fined $2500 and banned from boxing for a year, Toney appealed the suspension and it was reduced to 6 months after he appeared before the CSAC and claimed he didn't knowingly take any steroids and suggested that he was set up and someone had tampered with his water bottle.
On July 16, 2008, Toney's rematch against Hasim Rahman was stopped in the third round. An accidental headbutt by Toney opened a cut above Rahman's left eye. The ring doctor stopped the fight after determining that the cut was blocking Rahman's vision. Initially, the fight was called as a TKO win for Toney, but this was overruled by the California State Athletic Commission and the fight was declared no-contest.
Amateur career
Record: 33 fights, 31 wins, 2 losses with 29 ko's
- Lost on his debut
- Won 1983 and 1984 West Michigan Division Junior Title (156 lb)
- Won 1987 Novice Golden Gloves in Manchester (156 lb)
- Won 1987 Michigan Silver Gloves (156 lb)
- Lost at first stage of 1988 Detroit Golden Gloves (156 lb)
- Won 1988 Ohio State Fair (156 lb)
Trivia
Toney is an avid cigar connoisseur. In 2005 James Toney introduced his own cigar line titled "Lights Out." The cigar was custom tailored to Toney's taste by Lou's Tobacco, a cigar lounge frequented by Toney in Los Angeles, CA.
Toney has played boxing roles in a couple of movies, including playing Joe Frazier in Ali, whom Toney calls "his hero."
Toney has appeared in the video game series Fight Night.
Honors
- Named Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year for 1991 and 2003
- Named The Ring magazine Comeback of the Year fighter for 2003.
- Named Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year for 1991 and 2003
See also
External links
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