Boxing Memorabilia > Boxing Autographs >
James Toney Boxing Autograph
A Vintage Autograph from Multi World Champion
James 'Lights Out' Toney. 8x10 inch colour photo of Toney
wearing his IBF belt. He had also dated the signature 8th
April, 1992. See our pic of him signing!
James Toney
£45.00
On October 26, 1988, at the age of 20, James Toney turned
pro. He was 7 and 0 when his manager Johnny “Ace”
Smith, a drug dealer, was shot and killed. Toney then took
on Jackie Kallen, a former publicist for the Kronk Boxing
Gym, as his new manager. Over the next two years, James
Toney had compiled a record of 26 wins no losses and 1 draw.
On May 10, 1991, Toney earned a title shot against the then
undefeated IBF middleweight champion Michael Nunn. He entered
this match, in Nunn’s hometown of Davenport Iowa,
as a huge underdog. Toney surprised everyone in the arena
when he knocked Nunn out in the 11th round and won the title.
Over the next 3 and half years, Toney would become one
of boxing’s most active champions. From the time he
fought Nunn, until his fight with Roy Jones in November
1994, Toney had fought an amazing 20 times. In fact, Toney
had stepped back into the ring to defend his title against
the highly dangerous number 1 contender, Reggie Johnson,
a mere 7 weeks after he had won the title from Nunn. In
that fight, Toney had to overcome a nasty cut (that would
later require 33 stitches), to pull out a decision win over
Johnson. Toney would go on to defend his middleweight title
5 more times against the likes of Francesco Dell Aquilla,
WBA champion Mike McCallum, Dave Tiberi, Glenn Wolfe, and
again McCallum.
In 1991, Toney was named Ring magazine’s fighter
of the year. During many of those defenses, Toney’s
toughest opponents were not those of the ring but in fact
that of the scales. Toney’s weight would commonly
escalate to 195 lbs between fights and it was becoming increasingly
more difficult for him to make the required 160 lbs Middleweight
limit.
After the second McCallum fight Toney decided to step
up to the 168 lbs Super Middleweight division. Following
an easy “tune up” fight against Doug Dewitt,
Toney challenged IBF Super Middleweight champion Iran Barkley.
Going into this fight, Barkley, an aggressive hard punching
warrior, was coming off a win over the legendary Thomas
Hearns. To add to the excitement was the fact that there
was bad blood between the two fighters as they both played
out their cold as steel street tough image to one another.
However, once the opening bell sounded, the fight became
a virtual one-sided massacre, as Toney ripped Barkley apart
in a close quarters battle. As Barkley swung wildly against
his elusive target, Toney countered with short crisp punches
to Barkley’s head and body. By the end of round 8,
Barkley’s face had been turned into a bloodied mess.
He was so badly beaten that his trainer, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad,
would not allow his fighter to come out for round 9. It
was during this fight that Toney showed the world his superior
skills and picked up his second world title.
James Toney would go on to have five non-title fights
before defending his Super Middleweight title with a 12
round unanimous decision against veteran Tony Thornton in
November of 1993. Following the win over Thornton, Toney
began to call out to Roy Jones for a fight. Jones however,
didn’t seem eager to jump into the ring with Toney
any time soon. Soon after, Toney mentioned that he would
only wait until the following summer for a Jones fight.
If the fight couldn’t be made, he would step up to
the Light Heavyweight division, as it was becoming increasingly
more difficult for him to make the Super Middleweight limit.
In January 1994, Toney officially stepped up to his 3rd
weight division as he took on Light Heavyweight contender,
Anthony Hembrick in a 10 round non-title fight. Toney’s
skill proved to be too much for Hembrick to handle, as he
wore him down and stopped him in the 7th round. Although
he appeared sharp as a Light Heavyweight, Toney was not
prepared to give up his Super Middleweight title yet.
On March 5, 1994, only two months after he stopped Hembrick,
Toney made the second defense of his Super Middleweight
title against undefeated number 1 contender, Tim Littles.
The first round of the fight was fairly close as each fighter
tried to feel the other out. The 2nd round saw Toney begin
take control of the fight as he connected with hard punches
to Littles head and body. In fact, it turned into a typical
Toney domination as he effortlessly slipped Littles punches
while cutting off the ring to land his own. It looked like
a sparring session for Toney. The 3rd round of the fight
however, would bring about a dramatic change. As the end
of the 3rd round neared, both fighters’ heads collided,
which resulted in a huge cut over Toney’s right eye.
Blood poured down his face as Toney headed back to his corner
at the end of the round. As Toney sat on the stool, the
ring doctor examined his eye at which point Toney was informed
that the cut was too serious for him to continue. Toney
pleaded with the referee and doctor to allow him to continue
to fight. As Toney shouted from his corner “I’m
going to knock this mother fucker out”, the doctor
agreed to let him go one more round. At the start of the
4th round, Toney’s usually cool and calculating style
took a dramatic turn. With blood pouring down his face,
he charged after Littles like a hungry wolf on a deer. He
knocked Littles down 3 times and hurt him so badly that
Littles remain on the canvas for several minutes after the
fight was stopped. In dramatic fashion, James Toney had
ended the fight to retain his title.
After another non-title tune-up fight in May, Toney would
next defend his title against former IBF Light Heavyweight
champion, Prince Charles Williams on July 29, 1994. Williams,
a skillful boxer/puncher, was expected to put Toney to the
test. In addition, Toney was reported to be having serious
problems getting his weight down to the 168 lbs limit. As
a result, many people believed that Williams would pull
off an upset. Toney believed otherwise. The fight was fought
in close at a grueling pace and Williams, believing that
he was much bigger and stronger than Toney, put constant
pressure on Toney throughout the early stages of the fight.
As the fight continued, Toney appeared to be a master in
the ring as he rolled with Williams’s punches and
countered with hard punches to his head and body. Williams
began to wear down rapidly. In the 12th and final round,
while Williams was still pressing forward, Toney took a
step back and dropped a perfect straight right on Williams’s
chin. Williams’s body went stiff and he fell straight
back like a tree. The referee counted him out and Toney
once again successfully defended his title.
At this time, most boxing magazines and writers had regarded
Toney as the best pound per pound fighter in the world.
He had become one of the most feared and intimidating fighters
as well. James Toney had become somewhat of a throwback
to the old time great fighters, as he fought often and was
willing to take on the best regardless of weight class.
At his best, Toney’s style was almost flawless. He
was a smooth boxer/puncher who could adapt to any style.
He could easily fight from the distance or on an inside
battle. He was one of the best defensive specialists in
the sport, in that he could slip and avoid punches in a
way that resembled a young Roberto Duran. Toney seemed to
have it all, power, speed, a solid chin, an outstanding
defense and an aura that commanded respect. But his battle
with weight had once again begun to take its toll. He would
balloon to over 200 lbs between fights, which made it apparent
that his days at the Super Middleweight limit were coming
to an end. In fact Toney’s sights were now set on
the Heavyweight division. However, after the Williams fight
it was announced that Toney would next defend his title
with a big money fight against Roy Jones.
Toney accepted the fight, believing that he would be able
to make the 168lbs. limit one last time. The fight was set
for November 18, 1994. Toney went into training camp for
the Jones match a mere 6 weeks prior to the fight, weighing
214 lbs. By the day of the weigh-in Toney had stepped on
the scale weighing a weak looking 167 lbs. He had lost 47
lbs in just 6 weeks. Toney was severely dehydrated and his
camp knew it. After the weigh-in, Toney was hooked up to
an I.V. in order to replace his body with fluids and he
was kept on it all night until the next day of the fight.
On fight day, just before entering the ring, Toney had weighed
himself in the dressing room. It was reported that he weighed
186 lbs, which meant that he had gained an incredible 19
pounds in less than 24 hours. As Toney climbed into the
ring and removed his robe, he revealed a soft looking body
which lacked muscle tone. It became apparent that this was
not the same fighter. In spite of the fact that Toney was
so grossly out of shape, Jones still seemed content to fight
a safe cautious fight. The result was a boring 12 round
decision win for Jones. This became Toney’s first
loss after 46 pro fights. After the fight, Toney admitted
that he had been weakened by making the weight and stated
that he would move up to the Light Heavyweight division.
On February 18, 1995, Toney stepped back into the ring
at 175 lbs against 1992 Olympic medalist, Montell Griffin.
Griffin, a short, slick, awkward fighter, provided a tough
fight for Toney. Although Toney staggered Griffin on a few
occasions, he ended up losing a controversial 12 round decision
to Griffin. This would mark Toney’s second loss. At
this point, tension began to build between Toney and his
manager Jacky Kallen as well as Toney’s trainer Bill
Miller. After an easy fight in March against journeyman
Karl Willis, Toney would take on a new manager, Stan Hoffman,
and a new trainer, former Light Heavyweight champion Eddie
Mustafa Muhammad.
With a new team behind him, Toney would go on to beat
Anthony Hembrick in April and Freddy Delgado in June to
win the USBA and WBU Light Heavyweight titles. Toney would
then defend his WBU title in September against Ernest Mateen.
On December 8th, Toney was set to make his 2nd defense of
his WBU title against Greg Everett. However, it was again
reported that Toney was having difficulty making the weight
limit. One week before the fight, Toney’s management
had reported that Toney would not be able to get down to
the 175 lbs Light Heavyweight limit. The fight was then
changed to a 190 lbs Cruiserweight fight for the WBU Continental
title. Toney weighed in at 189 lbs for the fight. The extra
weight seemed to make Toney a much stronger and more stable
fighter as he knocked out the usually sturdy Everett in
the second round with one punch. After the fight, Toney
stated that he felt comfortable fighting as a Cruiserweight
and began to call out IBF Cruiserweight champion Al Cole’s
name.
On March 1st 1996, Toney would face the biggest opponent,
physically, of his career in Cruiserweight/Heavyweight Richard
Mason. The fight was scheduled to be fought at the Cruiserweight
division with a 195 lbs weight limit. When Toney stepped
on the scale, he weighed in at 210 lbs. As a result, Toney
was fined $25, 000 for coming in overweight and he was listed
and announced as 200 lbs. Despite that fact that Mason was
the largest fighter that Toney had ever faced and Toney
had weighed the heaviest that he had ever been, he looked
extremely sharp. In fact, Toney had been in such control
that during the fight he looked away from Mason and spoke
to the crowd. Toney won an impressive 10 round decision
against a fighter who had given Cruiserweight champion Orlin
Norris and Heavyweight James Thunder all they could handle.
Although successful at the heavier weight class, Toney
was still bothered by his loss to Roy Jones. He felt that
by not showing up in proper shape, he had allowed Jones
to win. After talking it over with his management, Toney
decided to move back down to Light Heavyweight in hopes
of luring Roy Jones into a rematch. Only 2 months after
beating Mason, Toney would come in at 175 lbs to win the
vacant WBU Light Heavyweight title against Earl Butler.
Following the Butler fight, Toney would remain at Light
Heavyweight and would go on to beat Charles Oliver and Duran
Williams.
On December 6, 1996, Toney faced Montell Griffin in a
rematch for the WBU Light Heavyweight title. In the fight,
Griffin fought a very defensive match as he often ran and
held onto Toney. Toney fought at a slow but consistent pace,
cutting off the ring against Griffin and landing short hard
punches to his head and body. When the fight was over, it
had appeared that Toney would earn a decision victory. However,
when the decision was announced, Griffin was awarded a split
decision win much to the surprise of everyone at ringside,
including the commentators. Toney was extremely disappointed,
as he felt that he had been robbed for the second time against
the same fighter.
However, true to form, James Toney would march on, but
not before changing trainers once again. Toney replaced
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad with Freddy Roach. On February 22,
1997 Toney would win the vacant WBU Cruiserweight title
against his nemesis Mike McCallum. McCallum was coming off
a decision loss to Roy Jones for the WBC Light Heavyweight
title, in which he gave Jones all he could handle. But Toney,
despite being in poor shape, handled him easily, winning
a 12 round decision.
Even though it appeared that he could no longer make the
Light Heavyweight limit, he still went ahead with a fight
against Drake Thadzi for the IBO Light Heavyweight title.
Leading up to the fight, Toney was so overweight that he
actually passed out twice while trying to make weight. On
the day of the weigh-in, Toney tipped the scales at 179¾lbs
almost 5 pounds over the 175 lbs limit. Toney was given
2 hours to lose the extra pounds, but when he had returned
he was 177 lbs, over the limit by 2 pounds. The fight still
took place with the stipulation that if Toney won, he would
not be awarded the title due to the fact that he was over
the weight limit. However, if Thadzi won, he would be awarded
the title. During the early going of the fight, Toney’s
dominance was clearly evident, as he slipped and countered
every punch that Thadzi threw at him. But Toney’s
punches seemed to lack power, and as the fight continued,
Toney began to tire quickly. As a result, Thadzi was able
to outwork him and win a 12 round decision. This clearly
marked the end of Toney’s days as a Light Heavyweight,
as it became obvious that he would no longer be able to
make the weight without jeopardizing his skills and health.
Toney would return to the ring one month later as a 189
lbs Cruiserweight to win the IBO title with a 12 round decision
over Steve Little. After the Little fight, Toney decided
to move up to the Heavyweight division. He began a weight-training
regimen to add muscle weight rather than fat weight on to
his frame. He began to prepare for a January 1998 fight
with former Heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, but shortly
before the January 21 fight date, it was reported that Holmes
suffered an injury in training. The fight was postponed.
Unfortunately, it was never rescheduled, as the promoter,
Harold Smith, was unable to come up with the money to reschedule
the fight. Now Toney was now without a fight. In April,
when an HBO was looking for an opponent for Andrew Golota,
Toney offered himself, but was turned down by Golota’s
camp. When Roy Jones cowardly backed out of a fight with
Heavyweight Buster Douglas, Toney again offered himself
as a replacement, only to have Douglas’s camp turn
him down. It seemed that Toney would pose too much of a
risk for too little reward to most heavyweights. Toney even
suggested that if Roy Jones wanted to fight a Heavyweight
, he should face him (Toney), but Jones wanted no part of
it.
During this time Toney was going through a series of personal
problems. He was in the midst of a messy divorce with his
wife and had filed a civil lawsuit against his mother. With
fights falling out and personal problems on the rise, it
would be nearly two years before Toney would step into the
ring again. During this time of inactivity, Toney’s
weight would balloon to 275 lbs. Most people felt that Toney
would never again be a significant fighter. But on March
7th 1999, after 7 months of serious training, Toney would
step back into the ring against Terry Porter at a weight
of 203 lbs. To the surprise of many people, and in spite
of the fact the he was much heavier than in past fights,
Toney’s physique looked good. From the moment that
he took off his robe, you could see that he was far more
muscular than he had ever been before. Although Toney hadn’t
fought in almost two years, he looked extremely sharp in
stopping Porter in 8 rounds.
Toney decided to move down to Cruiserweight, and on July
29, 1999 he faced former Cruiserweight champion Adolpho
Washington. Weighing 197 lbs for the fight, Toney looked
physically better than he had in recent years. Toney looked
extremely sharp in the fight and stopped Washington in round
10. This would mark the first time that the granite chinned
Washington had ever been stopped in a fight, even though
he had faced the likes of Virgil Hill, Iran Barkley, Orlin
Norris, and Uriah Grant. This along with Toney’s new
sculpted physique indicated that he was very serious about
his comeback. Toney would further reinforce this opinion
with his next fight in October. Weighing a chiseled 194lbs,
Toney would win an impressive 10 round decision over hard
punching Cruiserweight contender Ramon Garbay. Following
the win over Garbay, and a January 2000 win over Terry McGroom,
Toney seemed to be in position for a shot at a world title.
He faced one major problem though; none of the Cruiserweight
champions seemed willing to defend against him.
When a fight with WBC champion Juan Carlos Gomez fell
apart in May, Toney hoped to position himself for a shot
at the WBA champion by taking on number 2 rated Alexander
Gurov in November 2000. Only days before the fight, Gurov
unexpectedly pulled out claiming that he had problems entering
the U.S. Last minute replacement Courtney Butler was thrown
in and Toney stopped him easily in 2 rounds.
The year 2001 saw a new challenge for James Toney. He
was cast to play the part of Joe Frazier in the movie Ali.
Despite the fact that he would often put in 12-hour days
for nearly 6 months of the filming, he managed to squeeze
in one fight in March 2001 in which he defeated Saul Montana
and won the IBA Super Cruiserweight title.
Toney was now set and looking forward to a title shot
against IBF champion Vasily Jirov scheduled for July, 2001
on HBO. However, leading up to the fight, Jirov suddenly
backed out claming that he wanted to spend time with his
pregnant wife. Only one week later, Jirov attempted to have
his management team set him up to defend against another
opponent which indicated that he really didn’t want
to fight Toney. This frustrated Toney and again his weight
began to rise. On July 20, Toney stepped into the ring to
face Heavyweight Wesley Martin. Weighing 226 lbs, the heaviest
of his career, Toney stopped Martin in 3 rounds. Toney would
not fight again for the rest of 2001.
To the surprise of everyone, Toney started off 2002 by
dropping back down to the Cruiserweight division. On March
22 he won a lopsided 10 round decision over former title
challenger Sione Asipeli. This indicated that he was indeed
serious about winning a World title at Cruiserweight. Toney
kept busy following the Asipeli fight by stepping back into
the ring on May 31 defeating tough journeyman Michael Rush
by 10th round TKO. While the wins over Asipeli and Rush
showed that Toney was still indeed a top contender at Cruiserweight,
two problems still seemed to linger for Toney. One was that
many people doubted that Toney would be able to get himself
into proper shape and actually make the 190 lbs weight limit
if a title shot came about. The other was that with Jirov
seemly unwilling to give Toney a shot, and Toney not being
the mandatory contender for any of the titles, it still
seemed to be a long wait for a title shot to come.
All of that made a quick turn about when in June Toney
signed a promotional deal with Dan Goossen's new promotional
firm Goossen Tutor Promotions. By having Goossen act as
his promoter, Toney had once again aligned himself with
a strong promoter that had connections and big fight experience.
Gooseen immediately showed his worth by arranging a IBF
Cruiserweight elimination fight between Toney and number
9 rated Jason Robinson, with the winner promised a shot
at Jirov.
The fight was set for August 18th and for the first time
in five years, Toney would have to make the 190 lbs weight
limit. Toney himself knew that this was his last chance
to make a statement. So with a new sense of purpose James
Toney had began to undergo a strict regimen of training
and diet. Meanwhile Dan Goosseen was flexing his promotional
muscle by having Toney do frequent public weigh-ins, interviews,
television and radio appearances in order to let the public
know that Toney was back and indeed serious. Toney and Goossen
knew that he had to look impressive against Robinson in
order to have the public take him serious once again.
So win impressively he did as he knocked out Robinson
with one punch in the 7th round to win the fight. This now
put Toney in line for a title shot with Jirov, which was
scheduled to take place on January 25, 2003. However, Toney
would once again suffer another set-back as a mere two weeks
before the fight Jirov would pull out claiming an injury.
This completely infuriated Toney as he believed that Jirov
was only claiming injury to further try and avoid a fight
with him. Those close to Toney along with many members of
the media felt that this in fact could have been a tactic
pulled by Jirov in order to try and throw Toney off his
training pattern. The thinking was that Toney, who was in
excellent shape leading up to the fight would lose focus
and again gain weight.
Meanwhile, Toney's promoter and HBO quickly came up with
a new date for the fight. April 26, 2003 would now be the
date for Toney's shot at the title. Now it was only a matter
of Jirov not pulling out again, and Toney keeping his focus
and staying in shape.
As it turned out James Toney did keep his focus on the
fight and trained properly leading up to fight and made
the 190 lbs weight limit easily. Once the bell for the fight
rang it was apparent that Toney was indeed well prepared
for the fight as he went to war toe to toe with the aggressive
Jirov over 12 exciting rounds. Toney displayed much of his
old skill in the fight as he masterfully slipped Jirov's
punches and landed short hard counter-punches of his own.
However, Jirov displayed and iron chin and unrelenting will
to press forward to try to wear down Toney. But in the end
it would be Toney who would wear down the younger, bigger
champion, as he knocked down Jirov in the 12th round to
seal a clear cut decision victory.
James Toney was now once again a recognized World champion,
and many big opportunities were now ahead for him. An intriguing
fight with Undisputed Middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins
was planed, but then quickly fell apart as Hopkins appeared
to come to his senses and realize the risk in jumping up
to the 190 lbs division to face one of the best fighters
pound for pound in the world. So Toney and Goossen turned
their sights to another direction, The Heavyweight Division!
When Roy Jones pulled out of a proposed fight with Evander
Holyfield, Toney quickly jumped on the opportunity and sighed
to fight Holyfield.
The fight was set for October 4, 2003 and this would mark
the first well established fighter that Toney would fight
in the heavyweight division. Once again James Toney's conditioning
would become a question as many people felt that because
he was now not required to make a weight limit he would
simply just balloon up in weight. However, this would not
be the case as Toney approached the Holyfield fight seriously
and underwent a diligent weight training regime in order
to gain muscle weight rather than fat. As a result Toney
came into the fight weighing a heavily muscled and powerful
looking 217 lbs. During the course of the fight Toney looked
like a true heavyweight as he stood toe to toe with one
of boxing all time great worriers and traded heavy punches.
However, Toney's greater hand-speed and defensive skill
enabled him to out-punch and batter Holyfield. By round
3, Toney made the fight look like a mismatch as he began
to toy with a bloodied and beaten Holyfield. The end came
in round 9 when Toney landed a thudding body punch followed
by an over hand right that floored Holyfield and prompted
the referee to stop the fight. This would make Toney only
the second fighter, Riddick Bowe the other, to stop the
durable 5 time champion and now marked James Toney's arrival
into the heavyweight division.
A fight with 6-6, 260 lbs Jameel McCline would be Toney
next assignment to prove that he was a legitimate heavyweight.
This made an very intriguing match-up as many people wondered
how Toney's skill would match up against a really big opponent
like McCline. Once again though, Toney would suffer another
set-back. During training for the McCline fight Toney suffered
a torn Achilles tendon that would require surgery and extensive
rehabilitation which would keep Toney side-lined for up
to 6 months.
On April 30, 2005 he defeated John Ruiz by unanimous-decision
in a 12-round match for the World Boxing Association (WBA)
world Heavyweight Championship. However, as of May 18, 2005,
it was [1] reported that Toney failed his post-fight drug
test, testing positive for anabolic steroids. 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 in New
York (and effectively the rest of the U.S.A., due to the
Commission's prominence in boxing) for 90 days.
James Toney recently won a unanimous decision victory over
Dominic Guinn, in which he dominated. This may lead to him
getting a title-shot at either much-maligned Chris Byrd
or Lamon Brewster.
