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James Toney Loses Weight, Wins Fight and Calls Out the “Klitschko Sisters”

Sep 14, 2009, 3:35 PM UTC

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â†µFirst of all, check out the 41-year-old “Lights Out” in this interviewâ†µbelow, after his second-round stoppage of Matthew Greer this pastâ†µSaturday night.â†µ
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â†µBy all accounts, Toney looked very good in disposing of Greer,â†µalthough I confess that I don’t know why anyone is surprised at theâ†µoutcome given that in his two previous fights Greer lost anâ†µeight-rounder to Brian Minto and was stopped in three rounds by Kevinâ†µJohnson. Who in their right mind thinks that James Toney isn’t going toâ†µwalk through someone who just lost a decision to Brian Minto?â†µ
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â†µBut then, the real news coming out of this thing wasn’t the speed of Toney’s victory. It was the size of Toney’s waistline.â†µ
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Forâ†µyears now, it’s seemed that every time Toney stepped into the ring, itâ†µwas to prove some kind of bizarrely stubborn point - that a man whoâ†µobviously cared not a whit for his own fitness nevertheless could relyâ†µon his God-given talent and compete as a legit heavyweight boxer.â†µ
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â†µThe results of that experiment surprisingly were not great. Afterâ†µToney schooled Evander Holyfield back in 2003 (and allow me to pointâ†µout that the Real Deal was completely shot even then),â†µone could have been forgiven for thinking that “Lights Out” was goingâ†µto establish himself as a force with the big boys after having wonâ†µworld titles at middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight.â†µ
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â†µAlas, James got seriously fat. Jelly-bellied, wiggle-jiggle,â†µman-titty fat. He dabbled in ‘roids, and then he more than dabbled inâ†µfood. His undeniable ruggedness and admittedly vast, old-schoolâ†µskill-set combined with the lackluster nature of his opponents - Johnâ†µRuiz, Hasim Rahman, Sam Peter - allowed him to remain competitive whileâ†µtipping the scales at close to 240. But it was very hard to see him asâ†µanything but an entertaining sideshow, let alone take him seriously inâ†µhis ever more grandiose claims that he would someday unify theâ†µheavyweight belts.
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â†µIt’s… well, it’s still difficult to take him seriously on that score.â†µBut at least it seems like he’s actually training for his fights now.â†µHe came in at just over 217 pounds for the Greer fight, his lowestâ†µofficial weight since the Holyfield fight in 2003. After the bout heâ†µadmitted what he’d previously refused to admit depite the fact that itâ†µwas patently obvious to anyone paying attention. “When I was heavier,”â†µhe said, “I felt like I was losing my speed and my stamina.” Noâ†µkidding, James. Really?â†µ
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â†µToney then said that if he could get a fight with one of “theâ†µKlitschko sisters” he would try and come in at around 210. Not thatâ†µhe’s ever going to get a fight with either of the Brothers K, but Iâ†µhave to point out that it’s a strange thing indeed to hear a 5’10”â†µformer middleweight claim that his recent weight loss is good reason toâ†µbelieve that he’s a worthy competitor for two men who both stand aroundâ†µ6’6”, 240. Then again, this is James Toney we’re talking about here.â†µReason is not his strong suit.â†µ

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