James Toney once named the one fighter in particular that he believes took some of his biggest shots.
Known for being one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time, Toney became a world champion in three weight divisions throughout the course of his professional career.
He rose to stardom during the 1990s where he would do battle with the likes of Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley and the legendary Roy Jones Jr to name just a few.
Whilst the majority of his success came during his campaigns at middleweight and super-middleweight, Toney eventually made the jump up to cruiserweight where he became the IBF world champion with a victory over Vassiliy Jirov in April of 2003.
In a ‘Best I Faced’ interview with The Ring Magazine, Toney named none other than three-time world title challenger Tony Thornton as the toughest opponent of his career, as he claims his countryman ‘wouldn’t budge’ when he hit him with his hardest shot.
“The punching postman from Philly! (laughs) I thought I was gonna knock him out easy. He was squared up with his chin right there for me to hit but I hit him with every punch I had and he wouldn’t budge. I hit him with my best left hook and he didn’t blink.”
‘Lights Out’ defeated Thornton via unanimous decision when they locked horns at the Civic Center in Tulsa back in October of 1993, the first defence of Toney’s IBF world super-middleweight title.
Toney would make a further two defences of his crown before he was dethroned by Roy Jones Jr just over one year later. He made the move up to light-heavyweight shortly after although he would not capture world honours at 175lbs.
