| Toney vs. Peter Preview 8-29-06 James Toney (69-4-3, 43KO) vs. Samuel Peter (26-1, 22KO) September 2 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles Heavyweights/Showtime The most intriguing Heavyweight match-up of the year takes place Saturday. Lots of questions should be answered by the time this one is through, among them: Can James Toney deal with the power of a real hard-hitting Heavyweight? Is Peter’s conventional style taylor made for a master technician like Toney? Is Toney in over his head this time? The Eight Count will attempt to break things down as we see them. Styles: James Toney is a natural boxer/fighter who throws and lands a lot of punches and very seldom gets hit square. The issue of Toney’s weight and conditioning has been an issue throughout much of his career and has been exacerbated ever since he began his campaign at Heavyweight where he has stepped through the ropes at weights as high as 237 pounds. Despite his conditioning or lack thereof James Toney remains one of the purest and most skilled boxers in the sport today. Sam Peter is an upright, conventional boxer with an above average jab and above average power. He's recognized as one of a handful of boxers who are considered the future of the Heavyweight division. He has above average power and will be looking to impose his will on Toney by landing power punches. Experience: James Toney has 15 years of world-class experience in five weight divisions and has fought for or held at least 17 major and/or minor belts in weight divisions from 160 to Heavyweight. Highlights of his career include a stunning 11th round knockout of Michael Nunn in 1991 to capture his first world title, wins over Reggie Johnson, Merqui Sosa, Iran Barkely, Mike McCallum, Evander Holyfield and Vasilly Jirov among others. Since moving to Heavyweight Toney has a record of 4-0-1 with 1 no contest and most recently fought Hasim Rahman to a 12 round draw in a bout in which Toney came in woefully out of shape. In comparison to Toney Samuel Peter is a baby on the world stage. His biggest wins are a pair of 2nd round knockouts against Taurus Sykes and Jeremy Williams and a 1st round demolition of Julius Long. In 2005, he challenged Wladimir Klitschko for a version of the Heavyweight title and lost a 12 round decision. Peter has yet to have a defining fight and doesn’t appear to have reached his peak as a professional. The Fight: Plenty of boxing clichés can be applied to this one. Boxer vs. Puncher; Styles Make Fights; A Good Big Man Beats A Good Little Man Every Time. Even though James Toney now campaigns, out of convenience or necessity, as a Heavyweight, he still comes into this fight as the smaller man. He has the smaller punch and will move and slip punches like a Middleweight, at least he’ll attempt to. Samuel Peter is, along with a few others, the future of Heavyweight boxing. To win this fight he will have to impose his will on a world-class technical fighter in James Toney. No small task. But what will happen if he catches Toney clean? Well, we’ll just have to wait and see. The chances of that happening aren’t necessarily very high as James Toney hardly ever gets hit clean. But he is 38 years old and steps into the ring here in his 78th pro fight and in his 18th year as a pro, five weight divisions and approximately 80 pounds from where he started. Like I mentioned earlier, Peter and his ilk are the future, and at some point time is going to catch up with James Toney. Prediction: With all that said, Samuel Peter has an adequate amount of holes for James Toney to spend at least 7 rounds exposing. Peter should have moments but a full imposition of his will is going to be an impossible task for a fighter without an adequate amount of world-class experience. James Toney should win a 12-round decision. |
