It Should Be "Never And Not Now"

By Dennis Bernstein, MBA Chairman/CEO SCORE! Media Ventures
www.scoremedia.org

Photos By William Trillo
 

Cabazon, CA - The James Toney bout staged Saturday evening at the windswept, wintry Morongo Casino was originally billed, “Now or Never.” The slogan was based on the fact that it was still another crossroads fight for the 40 year old Toney as well as his original opponent, Tony Thompson. Thompson showed only toughness in his July KO loss against the leader of the division, Wladimir Klitschko and nothing more so it was questionable why the Washington, DC fighter was selected for a possible return to contention. The fight nearly turned into “Never” when whispers circulated that the fight was about to be called off just two weeks prior to the December 13 date. The reality came to the fore that Thompson suffered with a case of bronchitis which KO’d him from the opportunity to fight for the less than coveted IBA and NABO titles, so the scramble was on for an opponent to keep the card alive.

Toney’s promoter, Goossen Tutor found a reasonable opponent in Fres Oquendo. Oquendo entered the bout on a three fight winning streak after losing to ancient Evander Holyfield at the Alamodome in November of 2006. With a 21-4 record and losses to all legitimate heavyweights (Chris Byrd, John Ruiz and David Tua as well as Evander), maybe Oquendo was TOO legitimate a stand in for Thompson. Aside from the defeat at the hands of the younger Klitschko, Thompson’s body of work is less impressive and for those who know the fight game, Fres is a much tougher fighter. It may have been asking too much for Oquendo to step in with two weeks notice after an almost five month layoff to face Toney, still one of the best technical fighters in the game and apparently in the best shape he’s been in for years. As his body turned 40, “Lights Out” finally made a commitment to the last leg of his boxing career with a legitimate approach to training. He tipped the scales at way-too-heavy 244 for his July TKOW turned No Contest against Hasim Rahman but entered the match at a realistic 230 pounds. Part of Toney’s motivation for this fight certainly came from the fact that despite the fact that Rahman quit on his stool at the end of the bout, it was Hasim and not Toney that got a shot at the class of the division. Rahman’s non-performance earlier in the day probably had Toney spitting nails in his hotel suite while viewing the mismatch while awaiting his turn in the spotlight.

Toney had his game face on as he strode to the ring behind trainer Joe Goossen with the knowledge that this fight was more of a must win for him than it was Oquendo. Toney’s style has changed over the past few years; the once ferocious inside fighter we saw earlier in this decade is gone. He is now a boxer who prefers to jab his way in, in an attempt to win a more stylistic match. You can always count on a Toney fight to have its moments of levity and there was a big one in the fourth round. An inadvertent shove by Oquendo not only landed Toney on the canvas but the force of the push caused James to roll directly into the first row, causing Toney much more embarrassment than harm.

With the fight half over, Toney was probably wishing that Thompson had taken some Benadryl to cure his bronchitis for a couple of weeks prior to the match. Oquendo stood in front of Toney for the first six rounds and there was no damage done by the favorite giving Oquendo increased confidence as the fight grew on. Toney’s work rate has increasingly slowed with each subsequent fight and this fight proved no different. For a fighter used to landing with pinpoint accuracy and being able to defend with aplomb, it has to be difficult for Toney’s psyche to be off balance while delivering blows and being hit more than hitting.

The turn in the closer than expected bout came late in the eighth round when Oquendo got penalized for hitting behind the head by referee Dr. Lou Moret after being warned earlier in the fight for the same offense. Though it seemed the foul was more a function of a taller fighter throwing looping punches than an intentional offense (remember Toney claimed the same thing against Samuel Peter), the one point deduction turned it into a 10-8 round for Toney and “Lights Out” came out with renewed vigor for the ninth knowing his challenger had given him an early holiday present.

 

Despite trainer Goossen’s great bedside manner in Toney’s corner as they entered the championship rounds, an ineffective James was unable to put away Oquendo and was in retreat for most of the final round. Instead of closing with a rush as a legitimate championship contender would, James ended with a whimper; he was on the receiving end of most of the blows in the final round and was unable to mount any significant offense. Though our scorecard had Toney winning by the slimmest of margins, 114-113, there was concern in his corner as they tabulated the scores. The Toney corner had a right to be worried as ring announcer Jimmy Lennon read through the split decision counts. With the final judge scoring the bout as I did, Toney escaped with a one point split decision win.

Whether you like his street thug mentality or not, on balance James Toney has been good for the fight game. He’s never ducked a fight and can always be counted on to pump up the volume for any promotion with his antics. He’s a personality in a game devoid of character and will merit consideration for the Hall of Fame when the day eventually comes that he hangs up the gloves for good. With that said, his days at the top of the division are over. Yes, you’ll hear him yak over the coming weeks that he’ll take on either of the Klitschko brothers; probably brag that he’d fight both of them in one night if they’d let him but neither of those fights should be made. Earlier this summer, I asked Wladimir’s trainer, the legendary Emanuel Steward about the prospects of fighting Toney. “I like James, he’s from Detroit like me but we’d never take that fight. He wouldn’t be able to move away from Wladimir, he’d be a sitting duck,” Manny reasoned. Prior to this match, I thought that there was a possibility that Toney could stand a chance against Vitali Klitschko, the older sibling with just one fight in the past four years, a stirring comeback championship win against the aforementioned Peter but this performance would preclude that match or any against the upper echelon in the weak heavyweight division regardless of the Rahman non-effort.  And without those options at his disposal, Toney’s best move is to consider retirement.

NO, I REALLY DON’T WANT TO PLAY HOOPS ANYMORE
 

They finally put the Andre Ward express train back on the tracks this night but they placed it on the rails very gently. Ward, who suffered a knee injury while balling in the Bay Area, dispatched the outclassed Esteban “Rocky” Camou at 2:46 of the third round. When referee Pat Russell has seen enough, it marked the first time since June that Ward had thrown a winning punch in anger. It was classic Ward for the duration of the nine minutes toiled, smooth combinations, easy movement around the ring and no ill effects from the troublesome. “It was a tough fight tonight, I wore him down and he wasn’t responding. 2009 will be our year and I plan to fight in my home town in February,” Ward conveyed moments after the victory. Goossen Tutor has been very careful with Ward’s career and although this was his eighth consecutive stoppage of an opponent, they must bring a higher level of talent to the ring to face Ward in order to have the next 12 months be career defining for the former Olympian.

DO YOU WANT TO REALLY COMPARE YOURSELF TO DE LA HOYA THESE DAYS?
 

You have to admire any kid that comes out of the barrio of East LA from a family of sixteen and qualifies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. If Shawn Estrada does nothing with his professional career, he’s accomplished more than most have at 23 years of age. Though he didn’t bring back a medal to serve the memory of his father, 1968 Mexican Olympian Juan Leon Estrada who tragically passed away the day after Shawn lost to eventual 165 pound Gold Medalist James Degale, he left with a memory of a lifetime and drew a parallel to a much more famous boxer out of East LA. “It was sort of a coincidence that both Oscar De La Hoya and I are from East LA, with Oscar’s mother passing away before the Olympics and my father passing away during them,” Estrada reflected. Now while the in ring fortunes of the Golden Boy have taken a turn for the worse over the past two weeks, if Estrada were able to achieve just one championship while campaigning at super middleweight he would fulfill a legacy.

Estrada got to open the Versus televised portion of the card with a four rounder against non-entity Shaun “Boom Boom” Spaid. It was Estrada’s second pro bout after compiling a 110-7 record as an amateur and it was a fight that looked like a professional’s second attempt. Estrada came out swinging from the heels and ended it at just 43 seconds of the first, an accomplishment that only earns Estrada a third bout, hopefully against an opponent with a clue as no barometer could be taken from a match of this sort.

THE BUTLER DIDN’T DO IT
 

On paper, Malik Scott looks impressive. Fighting out of the city of Brotherly Love, he stands 6’4” and 255 pounds. He’s presently undefeated at 32-0 and looks menacing as he entered the ring against Raphael Butler, who has the unique distinction of losing twice to a fighter with only six victories. Guess that controversial four round split decision against Homero Fonseca earned Butler a rematch only three weeks prior to facing Scott.

So with “Opponent” stamped clearly on Mr. Butler’s back as the bell rang for the opening round, one understood why the undefeated Scott doesn’t ripple the heavyweight puddle with any of the punches he throws. He plodded his way to an eight round unanimous decision and put Butler’s name next to other conquests of Sedreck Fields (22-37-2), Ramon Hayes (15-27-1) and Dennis McKinney (28-46-1). I’d suggest a step up in class for Malik for his next bout but it appears he’s happy handling this level of talent.

TIME HAS COME…FOR EDDIE TO SLIM DOWN
 

Not sure what happened to “Fast” Eddie Chambers. In the course of just over a year, the Philadelphia heavyweight went from beating Calvin Brock in an IBF title eliminator to fighting eight round bouts on the deep undercard of a mid-level card. He had some interesting stops on the way to handing opponent Cisse Salif his 12^th loss against 23 wins (79-72 twice and 79-73). The Fa(s)t One traveled to Germany to lose a unanimous decision in another IBF title eliminator to Alexander Povetkin, we saw him TKO Raphael Butler in the delicious destination of Georgetown, Cayman Islands and then returned home to stop Livin (Not Large) Castillo at the blue Horizon in October.

Although he’s only 26 years old and has a nice 32-1 record, he’s become an afterthought in a division devoid of talent. The overriding factor in the change in Eddie’s status was apparent as he entered the ring this night. It was obvious that Eddie has traded his fast shoes in for a table at In and Out Burger. He still has nice hand speed and is an above average technical fighter but his lack of training makes him as unattractive to fight fans as his waistline would be to a fitness trainer;  he tipped the scales at 221 for this match, his heaviest in over four years. Given the same night performance of Hasim Rahman, if Eddie could find a trainer that can keep him away from the dinner table (that would rule out Henry Ramirez, Chris Arreola’s current trainer), he’s still young enough to make an impact in the division.