Weight For Toney/Peter Almost Over
By Michael Woods August 29th, 2006James Toney and Sam Peter packing the pounds
I tried, for those of you aiming to put down some cashish on Saturday’s heavyweight title shot eliminator between James Toney and Sam Peter.
I asked Peter’s manager Ivaylo Gotzev what his man would be weighing for the contest and if he liked his level of conditioning.
“In the 250s,” Gotzev said. “And I wouldn’t be a good manager if I weren’t always looking for things my fighter can improve.”
I myself like Peter in the 240s and think at 6-1 he’d look sharp in the 230s range…
Against Toney he will need mobility, but then again, John Ruiz tried to get into boxer mode against RJJ, instead of using his natural weight and strength advantage, so time will tell…
Then I asked Toney’s manager, John Arthur, what his man will weigh come weigh-in time on Friday.
No dice. That touchy issue isn’t a popular one with Toney and Arthur said his guy didn’t want him to discuss it with reporters.
Toney was on the scale Monday, the manager said, and he was “light,” was how Arthur put it.
Arthur is maintaining that JT is in fine form, looking like he did a few years back, against Holyfield.
Just to be sure, I also asked Arthur if Toney had any flu bug or cold coming in, as he did against Hasim Rahman.
No, Arthur said. JT is at 100% and in fact, the manager told me, that when someone in the camp had a sneezing fit a few days ago, he banished him from the inner circle, lest Toney pick up a bug…
August 29th, 2006 at 8:56 pm
toney should win this one because he will be in shape everybody knows it is a touchyy issue so we will see with no excuses. peter fans if peter loses don,t say excuses.
August 30th, 2006 at 9:14 am
Interesting match. Not a Peter fan, but won’t mind if he destroys Toney. Someone needs to put this jackass in his place. I think he went over the top with some insults this time, insulting Peter’s heritage. Almost racist.
I cant understand why some of todays heavyweights cant beat a 5 9′ former middleweight and fear him this much. If Peter can’t then clearly, he is a product of a hype machine that has padded his impressive record with never-was and ha- been fighters.
August 30th, 2006 at 5:19 pm
JT is a hypocrite. He insults Peter’s heritage - Which he CLEARLY shares.
What a dumbass.
What’s next? Brian Viloria insulting Manny Pacquiao for being Filipino? (LOL)
August 30th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
OK..Toney might be a big mouth and he might say some things that make him look less than intelligent but he’s a legitamate heavyweight with talent. I read an interview (Aug 28th) from Toney’s trainer, Freddie Roach, in which Roach stated that although Toney will be around 230 for the fight the difference is Toney is hitting the pavement 5 days a week instead of the weights and has been very focused on his training and proving he’s the best heavyweight out there. If you’ve watched any of Peter’s fights the first thing you notice is lots of power. You also notice Peter is constantly off balance, has no defense and throws lots of wide sweeping punches. Outside of Klitschko, he has faced the usual variety of record building bums. My prediction; Toney will shock and awe with a middle to late KO and show Peter how scary nightmare’s can be.
August 30th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
Toney should win this fight rather easily because he has forgotten more about boxing than Peter will ever know. Barring the one big knockout punch from Peter, Toney should have a rather easy night.
That being said, Toney’s act is getting pretty tired and he needs to shut the hell up about people’s heritage. He needs to shut his mouth, put in some road work, and fight.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:45 am
For Peter to win he must aim for the body, since Toney seems to use his shoulders, much like a turtle, to guard his chin. He also must out-hustle the hustler - Toney is a hustler inside as well as outside the ring. Aside from the lucky punch, no one who really knows about boxing gives Peter a boxer’s chance. He lacks the speed of a Roy Jones Jr. and by far doesn’t have the boxing skills to make a dent fighting inside - where Toney reigns supreme. I like Peter, but my heart says Toney will win a hardfought unanimous decision.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:44 am
Toney is the better boxer, although not as good as everyone thinks he is, but I believe Peter gets lucky and knocks him out. “Lights Out” has never faced a guy with the kind of power Sam has and I believe he’ll be revealed to be a big, fat, middleweight who finally gets what a real heavyweight has for him. Funny how middleweights get world titles by beating the brakes off John” I wish I never beat Holyfield” Ruiz, then get their clocks cleaned when they face legitimate opposition. It happened to by favorite fighter of all time, RJJ, and it’s about to happen again. Sam Peter in 7!
September 1st, 2006 at 5:53 am
James Toney is 38 years old. Sam Peter is 26 years old. In the most recent presser Peter looks much bigger and Toney appears to be intimidated. James Toney can’t fight any better than he did against Rahman. Sam Peter will win this fight easily inside six rounds.