You have to hand it to James Toney and Samuel Peter, who meet in a 12-round heavyweight elimination match in Los Angeles on 2 September. Each has consistently said they will take on anyone. They prove it by taking on each other.
This is a dangerous fight for both men. Toney, who will be 38 by the time the two men step between the ropes at the Staples Center, could frustrate Peter, make him miss and counter punch him all night.
The other scenario is that Peter will be too young at 25 (he turns 26 four days after the bout), too strong and too heavy handed for Toney to deal with and that he will simply keep marching in and keep hitting the older man wherever and whenever he can until something gives — or until he has built up enough points to win the decision.
This is the sort of fight — to be televised by HBO — that reminds me of the 12-round heavyweight bouts of bygone years, the Ali-Norton; Patterson-Chuvalo; Foreman-Lyle; Quarry-Mac Foster type of fights: There are so many from which to choose.
Toney has a wealth of experience, with 77 fights spread over 18 years and five weight divisions. How he ever managed to fight as a middleweight for four years after being a 200-pound football player in high school only he will ever know.
It is this ring knowledge — so many rounds of championship boxing against so many talented fighters — that is perhaps Toney’s greatest asset in this fight. He knows how to discourage an opponent and make him fight the way that Toney wants him to fight. He also knows how to snatch breathers and fight in spurts — how to win rounds. Also, Toney is, plainly and simply, a very tough individual: He has a great chin and he is mentally durable, too.
The way that Toney can stay seemingly so calm and relaxed, when the other man is throwing everything he has at him is not often seen nowadays.
Toney might in fact be one of the last of the old-school fighters, the consummate ring mechanics of the Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore and Jersey Joe Walcott ilk.
The clock is ticking on Toney, though. His style — the expert rolling with the punches, seldom getting hit flush — has enabled him to be long-lasting but there seemed clear evidence in his last fight, the draw with Hasim Rahman, that age is catching up with Toney. He hit Rahman with some beautiful shots to head and body, expertly timed and delivered, but he could not keep it up for round after round. Toney had to pace himself. Rahman was able to win rounds simply by outworking him. If Toney had been able to win the last round he would have won the fight, but the effort was beyond him.
Still, to have fought the heavyweight champion basically on level terms shows that Toney still has a great deal left to offer. Enough to stave off the much younger Samuel Peter? It is an iffy proposition. Much will depend on whether Peter keeps the punches coming at a goodly rate. The Nigerian has been known to fight a little lethargically. He also has shown a tendency to move in without letting his hands go, looking to land one big punch: Wladimir Klitschko was able to take advantage of these aspects of Peter’s style in his unanimous decision win over the Nigerian last September.
If Peter does not keep his hands moving against Toney, if he tries to get the job done with one big hit, there is a strong possibility that the fight will simply slip from his grasp.
Peter’s camp does realise, though, that the big puncher must also be a busy puncher. Trainer Jesse Reid, who is very good at getting boxers to fight at a fast pace — as he showed when guiding Lamon Brewster to big wins over Andrew Golota and Luan Krasniqi — was brought on board to work with Peter’s original trainer, Pops Anderson. Reid was with Peter for just one fight, though — the quick blowout over Julius Long in April. What happened? Reid explained that he also works with heavyweight hope Tye Fields, who is managed by the veteran Billy Baxter, and he said from Las Vegas that Baxter feared a conflict of interest, with both Peter and Fields entered in the Australian $6.5 million Superfighter event (which has now been delayed).
Reid said from Las Vegas: “Billy pays me very well, I’ve worked for him with three world champions and I’m very loyal to him. I think Samuel’s a great fighter — I think he’ll be champion of the world — but I can’t work with heavyweights who might be fighting each other. I didn’t leave on bad terms but I just can’t do it.
“Pops is very capable, very knowledgeable, I don’t think they need to replace him.
“I think Samuel’s got a good shot to win the fight. If he comes in and does the things that I was working with him on — just throw a lot of punches, be relaxed with his punches, don’t try to look for the knockout and try to punch with Toney when he’s punching, don’t try to act like you can outbox him, act like you can outfight him — I think he’ll beat him. He’s the hungrier guy with a good chin, not as skilled but if he listens to Pops, works hard, he’s got a good shot to knock him out.”
Peter’s manager Ivaylo Gotzev said in a phone conversation that Pops Anderson was being assisted by ex-champ Cornelius Boza-Edwards while sports-fitness expert Robert Ferguson, best known in boxing for his work with Fernando Vargas, was due to join the camp as conditioning coach.
“I see this as the best heavyweight match of the year, it’s going to be electrifying,” Gotzev said, “the young buck against the old lion. With Toney you can’t stay back and relax. As we all know Toney’s a counter-punching fighter and tries to draw you in and capitalise on your own mistakes. We just have to beat Toney down, we have to punish Toney, hurt him and hopefully get him out of there. I’ve been wanting this fight for a long time and I think it’s going to bring Samuel to another level.
“Samuel will win. There’s no doubt in my mind. I told you Serguei Liakhovich [the heavyweight from Belarus managed by Gotzev] would beat Lamon Brewster. When I make a match — and this one I did — I know what I’m doing.”
He is well aware that Toney is probably going to make Peter miss but added: “I’ll tell you one thing, Samuel will not be missing for 12 rounds. We’re ready to put it on this guy for 12 rounds. Believe me, even if there’s some missing there’s gonna be a lot of hitting. You can’t let Toney breathe and that’s what we’re focusing on. Toney can be slick all he wants but he’s got a body that’s pretty big — there’s going to be a lot for us to hit.”
Speaking of big bodies, conditioning could be what ultimately decides the fight. Toney looked trim at 217lbs when he destroyed Evander Holyfield three years ago: he weighed a portly 237lbs — heavier than he had ever been before — for the fight with Rahman. However, Peter has not always seemed the best-conditioned of fighters: he was a career-heaviest 2561/2lbs for his last appearance. This was almost 10lbs more than he weighed for his dramatic second-round knockout win over Jeremy Williams in December 2004. Still, with 22 KOs in 26 wins, Peter is a risky proposition for anyone.
Toney’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said from his Los Angeles gym that he was a little surprised that Toney took the fight rather than wait for a shot at the winner of the Hasim Rahman-Oleg Maskaev fight (previewed on pages 18-21). He said: “A win over Samuel Peter — what does it mean? I don’t know. A loss to Samuel Peter is devastating. But, that’s the way it goes; I guess it’s better for James to stay active.
“Peter knocks out a lot of guys with a punch to the back of the head. You have to be careful with him. James is a good defensive fighter but he is a little bit older and he’s getting hit a little bit more than usual. We’ll train hard and try to get James in the best shape possible — James will be James.
“It’s obviously a dangerous fight because the guy’s such a puncher but I think James is so slick he should handle him.
“This guy’s got a pretty big body — he’s not the best-conditioned guy, either. If James goes to this guy’s body he can break him down.”
Conditioning, body punching: both sides seem to have this in kind as the fight approaches.
The weigh-in might give us a significant clue as to the fight’s outcome. With Peter’s strength, youth and heavy hitting being counterbalanced by Toney’s craftiness, know-how and technical adeptness the fight might come down to a matter of which boxer is in better shape, the one who has worked harder, sacrificed more and who simply has more desire — the greater need to win this fight.
My initial guess is that this might be Peter. I visualised him keeping on top of Toney, hitting whatever is available for him to hit. The timing seemed right against a veteran whose body has been breaking down a bit in recent years — Achilles tendon injury, torn biceps.
Then came a stormy press conference in Los Angeles on 11 July when Peter’s promoter, Dino Duva, provoked an angry response when he called Toney “dumb” for taking the fight.
I am given to understand that Toney was not acting. The thought occurs to me that the Peter camp might have done the worst thing they could have done, which is to give Toney the motivation for this fight that he may have lacked.
If Toney is indeed motivated, if he gets himself into proper fighting shape, he can win. I would feel more comfortable picking a winner if the event was closer at hand as I write, but I am now getting the feeling that this is Toney’s fight to win although, as Freddie Roach reminds us, James will indeed be James.
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