The Ultimate Fighting Championship has officially announced the signing of former heavyweight boxing champion James “Lights Out” Toney to a multi-fight contract.
“LIGHTS OUT” IN THE OCTAGON™ – UFC® SIGNS TONEY
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – He’s one of the premier boxers of the last 25 years, a future Hall of Famer who has won world titles in three weight classes while taking on a Who’s Who of the sport, including fellow champions Evander Holyfield, John Ruiz, Hasim Rahman, Vassiliy Jirov, Roy Jones Jr., Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley, and Michael Nunn. But there is one more mountain left to climb for James “Lights Out” Toney, and that’s to show if he can defeat the mixed martial arts warriors of the UFC®.
So later this year, UFC President Dana White is prepared to give Toney his shot, signing the boxing superstar to a multi-fight contract this week to compete in the UFC.
“A lot of pro boxers have made a lot of noise about how they would do in mixed martial arts, but nobody on the level of a James Toney has been willing to back up his talk,” said White. “He’s a legend whose boxing record speaks for itself, and he’s a guy who I’ve got a lot of respect for. Now he’s got every intention of matching that success in MMA, and I think he’s got the right attitude – let’s see if he can do it.”
Owner of an amazing 72-6-3 (2 no contests) record that includes 44 wins by knockout, 41-year old James Toney is respected throughout the boxing world for his old-school approach to the fight game. For him, that means fighting anyone at anytime, and doing so by emphasizing all aspects of the sweet science.
31-2 as an amateur, Toney soon turned his sights to the pro game in 1988, and in 1991 he won his first world title at middleweight by knocking out unbeaten champion Michael Nunn in the 11th round. After six successful defenses, he moved up to 168 pounds and defeated Iran Barkley for the super middleweight championship in 1993, but he wasn’t done yet. After a stay at light heavyweight, Toney won the cruiserweight world title by defeating Vassiliy Jirov in 2003’s Fight of The Year, and his success continued at heavyweight, where he defeated Evander Holyfield, Dominick Guinn, and Fres Oquendo. In his most recent bout, on September 12, 2009, Toney – a two-time winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America’s Fighter of the Year award – halted Matthew Greer in two rounds.
Current UFC fighters Marcus Davis, Chris Lytle and Alessio Sakara have competed as professional boxers in the past, but with today’s announcement, Toney becomes the most accomplished boxing veteran to ever compete in the Octagon™.
An opponent and date for Toney’s UFC debut has not been determined, and will be announced at a later date.
Payout Perspective:
What are the prospects of this deal?
The upside: The UFC is going to make big bank on this fight and it’s going to draw a lot of attention to the sport of MMA. It may give the UFC a shot to demonstrate it’s legitimacy; throwing Toney into the cage with someone, like Cain Velasquez, that will destroy him could send a significant message to the sports world. Moreover, the amount of interest his fight(s) will draw provides a great opportunity to showcase some of the UFC’s other talent.
The downside: Toney has a punchers chance and could win his first fight; at which point MMA would be universally dismissed by many people. It could also be a lose-lose situation for the UFC on the legitimacy front: even if Toney loses, most will chalk it up to him being a 41 year-old over-the-hill former champion that was run out of boxing. Lastly, one should question whether the UFC really needs Toney. They’ve done very well without this type of freak show fight. So, why start now?
I was thinking it would be better to put Toney on TUF so atleast you can say he “became” a MMArtist. Then the whole boxing beating MMA is gone. But then you lose your investment in Toney if he loses like Kimbo.
Then i though of this idea. How about a weekly Spike TV show documenting James Toney training to prepare for the UFC. Film 3 months, air it over 3 months. Then he fights after its done airing. You get a 24/7 HBO type show out of him that will be highly rated. It will show how much training he has to do in addition to his boxing. It will be even more eye opening when that training and his boxing still isnt enough. Plus adds another source of revenue from Toney and increases his PPV buys when he fights.
THis is so pathetic….TOney is an old boxer…past his prime..and Dana is trying to convince the public that he is still one of the best of the current crop of boxers…toney was at his peak when he was a middleweight…and he beat an over the hill holyfield at heavyweight.he cant get a fight in boxing and the ufc is accepting him? he’s 41 years old…
a friend of mine is a muay thai champ with 50 plus fights and has been training in submissions for about 6 years.and matchmaker of the ufc told him he cant fight over there because he lacks MMA skills……crap toney dosent have a ground game…is the UFC going downhill with the last ppv’s going down thats why they wold need toney…
also Dana is such a hypocrite he allows toney to fight in mma and boxing…but he wont allow anderson to fight in boxing….very weird…bunch of crap….and why sign toney to a 5 fight deal? because he thinks toney might win and he wants to control him for a rematch……Freddie Roach toneys former trainer advised toney to retire 3 years AGO
This has to be considered a step backwards for MMA. First Hershal, now this. What’s next? Tyson to up the bar even further?
To be honest. Boxing fans will always claim whoever crossover to MMA is washed up. In boxing if you are not top 5 you are called a bum. Fact is the guy has 6 loss’. Botha may not have been a champ but even when he was done with boxing he was still top 20 range and only a handfu of loses. Yet he was called a never was, has been, washed up, etc. There are only 5 guys in all of boxing that people wouldnt call a bum. Its more telling of how weak boxing is if half the top 10 are 1 fight from being a bum. Toney can still hang with all but the top few boxers. The difference between Toney and the best boxer isnt going to increase his chances in MMA. Toney was a good choice because he was always technically better than other boxers. He may have not had the physical ability as others but we do get to see the effectiveness of Western Boxing in its purest form.