James Toney Shows Little in Split Decision Win

[chop]

By Mark Vester

A crowd of 4,269 gathered Thursday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California to witness the ring return of James "Lights Out" Toney (70-6-3), who won an unpopular split decision win over journeyman Danny Batchelder. Batchelder (25-5-1), who lost three of his last four fights and took the Toney fight on three weeks' notice, made the former multi-division champ look old.

The fight was not unpopular because Toney won, but more so for the lack of action and the lackluster performance by Toney, who was clearly out of shape. Toney's target weight was 217-pounds. He weighed in at 229-pounds and probably hit the ring at 230-plus. There was very little action and plenty of boos rained down from the crowd as the fight wore on. The scores were 98-92 and 97-93 for 96-94 for Batchelder.

Batchelder told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was robbed of a win.

"I thought it (the decision) was bullsh*t ," Batchelder said. "I outboxed him. I know this is boxing and boxing is full of crooks, but I thought they might be fair."

Toney was not blind, he rated his performance a D, and admitted that he was not in the best physical shape.

Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com

[Jim]

Its hard 2 say where Toneys at after this kind of farce.
I'm unsure if he's still got it,& if he can still compete with the top HWs.
Hes still got the heart & bravado but is that enough?
We'll see.

[Beanflicker]

I'm not surprised. If Toney can't get motivated to get in shape for the top level guys, how can we expect him to get in shape for a journeyman?

I'm a HUGE James Toney fan but I think he should pack it in. He had a magnificent career, definately an all time great. Pack it in while you still got your health.

[Jim]

I'm not surprised. If Toney can't get motivated to get in shape for the top level guys, how can we expect him to get in shape for a journeyman?

I'm a HUGE James Toney fan but I think he should pack it in. He had a magnificent career, definately an all time great. Pack it in while you still got your health.

I don't think he will somehow.The mental toughness & defiance that serves a boxer so well in their primes inevitably works against in their twilight years.

[Jim]

By Robert Hough

Heavyweight James Toney won a split decision—by scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 94-96—over Danny Batchelder in a fight Toney's trainer Freddie Roach said was a "little boring."

A great majority of the 4,269 people in attendance would have disagreed only in thinking the famed trainer's description was charitable, showering the fighters with boos throughout the 10-round heavyweight fight at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. Roach, who described Toney as "a little sluggish," said the approaches Toney and Batchelder took made for a low-action bout.



"Both fighters were waiting for each other," Roach said.

Toney, who improved to 70-6-3 with 43KOs, acknowledged that he would have made more of an effort if there was more of a challenge.

"If it was a bigger fight, I would have been more motivated," admitted Toney, who said he was "shocked" to hear that Batchelder (25-5-1, 12KOs) won the fight on one judge's card.



Action was infrequent throughout the 10-round fight; both fighters threw jabs from time to time and some occasional counters. Batchelder did land a straight right in the 9th round that appeared to stun Toney, but there was no follow up.

Toney, who wants to fight again in late June or early July, gave himself a D+ for the fight and vowed to drop some weight for his next couple bouts.

The 38 year old, who fought at 229 pounds, didn't reach his goal of weighing about 217 for this fight, his first since back-to-back losses to Samuel Peter. He joked that his wife, who earlier this week gave birth to the couple's sixth child, had something to do with it.



"I had my wife's eating habits," said Toney, who added that he fought injury-free for the first time in two years.

Toney hopes that what he called a three-step process to lose weight will result in a fight with Wladimir Klitschko.

"I ain't done," said Toney. "I just looked that way."