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James Toney
Statistics
Real name	James Nathaniel Toney
Nickname	Lights Out
Weight	Heavyweight
Nationality	American
Birth date	August 24, 1968
Birth place	Grand Rapids, Michigan
Style	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	79
Wins	69
Wins by KO	43
Losses	6
Draws	3
No contests	1

James "Lights-Out" Toney (born August 24, 1968) is a professional boxer from Detroit, Michigan and is a Huron High School alumnus where he was a 205 lb football quarterback in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since his career debut in 1988, he has held the middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight world Championship. Formerly managed by Jackie Kallen, Toney is now self managed.

Contents 1 Early career 2 Middleweight Champion 3 Super Middleweight Champion 4 Years Without a Title 5 Cruiserweight Champion 6 Heavyweight Career 7 Amateur Career 8 Trivia 9 External links

Toney had his first professional fight on October 26, 1988, beating Stephen Lee by a technical knockout in the second round. A draw with Sanderline Willliams was the first blemish on Toney's record, although he beat Williams by unanimous decision three months later.

A notable win by Toney in his early career was over fellow middleweight prospect Merqui Sosa in 1991.

IBF Middleweight champion Michael Nunn defended his title against Toney on May 10, 1991, in Nunn's hometown of Davenport, Iowa. Nunn was leading on the scorecards when Toney knocked him out in the eleventh round.

Toney defended his title against Reggie Johnson one month later, and then defeated Francesco Dell'Aquila in October of 1991. Former junior middleweight and middleweight champion and Mike McCallum held Toney to a draw in December 1991.

His next fight, against David Tiberi of Delaware, resulted in a controversial win for Toney. Many observers saw Tiberi the victor, and Delaware Senator William Roth held a Senate hearing on boxing as a result of this decision.

Two more defenses of Toney's Middleweight title followed, including a decision over Mike McCallum in a rematch.

Toney moved up to the super middlweight division and won the IBF Super Middleweight title from Iran Barkley in a dominating performance on February 13, 1993. He made three defenses (including one of former IBF Light Heavyweight champion Charles Williams) before meeting IBF Middleweight champion Roy Jones Jr. on November 18, 1994, who was too fast for him and won convincingly.

Toney entered a period of years when he seemed to lose focus on boxing. His performances were uneven and his weight steadily increased. His fight after losing his title to Roy Jones saw him lose to Montel Griffin at light heavyweight in February of 1995. After winning a series of fights at light heavyweight, cruiserweight, and even heavyweight, he again faced Montell Griffin in December, 1996, and once again lost a close decision. He beat old foe Mike McCallum in February, 1997, but then lost to journeyman Drake Thadzi in his next fight.

He continued to fight at cruiserweight and light heavyweight, beating a variety of undistinguished opponents.

In August, 2002, Toney beat Jason Robinson in an IBF Cruiserweight title elimination fight. This set up a fight between Toney and IBF Cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov. After a postponement, the fight came off on April 26, 2003, and Toney won a unanimous decision.

Immediately afterward, Toney moved up to heavyweight.

Even when Toney was a middleweight, he insisted that he would one day be the heavyweight champion of the world. His good handspeed, slick defense, and exceptional counterpunching have enabled him to defeat physically larger (but technically less-skilled) opponents. His October 4, 2003 victory over aging former World Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield was Toney's entry into the heavyweight division. After a shaky first round, Toney picked the Atlanta legend apart with shots to the body and head before stopping him in the 9th round.

On April 30, 2005 he defeated John Ruiz by unanimous-decision in a 12-round match for the World Boxing Association (WBA) world Heavyweight Championship. However, as of May 18, 2005, it was [1] reported that Toney failed his post-fight drug test, testing positive for anabolic steroid Nandrolone. This led to the New York Athletic Commission changing the bout's official outcome to a "no-contest", deducting the win from Toney's career record, and banning him from boxing for 90 days. The WBA ordered that Ruiz be "reinstated" as its champion and that Toney be ineligible for another WBA Heavyweight title shot for two years. Toney defended himself by claiming that the steroids were given to him by a doctor to treat an injured arm that occurred during his victory over Rydell Booker in his previous fight. Toney was also subject to a civil lawsuit by Ruiz claiming that Toney's illegal use of steroids gave him an edge in the fight.

In his bout after the Ruiz fight, Toney won a unanimous decision victory over former heavyweight contender Dominic Guinn. Toney next fought against Hasim Rahman on March 18th, 2006, for the WBC Heavyweight title. The result was a twelve-round majority draw. One judge had the fight 117-111 for Rahman while the other two had it a 114-114 draw. The portly Toney weighed a career high 237 lbs for his lackluster performance.

Toney's last two outings were split decision and unanimous decision losses on to Samuel Peter. The first fight was held in Los Angeles, California on Sept 2, 2006. The return bout was in held in Hollywood, Florida on January 6, 2007. Both fights were WBC eliminator bouts for the belt held by Oleg Maskaev.

Record: 36 fights, 34 wins, 2 losses

• Lost on his debut
• Won 1983 and 1984 West Michigan Division Junior Title (156 lb)
• Won 1987 Novice Golden Gloves in Manchester (156 lb)
• Won 1987 Michigan Silver Gloves (156 lb)
• Lost at first stage of 1988 Detroit Golden Gloves (156 lb)
• Won 1988 Ohio State Fair (156 lb)

Toney is an avid cigar connoisseur. In 2005 James Toney introduced his own cigar line titled "Lights Out." The cigar was custom tailored to Toney's taste by Lou's Tobacco, a cigar lounge frequented by Toney in Los Angeles, CA.

Toney has played boxing roles in a couple of movies, including playing Joe Frazier in the movie Ali, whom Toney calls "his hero".

Toney has appeared in the video game Fight Night: Round 3.

• James Toney Fight-by-Fight Career record
• James Toney's Career record

Preceded by Julio Cesar Chavez	Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 1991	Succeeded by Riddick Bowe
Preceded by Vernon Forrest	Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 2003	Succeeded by Glen Johnson
Preceded by Michael Nunn	IBF Middleweight Champion May 10 1991– February 13 1993	Succeeded by Vacancy filled by Roy Jones, Jr.
Preceded by Iran Barkley	IBF Super Middleweight Champion February 13 1993– November 18 1994	Succeeded by Roy Jones, Jr.
Preceded by Vassiliy Jirov	IBF Cruiserweight Champion April 26 2003–Sep 2003	Succeeded by Vacancy filled by Kelvin Davis