James Toney v Vassiliy Jirov

Courtesy of boxrec.com

If one thing in boxing is true it's that the Cruiserweight division will never be a highly attractive division despite some of the great fights and fighters that we've seen there over the years. That doesn't stop people however from being accepting a fantastic all action bout at Cruiserweight for what it is and few come close to challenging the legendary 2003 classic between Vassiliy Jirov (then 31-0, 27) and James Toney (65-4-2, 42).

Going in to the bout few really expected anything special. The division, as is still the case, wasn't really cared about too much, the show was only regular HBO (as the main event of a "Boxing After Dark" show), it was held at a less prestigious arena, Toney had been pretty much treading water for a few years and was now 34 (some 5 years older than Jirov) and there was plenty of question marks about Jirov's durability.

The promotion for the bout had also not been that of potential fight of the decade with many feeling Toney was over the hill. Despite the general view against "Light Out" he had trained seriously and took the bout as the most serious of his career, coming in not just in shape, but in arguably the best shape he had ever come in to the ring.

Whilst Toney was in great shape despite his age he was the under-dog. Jirov, a former amateur standout who had claimed not only a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics but was also the Val Barker trophy winner had looked sensation in his bouts. He was busy, in your face and hard hitting, a true nightmare to fight.

Despite being the under-dog Toney was a man on a mission and what he did to prove his point was sensational as the two fighters put on a bout for the ages.

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When it came to fight time both men were primed and as we found out, both men had a style simply made to look good, look exciting and look memorable when matched with the other man.

Toney got off to a great start landing accurate single shots whilst making Jirov miss and chase him. The opening minute or so was slow with Jirov struggling but by the end of the round he was cutting off the distance and landed one or two eye catching shots of his own.

The start of the second round saw the pace heat up as Jirov continued to bring the pressure and force Toney to show off his defensive work and counter punching skills. The pressure of Jirov, this early, saw Manny Steward question whether or not Toney was prepared for the pace and action that Jirov was bringing. Despite throwing a lot, Jirov wasn't landing as much as he'd have wished as Toney looked excellent with his counters whilst the two men started to stand toe-to-toe.

A clear low by Jirov in round 3 clearly hurt Toney though it saw Jirov walking a tight rope with referee Steve Smoger who threatened to take a point if he connected with another. The low blow merely seemed to light a fire under Toney who landed several hard shots after taking a breather courtesy of the time out. Through out much of the round Toney's right hand was connecting every time he threw it and it was much crisper than anything Jirov was throwing.

After just 3 rounds the two men had thrown over 400 punches between them and yet we were only a quarter of the way through the bout.

Round 4 saw the pace slowing notably as both men took a more conservative approach to the bout. The slower pace was still faster than that of most other bouts and still saw both men landing, and throwing, numerous notable shots as they each though they were breaking down the other.

Oddly in round 5 Toney started to come forward more and lie on the ropes less this saw both men trading from the centre of the ring though Toney was still landing very clean counters which were now starting to burst up the face of Jirov. The round ended with both men going to war with power shots coming from both men.

Before the start of round 6 Jirov was told to let his hands go more and when doing that to start the round Toney landed several hard counters including one that seemed to send Jirov backwards. Jirov would later battle back and send Toney to the ropes and unload a flurry of shots before again being repelled momentarily by counters from the American challenger who was starting to look like he was having fun in their despite the pace of the bout.

At the mid-way point of the bout it was incredibly difficult to say that either man was winning. It was close due to the style of both men. Toney, despite being the less active man was clearly landing more and landing at a very impressive connect rate.

Jirov started the second half of the fight by continuing to force the action with his high work rate though it was still the defensive work of Toney that really the more telling work with crisp counters that landed almost every time Toney threw them.

Round 8 was a major point in the bout as Jirov was deducted a point for a low blow. The tightrope he had been walking since round 3 had  been walked on a bit too much as he went back to the body of Toney. Despite the point deduction for Jirov the champion really seemed to have a big round as he seemed to leave the round as a 9-9 round rather than a very costly 10-8.

By the start of round 9 the bout was still in the balance. The view was however that Toney was tiring and when he slipped early in the round it was seen as a sign that he was really starting to wear out. Jirov again started to pour on the pressure and forced Toney on to the ropes though again Toney was landing tremendous counters as the styles once more gave us an excellent round of hard to score action.

The action in round 10 started in the centre of the ring and Jirov appeared to be wobbled at one point before forcing Toney on to the ropes. Jirov's shots now were losing their snap and Toney took advantage of that as he landed a wonderful flurry that drew loud cheers from the crowd. It was now obvious that Jirov was wearing out and that Toney could hurt him despite the fact that Jirov himself was still making the action (and being made to pay for it).

As we went in to the championship rounds it obvious the pace was taking it's toll on Jirov who was becoming less and less effective. His was still much more active than Toney but he was being force fed a steady diet of counters. Toney started round 11 the way he had ended round 10 landing a series of crisp counters on Jirov who was standing in front of him. Jirov's tiredness was becoming more and more telling though mid way through the round he seemed to stagger Toney who went quiet for a few moments as he tried to catch his breath on the ropes.

Going in to the final round round the fighters had thrown more than 1600 punches between them. Although Toney had landed counters at will it was hard not to give rounds to Jirov on the grounds he had out worked (but not out landed) Toney. It was genuinely a fight that both men could well have thought that they were winning going in to the final round, despite this they both fought at is they needed the final round to secure the victory.

The final round showed what boxing was about. Both trainers seemed to suggest their fighters had to give it all they had and it that's exactly what they did as they gave us one of, if not the, round of the year. Although it started messily and slowly it quickly caught fire and burned and burned and burned with both men throwing leather for fun. Unfortunately for Jirov his gas tank was running on empty and a left hook from Toney rocked him hard. Jirov fired back but he failed to really recover his legs and Toney connected with a hard series of shots soon afterwards that eventually sent Jirov down with around 20 seconds left.

Despite the close nature of many of the rounds the judges agreed that James Toney was a clear winner. With out a doubt the right guy won though the score cards were unjustly wider than they should have been. Toney's clean, hurtful counters were excellent through out though so many of the rounds really had so little in them that giving them either way, or even level would not have been out of the question.

Fact Box-
Venue- Foxwoods Resort, Connecticut, USA
Date- April 26th 2003

Vasily Jirov (31-0, 27)
7th Defence of IBF Cruiserweight title
v
James Toney (65-4-2, 42)

Referee- Steve Smoger
Judges-
Melvina Lathan (117-109)
Steve Weisfeld (116-110)
Glenn Feldman (117-109)

Outcome- Toney Unanimous Decision

Awards-2003 Boxing Writers Association of America Fight of the Year
Helped Toney claim the Ring Magazine Comeback of the Year

The video below is thanks to ibhof22 and shows the full fight and build up from HBO.

Following the bout Jirov was never the same fighter.  He fought on until 2009 though suffered 2 defeats and a draw as well as being dropped by club fighter Jonathan Williams. It was the knockdown by Williams that finally brought an end to Jirov's career with a record of 38-3-1 (32).

Toney's career took notable upswing following the bout. Just months later he would stop Evander Holyfield and claim Ring magazine's "Comeback of the year" before becoming a genuine Heavyweight title contender.

Unfortunately for Toney he fail a drugs test in 2005 that voided a WBA Heavyweight title victory over John Ruiz. A draw with Hasim Rahman the following year would deny him the WBC Heavyweight title.

Toney last fought in June claiming a controversial decision over Kenny Lemos. Despite the victory he's a fighter who really needs to call it quits and walk away. If he needs to stay in the sport for whatever reason he could become a fantastic "old skool" trainer teaching the forgotten tricks that are no longer used by fighters.

With a record of 75-8-3-2 (45) Toney should be a fighter remembered through the years. Hopefully he'll realise his place in history is sealed and his skills are diminishing quickly.