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No Country for Old Men: Part Four

March 30, 2017 by Ted Sares 9 Comments

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The once great and future Hall of Famer James Toney (76-10-3) will be 49 in august and is now reportedly scheduled to fight 41-year-old Mike Sheppard for something called the “vacant WBF heavyweight title on May 13 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It will be a 12-rounder.

In his last outing almost two years ago, “Lights Out” was beaten by journeyman Charles Ellis (9-3-1) in St. Louis. His last win came in 2013 against Brit Matt Legg in London.

Sheppard, who will fight anyone anywhere, is no world beater and at 24-20-2 is also coming off a stoppage loss to 7-0 Sergey Kuzmin in Russia, In fact, the West Virginia fighter has suffered 10 stoppages in his 20 defeats thus providing some clue as to why he has been selected as Toney’s opponent. Among his conquerors have been Antonio Tarver, Brian Minto, Ruslan Chagaev, Denis Boytsov, and many other notables. His last noteworthy win was a redemptive one against China “The Dragon” Smith who was on a comeback after being away for 11 –yes– 11 years and had beaten Mike in the course of his dubious 3-fight comeback.

Sheppard has been defeated and pretty much KOd every time he has stepped up in class. However, though he is fighting a one-time living legend, it might not be quite accurate to say he is stepping up this time..

Roy Jones Jr is still around but is closer to 50 than 40. Hopkins is gone; he tempted fate once too often. Now, a bloated Toney, who once possessed rare boxing skills while fighting at middleweight, super-middleweight and cruiserweight, and a Ring IQ that was off the charts, fights ignominiously for a title that was once held by Audley Harrison and “The Dutch Sonny Liston” Richel Hersisia!

James has never been stopped and hopefully that won’t happen here. The Hopkins slaughter was bad enough and Roy—well it doesn’t seem to bother Roy.

Boxing stories seldom have a happy ending. This one has the potential for one. We can only hope,

Ted Sares
Ted Sares
Ted Sares is one of the world’s oldest active power lifters and holds several records in the Grand Master class. A member of Ring 4’s Boxing Hall of Fame, he enjoys writing about boxing.

Filed Under: Featured, Opinion Tagged With: James Toney, roy jones jr.

Comments

  1. L.L. Cool John says

    March 30, 2017 at 6:47 pm

    It’s sad to hear Toney is scheduled to fight once again at age 49. He’s got to be a shell of his former self.

    I hope he won’t end up another tragic boxing stat.

    Nice job, Ted. A great read.

    Reply
  2. Dollar bond says

    March 30, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    So sad

    Reply
  3. Kid says

    March 30, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    very sad indeed. Tragic really.

    Reply
  4. William Purallo says

    April 1, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    Convincing fighters and certain fans is fruitless everytime I think A,Roy Jones or James Toney can not get lower they do..Only solution is the IBHOF take in account their whole record when they retire knowing when to leave should be considored not just the glory days.

    Reply
  5. Kid says

    April 1, 2017 at 5:45 pm

    Now Kessler is coming back. Not a great idea.

    Reply
  6. Bob Benoit says

    April 1, 2017 at 7:51 pm

    What the Hell do we have Boxing Commissions for??

    Reply
  7. Tex Hassler says

    April 14, 2017 at 5:49 pm

    Toney had a great career and he should leave it as is.

    Reply
  8. Bikermike says

    May 14, 2017 at 5:27 pm

    Nice read Ted, ….and James Toney is just another ‘once great’ Boxer who didn’t save enough/invest enough of his winnings.

    Reply
    • Kid says

      May 14, 2017 at 7:22 pm

      Thanks Mike

      Reply

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