Lights Out Upstairs? James Toney Still Trying to Get Dana White to Let Him Fight in the UFC

Unfortunately, it didn't even take 48 hours for me to find a boxing-related news item that was sillier than Holyfield-Botha. Call it a "Oh God, no!" report, or as Chad Ochocinco would say, perhaps a "Child, please!" piece.

According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, former heavyweight titleholder James Toney was in attendance at Saturday's UFC 108, once again attempting to badger Dana White into letting him have a UFC fight. I shouldn't have to spell out all the reasons this is a horrible idea, gut here are a few anyway:

* Last I checked, grappling and kicking are allowed in UFC fights. Toney knows more about boxing than any MMA fighter, but unless White makes it a special attraction bout with different rules (highly unlikely), he'll be at an extreme disadvantage.

Sure, he could land a lucky shot, but the chances would be slim.

* Toney is 41, and at the risk of making an early run at understatement of the year, he's not known for being a fitness nut. Guys who still fight at 40 in the UFC include Randy Couture, who's undoubtedly in better shape than a vast majority of men 20 years his junior.

Maybe White can arrange for Couture to fight Toney, have him run around the ring for four minutes until Toney gasses, then submit him.

* I'm not sure Toney cares about this, but White enjoys taking any opportunity he gets to stick it to boxing. If you believe that MMA and boxing are competing for the same pool of fans (which I don't, at least for the most part), it actually makes good business sense to do so.

There's really no need to give him ammunition. And having Toney get embarrassed on a UFC pay-per-view would give him plenty of that.


I think i speak for all of the BoxingWatchers when I say that we're all fans of Toney. He's always fought with tons of heart and skill, often against much bigger foes, and he's certainly been one of the most quotable boxers in recent memory.

So please, James, don't do this. I'm pretty much begging you.

Posted by The Franchise