Supersize Me

Why why why is James Toney so fucking fat? It really pisses me off. Here we are in one of the darkest eras of heavyweights in recent memories, with a bunch of over-the-hill ex-Soviet meatslabs holding the belts, dudes who Ali wouldn't have deigned to SPAR with... and here's Toney, a legitimate brawler with more skills and ring savvy than the whole lot of them combined, and yet he's simply too fat and out of shape to compete at the highest level. I'm sure you saw the Rahman fight - the only thing keeping James from turning the lights out on Hasim was his lack of consistent output. He landed at will, but then he always retreated. He's carrying like an extra dude of fat on him - a brutha that fat throws a flurry or two, brutha needs a breather. Ain't no way to knock out a 230-pound man.

I'm particularly annoyed about this today after reading Dan Rafael's account of Toney's profanity-laced harangue in a conference call yesterday to promote his September 2nd bout with the Nigerian Nightmare, Sam Peter (don't miss this fight, by the way - somebody WILL get knocked out). Toney has real personality - he's hilarious, he's sullen, he's weird. This could have been his era. No one ever would have confused him for a top-teir heavyweight champ, but he might have been remembered as one of those guys who held the belts with ferocity and style until another true talent emerged. Instead, he's buried in the pack with the rest of the palookas, all because of... well, let's face it. Because of Twinkies and Ring Dings and Whoppers with cheese.

Toney has plenty of choice words for Peter (ESPN.com)