One On One With James "Lights-Out" Toney

By G. Leon

23/08/2004

One On One With James "Lights-Out" Toney

GL: What's good James? "I've just been working hard everyday. I'm getting ready and I'm just being me, James Toney is going to be James Toney, all the time. Everybody in the division is playing boxing right now. Chris Byrd, he plays boxing. John Ruiz, he plays boxing...actually he wants to be a wrestler. Klitschko, he just happens to have a title that they want him to hold on as long as he can. Brewster, man I'm going to beat the brakes off him. You can play baseball, football or basketball but you can't play boxing. If you play boxing, you get hurt. And that's exactly what I plan to do to these guys, hurt them.

GL: Everyone knows you want to fight the best, and after months of talking you're coming back with Rydell Booker. How do you feel about that fight?

James Toney: "We wanted Klitschko. They said HBO didn't want it till next year. I wanted Brewster but you know dealing with Don King with a belt, so I didn't even want to mess with the guy. Then they eventually came up with Rydell Booker. I don't know much about the guy, I know he's undefeated and I know that doesn't mean nothing to me, he's just going to be the first guy to get beaten down. And I'm not going to look sluggish or sloppy doing it because I'm in great shape right now and I'm going to be in much better shape by the time the fight comes around.

GL: Even though you wanted to fight Klitschko and the rest of them, do you look at this as a blessing in disguise where logic prevails in the sense that now you're coming after all this time off against Rydell Booker, someone you should be able to shine like new money against?

JT: "To tell you the truth, I was going to show my skills and all of that against anybody in this first fight back. People might be looking at it like that but I look at is like I'm going to war. In this fight you're going to see what would happen if I fought Klitschko, Byrd, Ruiz or Brewster. It's going to be the preview."

GL: Has Rydell Booker accomplished at heavyweight to warrant an eliminator for the #1 ranking?

JT: "I never even heard of Rydell Booker until like five months ago when I saw him on TV with a pair of tits on. I remember his pants splitting in that fight and I think he was fighting Arthur Williams. How he got there? Who knows? But if he shows up he's going to get beat up!"

GL: I spoke to Riddick Bowe recently and he feels that the heavyweight division is a joke when smaller men such as yourself and Jones have come up to heavyweight and been successful. He said he'd knock you out. How do you feel about that?

JT: "Tell I'm going to beat that fucking ass so bad he's going to wish he was back in jail! I ain't playing, I had respect for Riddick until you said that. If he really wants to talk all that garbage all he needs is a couple of confidence boosters, let him put himself in the position and I'll knock his ass out too. I'm going to be the one who brings Lennox Lewis out of retirement because after he sees what I do to Klitschko, it's going to make him look bad. How is going to let a little man beat the shit out of Klitschko when it should have been him? He'll want to come back and redeem himself. And since Riddick wants to talk all that junk, he ducked and dodged Lennox Lewis so what kind of man is that? He wanted to sit on the belts like a pussy, he didn't defend against all comers."

GL: You're getting ready to fight for the #1 in the WBC and you want Klitschko. With that being said, what do you expect to become of your current #1 status in the WBO?

JT: "I'm going to put myself in situation where I'm #1 across the board, I'm going to be having my pick of whose ass I'm kicking. But I want Klitschko the most because that's the one people are saying is the real heavyweight champion so that's who I want. I love championship belts, so I'm going to get them all...one belt at a time."

GL: As badly as you want Klitschko, fighting in an eliminator for the #1 spot is certainly a good way to make that happen.

JT: "That's the plan and that's why I'm looking at this next fight like a championship fight. We are fighting for the IBA title also, but the belts don't make me I make the belts. If they feel Klitschko's best means the most, so be it, that's why I want to whoop his ass the most. Regardless of who is out there people are going to realize that I am the dominant force in the heavyweight division. I'm a little guy, but if I'm so damn little why isn't anyone stepping up to fight me?

GL: After this fight will find out how much Vitali Klitschko does or does not want to fight you?

JT: "He talks about the heavyweight division and he mentions every guy except me! How are you going to take about all of the other guys who should be worth nothing to him money wise. Hasim Rahman? He's a bum...when Lennox Lewis came in out of shape he knocked out Lewis but what has he done since then? So he was nothing but a paper champ. Then what happened with Holyfield, everyone else who fought him was a crybaby about his head butts. You didn't see me complain about his head did you? Klitschko hurt himself against Chris Byrd and quit like a little girl, then him and his brother cried about it. And that's the only way Chris Byrd could win, if he fights me he's getting his head handed to him."

GL: What do you think about his upcoming fight with Jameel McCline?

JT: "They're best friends so all they're going to do is hug for twelve rounds. That's going to be a boring fight and they got it on PPV. Who's going to buy it? Their families?"

GL: HBO has put a lot of money into the Klitschko brothers, what would Toney-Klitschko do to their investment?

JT: "It would ruin it, and that's what I'm going to do. Both of those Klitschko's are garbage and they're cowards. When the going gets tough they try to find a way out of the ring. Vitali quit against Byrd and Wlad quit against Brewster. Why would they put money in a hoopty? I'm afraid of him fighting before he fights me because he might get beat. Especially if he fights Monte Barrett."

GL: You think Monte beats Kltischko.

JT: "If he fights Monte Barrett, Monte Barrett is going to beat Vitali Klitschko."

GL: As confident as you are, and as much as you feel you'e the best damn heavyweight in the world, period. How will your injury effect you? Is it something that always remains in the back of your mind?

JT: "G-man, that's everybody else's concern. Me not healing right is for the papers. I got the best doctors in the world. He hooked me up and I'm 100% better, but I'm not going to speak about it, I'm going to be about it."

GL: What are you weighing right now?

JT: "245"

GL: September 23 is right around the corner. What will you weigh come fight time?

JT: "I'll be about 217 like I was for Holyfield. This ain't nothing but water weight."

GL: Would losing 30 pounds between now and then drain you at all? Does that concern you?

JT: "Not at all because I'm going to be in great shape. Trust me, you'll see."

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THIS MUST READ INTERVIEW WITH ONE OF THE BEST FIGHTERS IN THE WORLD TODAY

Send questions and comments to: gleon@boxingtalk.net