The crowd was full of  passionately cheering fans.  Two larger than life heavyweights are giving their all in the center of the ring. The winner gets a title shot, the loser – at least depending on who it is – is pushed far back in the list of heavyweight contenders. The Sam Peter-James Toney fight had all of the makings of a fight of the year candidate, and, thought if fell short of fight of the year, it did not disappoint. There have been more action packed fights. Fights with better conditioned athletes. Fights billed as more exciting and more important. But James Toney vs. Samuel Peter brought it all together – lots of action, contrasting ring styles, fighters with charisma and that little something extra. What is that extra something? It is difficult to define but everybody knows when its there.

Heavyweights still bring that magic touch. But the excitement throughout the crowd was palpable and transferred to those viewing at home. There was an air of anticipation, the wait for the spectacular to happen. Would Peter land that monster punch? Would Toney be able to take it?

Both fighters stock rose with this fight. I had the fight scored 115-112 for Toney, and while there were many close rounds, I find the scoring of the fight (two cards reading 116-111 for Peter) a bit absurd. But a little controversy never hurts boxing.

In the early going, I was actually quite impressed with the jab, yes the jab, of The Nigerian Nightmare. When he throws that jab with snap and with force, instead of just pawing with it to line up his overhand right, it was quite effective at keeping Toney at distance, and forcefully pushing him back. When he was focused, and refused to let the craftiest technician in the sport frustrate him, his overhand right turned into a quick, straight right. And it landed at will. But, Toney did frustrate Peter, and it showed with a double fisted punch, sandwiching Toney’s head together and costing Peter a point.

Although he still shows signs of rawness at times, he also showed some great intangibles: a lot of heart and a lot of willpower. Peter was visibly exhausted and was heavily gasping for air as early as the fourth round. Yet he managed to get a second and third wind, and his power never dissipated. If Peter can work on his ability to be consistent and patient, he will be a champion for a long time to come. Sorry Oleg Maskaev [the WBC champion for whom Peter is now the mandatory challenger], but you don’t stand a chance against the new and improved Peter.

As for Toney, he is truly a pound-for-pound master. Simply put, he is a fat middleweight making his living with the big boys. And he is not just surviving, he took the biggest punches that the biggest division has to offer, and threw some solid ones himself and arguably deserved to win the fight. Any lingering thoughts that a “real” heavyweight would just be too big and strong certainly have vanished.

Enough about this weight business. Now we want Toney to weigh 225 at most.  But if he was 225, many would be asking for 215 and if he weighed 215, we’d be telling him to go back down to cruiserweight and reign supreme. I’m now a Toney believer, the weight just doesn’t matter for this guy. Sure, he could be a bit more fleet footed, but he still has the ability to fire on all cylinders. The shoulder roll, the feinting, the perfectly timed counter shots, the intuitive combinations, he is just a sight to see. The man with a belly the size of a bowling ball still manages to be a sight for sore eyes in the often criticized heavyweight division.

No matter how you scored it, the Sam Peter-James Toney gives us something to talk about in the heavyweight division. More importantly, it gives Toney himself something to talk about, and who doesn’t want to hear that?