Toney: I can see fear in his eyes!

January 6, 2004

By Trinidad Guzman
Photos: Rick Guzman

"You’re fighting the best fighter in the world and come February 7th I’m going to beat your ass. You were crying and whimpering in the corner when you fought Klitshcko, you should have never lost to that bum" --James "Lights Out" Toney

"I know that this guy cannot beat me" --Jameel "Big Time" McCline

Today at the beautiful Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, James "Lights Out" Toney (67-4-2, 43) and Jameel "Big Time" McCline (30-3-3, 18) kicked off the promotion for their February 7th 12 round NABO heavyweight showdown with the winner securing not only the NABO title but also the number one ranking in both the IBF and WBO. If both fighters fight as well as they talk, it should be an explosive night of action.

Toney insists that McCline is a bum and that it is going to be an easy fight, "I never thought about fighting this guy...he is not on my level." But since McCline asked for the opportunity to fight him, Toney made it clear that he is always ready and willing to fight. "I never run from nobody I never turn down a challenge."

Toney was extremely confident that February 7th would be his night to shine."This is once again a great opportunity for me to show my power, my awareness, on someone who said they can whip my ass and put me into retirement. You’ve never seen nobody like me, you’ve never fought nobody like me and when I get done with you after this fight you are never going to want to see me again."

The tremendous physical advantages that McCline will enter the ring with drew little apprehension from Toney. "His chin is soft very soft I’m going to hit it" he even went into further detail and explained how he plans to attack McCline during the fight, " I don’t care if he is 6’6 or 6’7 he is at a disadvantage, I have the advantage, he has to punch down. Every time he shoots a jab I am going to come over the top with another one and a right hand, left hook I’m going to break his ribs."

He then went on to reminisce about the brutal body shot that he nailed Evander Holyfield with in the ninth round of their fight. "I made him do the Heisman with that body shot, you know like the football Heisman trophy pose. I am going to do him the same way, I’m going to make him shit on himself right in the middle of the ring."

In the past Toney has been criticized for his lack of preparation in the gym and often coming into bouts overweight, but Toney sees things in a different light. "I should have been fighting as a heavyweight for seven years" He is adamant that he continues to train hard, "I’ve trained two months already for this fight, January 7th will make three months of training" and his weight gain at heavyweight is muscle. "I put on 18 pounds of muscle since the Holyfield fight" he continues by saying that his body is naturally growing with the weight training and conditioning program that he uses "I plan on weighing in at 225 or 230 pounds."

Toney showed little concern with the poor PPV numbers that his bout with Holyfield produced and quickly pointed out that he "sold more buys then Jones vs Tarver" but needed to "keep blowing guys like this out to draw Mike Tyson out" for a potential PPV blockbuster.

For his part McCline said he feels "like a kid in a candy store" by getting such an opportunity to display his skills and refuted claims by Toney that he is afraid and has no heart. "I am here to prove that I am not afraid of anyone and that I am one of the best fighters in the world. My opponent tells me I am afraid, afraid of what? I am getting paid a lot of money to fight."

"Big Time" is not the only one who is confident of a victory come February 7th, his promoter Cedric Kushner went as far as to say "this could be a retirement fight for James Toney" he added "I know that Jameel is not going to be intimidated by you, I certainly am not intimidated by you. This is a real, real fight."

McCline also made it clear that he does not buy into the hype about the difference in size between the two fighters, "I don’t think the size is a big deal it is just that my style is too difficult for James Toney to deal with" He goes on to point to the Bowe vs Holyfield trilogy as proof that size does not matter. "They were two different fighters in size but they gave us three of the best fights in boxing history."

McCline is confident that come Feb 7th he will be the one with his hand raised in the air "I know that this guy cannot beat me. I am the future of heavyweight division and not only am I the future of heavyweight division I am the future of boxing."

Questions? Comments? Please e-mail Trinidad Guzman