McCline still focused!

January 23, 2004

By Lisa Scott

Photo: Lisa Scott

On Wednesday afternoon, James 'Lights Out' Toney (67-4-2; 43 KO's) tore his Achilles tendon while sparring. The injury forced him to pull out of his February 7th heavyweight bout against Jameel 'Big Time' McCline (30-3-3; 18 KO's), creating a frantic search to locate a new opponent for the 6'6" McCline on Showtime's main event - which is a mere 2 weeks away. When the fight was first announced over 2 months ago, it created excitement and intrigue within the division. Fightnews spoke to McCline to get his reaction to this disappointing, sudden turn of events.

Has the sudden cancellation of your fight with James Toney affected your training in any way?
No. When I first heard about James' injury, I thought it could be a ploy. Because with him, you never know. So, I didn't miss a beat or deviate in any way from the track. My training hasn't change one iota and I'm just as focused for whoever they decide to put in front of me now. My sparring partners were Orlin Norris, Greg Pickrom and Al Cole, guys who are small, medium and large in size. So, whoever they get to fight me on February 7th, I'll be fine. It's just too bad that the fight is off. I was really looking forward to shutting James Toney's big mouth.

For a match to be cancelled so close to fight time, something like this usually takes the wind out of a fighter's sails. Has it interrupted your momentum at all?
No. Not at all. I'm just disappointed. More than anything, I wanted the chance to prove to all the people who picked James to beat me, that they were wrong. I wanted the chance to get in there and compete with one of the top boxer's of all time. And, I wanted his spot in the rankings. But, another reason why I was so eager to get James in the ring, was to make a statement: This division is for the REAL heavyweights. That's it. Stay out. Go about your own business as a cruiser weight. This is a heavyweight show. Not a little man's show. I really wanted to distinguish the big heavyweights from the little guys who've only got big ideas.

Which fighters are they talking about having you fight?
I've heard that they have asked Hassim Rahman, Atilla Levin and Jeremy Williams. I would love to fight Rahman, he would be a nice feather in my cap.

It's expected that James will need a recuperation period of about 4-5 months. Will you still be interested in facing him later this year?
Absolutely! However, with this new opponent, it could open up greater avenues for me in the future and I may not have the time for him this year. But, I definitely want to get him in the ring eventually. He talked a lot of shit. His people talked a lot of shit and they were very unfair to us in the negotiations.

How unfair?
They didn't want to fly me first class and they wanted to give me a regular hotel room instead of a suite when I got to Vegas for the fight. They were treating me like an opponent! And, I feel that Dan Goossen is making excuses for James Toney's horrible behavior. I'm sick of hearing Dan say: 'James is this... James is that...' The kid is just belligerent and rude! Look what James did to Jim Grey after the Holyfield fight! It was horrible and despicable. I would loved to have been the one to put James on his ass. I could have and I eventually will.

Another thing, how the hell did James get his heavyweight ranking? He has done NOTHING as a heavyweight. He beat ONE person at heavyweight (Evander Holyfield). How the hell can they rank James higher than me?! I went undefeated for SIX years and had 28 straight wins! I lose ONE FIGHT (Wladimir Klitschko) and they have James Toney ranked ahead of me?! He beat a 41 year old Holyfield who was 1-5 within a 2 year period! The state of boxing is pretty bad when things like this are allowed to happen.

Had the fight not been cancelled, how do you imagine the fight would have gone?
There was no way that James could have done anything to me. He never would have been able to touch me. I'm a hungry fighter and I have a quarter of the mileage that he has on him. It would have been a shut out. Also, I heard that one of his sparring partners was Imani Lee. C'mon! He used Imani to prepare for ME? (Laughing). Imani is a big guy, but that's it. He has a fraction of the skills I have.

I heard that you had a little injury yourself during camp. What happened?
Yeah. It's ironic, huh? A few weeks ago, I pulled my hamstring while I was doing sprints. I missed an entire week of boxing and I couldn't walk for 2 days. So, I did what I had to do. I worked through it and I'm fine now. It's like nothing ever happened.

Any parting words?
I'm very grateful and thankful to Showtime for having the confidence in me to carry the show as the main event. It's just too bad that James got injured. I was looking forward to the golden opportunity of finally shutting him up.