BraggingRightsCorner.com - " Will There be Vindication for James Toney this Saturday? "... by Jim Amato

This Saturday night we will see James Toney climb into the ring to take on John Ruiz. While maybe not the most appealing of fights, it is one that we have been looking forward to and could help to straighten up the current state of the Heavyweight division.

I think James Toney is one of the top five defensive fighters in the game. Actually, I would put him at number two, right behind my nephew, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Toney’s a very clever fighter. Definitely an old throwback fighter with not only his style but also his record. James Toney never fights three minutes in a round. He’ll fight probably one minute of each round, but it works for him. He picks his spots and when he picks them he makes them look good.

I haven’t been surprised of Toney’s success at Heavyweight, simply because of today’s crop of heavyweights. Today’s heavyweights pretty much suck. They’re horrible. At one time, being a Heavyweight Champion actually meant something. It actually meant you were the baddest man on the planet. It’s just not that way anymore.

There is no way that Roy Jones, Chris Byrd, or anyone else who came from Middleweight could even be in the Heavyweight picture if we were talking about ten years ago. You can go back to the days of Riddick Bowe, Evander Holyfield, and a prime Tyson and these guys from Middleweight wouldn’t even have thought about moving up.

Looking at John Ruiz we have a guy who is a notorious holder. It’s terrible to watch but it works for him. Like him or hate him, Ruiz has found the ingredient that works for him. He has resiliency. He’s the worst fighter in the world to watch fight, but he finds a way to win. A lot of his fights are just horrible. Like his fight with Hasim Rahman, it’s one of those fights you watch and hope that nobody wins. The fact that a guy like John Ruiz can be a champion just goes to show you how bad the Heavyweight division is.

I don’t think James will pick Ruiz apart because I think one of James’ deficiencies is that he doesn’t really move well and he often fights with his back to the ropes. Having his back on the ropes will allow Ruiz to do what he does best, which is to hold him. I think it's going to be a very ugly fight, but, I also think James Toney is smart enough to make the adjustments needed to pull it out.

I was watching Ruiz’s fight against Golota with my friends and I told them exactly what Golota needed to do and the minute after I said that, Golota did it and he never did it again. Anytime you have a guy like Ruiz who is looking to grab after he throws a jab, all you have to do is take a step back and shoot the uppercut. He’s there for it every time and he’s open to either uppercut. Golota caught him with it but he never went back to it.

I think for James Toney, this fight could serve as vindication in a sense. He will never be able to take away what happened to him against Roy Jones but he would be able to get a sense of equally accomplishing what Roy did by winning a Heavyweight title. He can get a sense of vindication if he beats Ruiz, and I think he will do just that..