November 8, 2023
Boxing News

Ruddock-Toney clash this weekend

Retired heavyweights Donovan “Razor” Ruddock, 59, and James “Lights Out” Toney, 55, are scheduled to meet in the ring this weekend in an exhibition match that is billed to be a “competitive fight.” The action takes place inside Kingston, Jamaica’s National Indoor Sports Centre and can be seen via a $29.99 PPV on Fite.tv. In addition to undercard bouts, the price of admission includes a live performance by Grammy award-winning “King of the Dancehall” Beenie Man and a special appearance by commentator Amir Tyson, son of “Iron Mike” Tyson.

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  • These guys haven’t been relavent for 25+ years, both of them second tier champs at that, and they wanna charge $30 to watch them fight? They should be happy if it was locally broadcast for free.

    • Razor Ruddock was relevant in 1998? He wasn’t relevant in 1995 when he fought Morrison. WBA intercontinental title, and Canadian title, are only titles I have known that Ruddock held. He had won the Canadian title 22 years ago, and 35 years ago, but never defended it after either time he won it.
      Toney was pretty much a cruiserweight until he fought Holyfield 20 years ago, and was a steroids baby for most of his heavyweight fights.
      There really wasn’t much reason for Ruddock and Toney to have fought. Maybe in 1999 or 2001.
      This is an exhibition with a low fan base, but some people will pay to watch it. But this has no allure to it like a Tyson exhibition fight.
      There was a 2 year period where people may have thought of Ruddock as some kind of big puncher (who might win big fights), mid 1988 to mid 1990. After the Tyson fights, Ruddock faded out.

      • Ruddock was a solid fighter with an amazing unorthodox punch…could generate significant power if that hook.explosive awkward hook.somewhat like Roy Jones..the shortness of the punch and the power it generate was scary..Bruce Lee like…best comparison,..

        Fought Micheal Dokes …after Dokes gave Holifield fits…Dokes was suppose to win that fight…KNOCKED DOKES OUT COLD !!!!Must see TV!!!GOOGLE THAT FIGHT….Ruddock gave a young Mike Tyson fits.in two fights… studying those fights taught me that Mike was much more than a puncher …Mike was a student of his craft . ..watch Mike counters to that Dokes hook .. good stuff…
        Dokes was a decent fighter and of course we all know that Toney was “special”

    • Toney fought in the greatest cruiserweight bout ever against Vassily Jirov less than 20, so you just outed yourself as a noob who shouldn’t post.

      • Natural, that jirov fight was a classic come from behind win for toney. I remember watching that one on TV. I then saw jirov lose to Joe mesi from Buffalo, but that’s the fight where mesi took damage and took awhile to comeback and fight again. Toney/Jirov was the fight better than holyfield/Qawi for cruisers.

      • Absolutely correct.Chris..Jirov was destroying his opponents…crushing them with body shots….and of course…Toney not backing down from anyone…was calling Jirov out…that fight was great but…must see TV…but not as great as… Holifield vs. Qawi ….have to give that fight the edge…but down…James Toney was the truth…watch both…Qawi defensive style bob and weave…non stop action….Jirov relentless body attack… stood toe to toe with an in shape focused Toney….some great stuff

    • Clueless, Ruddock wasn’t even champ for a start and Toney was lineal at all 3 weights he won his titles at certainly not a second tier champ, also its for charity and no ones bothered wether you pay or not

  • James Toney is my favorite fighter ever. I’m not paying a dime for this, but it’ll be on YouTube as soon as it’s over (presuming it does actually happen) and I will watch out of curiosity.

    • Toney is one of my favorite fighters as well. I feel bad that he has to do this, I just hope this makes him enough money to stay away for good. However even at 50+ he is more skilled and entertaining than either of the Paul bros.

      • I’ve got no problem with him fighting fights like this one. He can fight all the Ruddocks and Tysons and Jonses and B-Hops over the world that he likes. It’s fine with me in this exhibition style. MOST LIKELY those guys aren’t going to hurt each other and, as you said. it’s a way for them to make money.

    • Toney, in his prime, was a phenomenal counter puncher with his shoulder roll technique. Toney’s best performances were against Barkley and Jirov. When Toney fought Jones in 1994, Jones was way too fast and was super athletic. Toney’s style struggled to keep up with Jones in the fight. Toney at this stage in the game is more of a liability due to his advancing age.

      • He was one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time. He had over 90 fights but probably didn’t get hit cleanly 90 times in his entire career. He rolled EVERYTHING. Surely not perfect and nowhere near it but at his absolute best, James Toney was a genius in the ring.

        • According to an article I read elsewhere, this is a charity event. From the article…

          “This showdown is not just another nostalgic event for boxing fans but has a noble cause behind it. The exhibition, which will be streamed on FITE TV, aims to raise funds for the Good Hope Primary School in St Catherine, Jamaica – a place close to Ruddock’s heart as he once attended it. The funds will support the school’s “Gloves over Guns” youth development programme.”

          • Lucie, Yes, thought the charity thing might be worth a mention since that would probably be the best reason to buy this. I’m hoping it does well also.

            Ruddock had a nightclub called “Razor’s Palace”, which was probably 10-15 minutes from where I grew up. Used to see him passing through the neighborhood in a yellow Lamborghini from time to time. I believe that was around the mid-90s, which would have been past his prime boxing years. Seems like eons ago. Kind of weird to be reading that he’ll be in the ring this weekend, even if it’s just an exhibition.

    • Lucie, people forget Toney was a monster at middleweight. The world was his until he hit RJJ. Even after that, the dude could bang, and he was real slick.

    • James was a great one….My favorite fighter ever…is George Foreman in his second career…I stated that was my favorite fighter but not the greatest….that mantle goes to Sugar Ray Robinson…Ray Robinson was the ultimate fighter..in all aspects…just damn…. unbelievable skills…no one to compare to…

  • Ruddock vs toney in their prime $90 dollars

    Today they should pay us to watch this fight

  • Eh, let em fight. At this point, there is no stopping these types of fight when you have Jake Paul, Floyd, Manny also participating in these “exhibitions.” In Manny occasionally shows up to support his fighter but he came to the Fury vs Ngannou fight. I’ll bet 2 to 1 that he there scouting out the area and turn-out for a rumored rematch with Floyd Mayweather. I wouldn’t be surprised if those two did business together in Saudia Arabia. There is too much money not to.

  • WTF? Everybody’s gotta eat and pay bills. Ruddock probably more worn at 60, then Toney. Ridiculous statement by Jonathan York in terms of James Toney…borderline sacrilegious. Not many fighters in history possessed a combination of the chin, heart, power, boxing IQ, fight resume, and defense of Lights Out. Facts! On my top 10 fighters list of all time.

    • Top 10 of all time? Come on. He was a hell of fighter, deserves to be in the HOF but nowhere near top 10. You’re putting him up there with the likes of Joe Louis, Ali, Duran, Leonard, Hagler, Robinson… He lost to Roy and to Montell Griffin twice.

  • The only old one to called my attention to see him fight as a old one was the strong George Foreman

    Morrison could not ko him out and Morrison was in his prime I think George was 50

    So George in his prime and Morrison would not pass the 2nd round

    Hopkins did great too as a old fighter but we all want fresh meat

    • George was 44 when he fought Morrison, 45 when he regained the HW title. Hopkins was a young 49 when he collected his last title at L/HW.

      • George was a “special” fighter…too much stuff to mention about George…but one thing of note…George had some of the greatest trainers in his corners over the years…those trainers trained some of the sports greatest fighters…George had an incredible boxing IQ….GREAT FIGHTER…..GREAT STORY…

        • In Mexico we Called “””el árbol de roble””” (the oak tree) to George Foreman for his outstanding strength

  • Paying for this kind of exhibition is insane, but they have the right to try to collect some money the only way they know. It’s a tough time we live now that trying to improve income pushes people to desperate moves, like Andre Berto and Roberto Guerrero, who will fight on November 25 in a rematch from their 2012 fight. This is more than insane, but unscrupulous people disguised as promoters never hesitate to do this kind of stuff.

  • There’s no such thing as exhibition fight with Toney..he’s bada$$ all the time..RR better be prepared.

  • This would been an awesome fight had toney moved to heavyweight a little earlier in his career n would have gone against the Ruddock that put Dokes in a coma

  • Watch ruddocks last fight vs Dillon Carman in 2015 …he shouldn’t be anywhere near a ring now !

  • My goodness! I can recall as a teenager watching the Mike Tyson vs Razor Ruddock rematch on June 28, 1991 (Showtime PPV) and then the following day watching James Toney vs Reggie Johnson on June 29, 1991 (ABC Wide World of Sports). If someone had told me back then the loser of the 6/28/91 HEAVYWEIGHT fight was going to fight the winner of the 6/29/91 MIDDLEWEIGHT fight some THIRTY-TWO PLUS YEARS LATER in 2023, I would have thought they were crazy. But such is the sport of boxing.

  • Wow. Blast from the past. At their peaks, the weight difference would have been too much to have happened. Toney peaked at 160 and 168 before losing control of his eating habits, but still turned out to be one thee greatest defensive fighters of all time and would have cleaned the house with everyone in his divisions today.

    The same could not be said for Ruddock, however, he was always one shot away from ending the night with his deadly hooker-cut. I think he was in the first crop of super heavyweights in terms of size. I say the same for him in today’s game, at the very least, a belt holder with a string of title defenses.

    This is obviously going to be a hugfest with the loser going out in his corner due to exhaustion.

  • I suppose it’s ridiculous that these two are fighting each other now, but why not? Both these guys were very crowd pleasing in their day with personalities that added to the sport. Ruddock was the classy, yet fearless Jamaican while Toney was just kind of a psycho. I loved the way he boxed though, very crafty with brilliant timing. That’s what allowed him to carry his act on up to heavyweight and still be competitive at an advanced age. I like the fact Beenie Man is performing as well.

  • You know what, it is a detrimental sign of the times that, while this fight has no significance or relevance, it IS going to be fun to see how it turns out if only for sentimental reasons, harking back to when the heavyweight division was remotely interesting. It stinks now with these overgrown divas (except Usyk) doing Swan Lake around each other whilst threatening scary intentions!! A tad pathetic really that when I even hear the names such as Ruddock or Toney, I immediately get that old buzz back that I was once upon a time riddled with. Why do I still check Fightnews you may ask? Simple; in the hope that I read something about former eras…..

  • If he’s healthy I’m all for it but go on YouTube and listen to James Toney talk in the last few years.

  • This is an exhibition, but it will be interesting to see what Father Time has done to these two fighters. Last we saw Ruddock fight in 2015, he was clearly a one-armed fighter. His right arm was absolutely lame, and all he had was a shell of that once-devastating combo left-hook/uppercut shot. He looked droopy and dreadful before getting knocked senseless by some bum named Dillon Carman (8-2 record). The last time we saw Toney fight was in 2017. He was nearly 250 lbs when he knocked out some bum named Mike Sheppard (24-20-2 record) for the vacant World Boxing Federation World Heavyweight title in 2017. Toney had begun to slur his speech too.

  • Toney should NOT be fighting anymore.
    He is obviously not the same man he was before.
    How did the sanctioning bodies or state agencies allow this?
    He is a text book example of CTE

  • Ruddock for a brief time was a big deal. His victories over Dokes and Bonecrusher are notable. Not just because he won…but how he won. Especially with Dokes it was brutal. Another thing that comes to mind is when Teddy Atlas said no one Tyson ever beat gave him resistance. May not be exactly what he said but that was his point. In this case, I do not fully agree with Teddy. Ruddock gave Tyson two tough fights and in my opinion is probably the best fighter Tyson ever beat at the time he beat him. Ruddock was a real threat at that time and those fights were shown on close circuit TV for a reason. Ruddock was a major player in the heavyweight division at that time. The only other fighter Tyson beat who might be able to argue he was better and put up a better fight was Tony Tucker. Still the Ruddock fights were tougher with harder punches thrown. Ruddock was never the same after Lennox Lewis but his fight with Morrison is a classic and I would advise anyone to watch. I saw 2 of his comeback fights in 2015…but he was just a 50 year old shell of himself by then. Hall of famer…no…but while brief…he had his day and was quite a force.

  • This is nuts a 59 yr old and a 55 yr old.

    I get it but it’s only a matter of time before tragedy strikes allowing this to happen

  • The way Ruddock got starched in his last pro fight was seriously scary

    Toney is clearly suffering from CTE and is Meldrick Taylor indecipherable

    What is going on ?

    Nothing is real

    PPV. Crazy

    Boxing is in serious trouble

  • This is why i won’t watch boxing live anymore. i’ll check on the highlights on youtube is the bout is actually eventful

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