Лас-Вегас хотын Mandalay Bay цогцолборт болсон тулаанд Жеймс Тони есдүгээр раундад Эвандер Холифилдыг техникийн нокаутаар ялснаар хүнд жингийн дебютээ амжилттай хийлээ.
2003 оны аравдугаар сарын 4-нд болсон тус тулаанд дэлхийн аваргын бүс тоглоогүй ч 35 настай Жеймс Тони рингний ойрын зайд илүүрхэж чадсан юм. Эхний гурван раундад Эвандер Холифилд давуу талтай байсан ч дөрөвдүгээр раундаас эхлэн Жеймс Тони тоглолтын санаачилгыг гартаа авч, өрсөлдөгчийнхөө бие рүү чиглэсэн хүчтэй цохилтуудаар давамгайлж эхэлжээ.
CompuBox-ийн статистик мэдээллээр Жеймс Тони 418 цохилт гүйцэтгэснээс 217-г нь оновчтой болгосон бол Эвандер Холифилд 354 цохилтоос 135-ыг нь оноосон байна. Найман раундын дараах байдлаар шүүгчдийн оноогоор Жеймс Тони илт давуу тэргүүлж байв.
Есдүгээр раундад Жеймс Тонигийн бие рүү чиглэсэн цуврал цохилтын дараа Эвандер Холифилд нокдаунд орсон юм. Тэрээр боссон боловч дасгалжуулагч Дон Тернер тулааныг зогсоох шийдвэр гаргаснаар Жеймс Тони техникийн нокаутаар ялалт байгууллаа. Тулааны дараа Эвандер Холифилд өрсөлдөгч нь тактикийн хувьд илүү байсныг хүлээн зөвшөөрсөн байна.
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James Toney gave Evander Holyfield the close-range fight he wanted on October 4, 2003, then made him pay for it. Twenty-three years later, their meeting remains a sharp example of how a fighter’s desire to compete can outlast his ability to impose himself.
Toney stopped Holyfield at 1:42 of the ninth round at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. No world title was at stake, but the former middleweight champion’s heavyweight debut delivered a result that forced uncomfortable questions about Holyfield’s future.
Holyfield was 40, just fifteen days from his 41st birthday. Toney was 35 and arriving from cruiserweight, where he had beaten Vassiliy Jirov for the IBF belt earlier that year. Holyfield had the height and reach advantages, although their weights were almost identical: 219 pounds for Holyfield and 217 for Toney.
The opening rounds gave Holyfield encouragement. He pressed forward and landed enough to win two of the first three rounds on two scorecards and all three on the other. From the fourth onward, however, Toney won every completed round.
The tactical failure was especially revealing. Holyfield did not have to chase an opponent around the ring. Toney stayed within punching distance, using shoulder movement, small turns and compact counters to make exchanges favor him. Holyfield could reach him, but reaching him cleanly and answering his combinations became increasingly difficult.
Toney’s shorter punches gave him an advantage where Holyfield once excelled. He could defend and respond without needing much room, while Holyfield increasingly needed time to gather himself between attacks. The body work made those pauses more costly.
CompuBox recorded Toney landing 217 of 418 punches, compared with Holyfield’s 135 of 354. After eight rounds, Toney led 78-74 on two cards and 77-75 on the third.
A ninth-round attack to the body sent Holyfield down. He rose, but trainer Don Turner intervened, ending a fight his boxer still wanted to continue.
“He outhustled and outmaneuvered me. I didn’t get my punches off like I wanted,” Holyfield told the Associated Press afterward.
That admission captured the defeat better than an injury explanation. Holyfield’s willingness remained, but his timing and sustained offense could no longer support it against this opponent.
Toney deserves credit for exploiting that decline with patience and precision. Beating this version of Holyfield could not settle how he would have fared against the younger champion. It did show that his defensive craft and inside offense could travel to heavyweight—and that Holyfield’s reputation could no longer protect him once the exchanges began.
