James Toney Makes Clear Choice for Greatest Fighter of All Time: ‘Muhammad Ali, Isn’t He’
Three-division world champion James Toney has named who he considers the greatest fighter of all time, explaining why he believes Muhammad Ali does not deserve the accolade often given to him.
Ali is often considered the greatest to ever don the gloves, largely for the way he reinvented the definition of a heavyweight boxer; possessing the footwork, speed and IQ of a middleweight and dominating his division rivals with skill rather than power.
The man known as “The Greatest” was the first fighter to win the heavyweight title three times – a feat that has been achieved by three others since.
Yet despite the accomplishments and approval of the masses, Toney put an end to the notion that Ali was the greatest fighter of all time. Instead, “Lights Out” explained why he thought Sugar Ray Robinson was superior, in an interview with WiseNuts.
“Ali is not the greatest fighter of all time. When he was Cassius Clay he was great, Ali is trash. The greatest fighter of all time is Sugar Ray Robinson, that guy was magnificent, he fought magnificently. Ali wanted to be him, he was Ali’s idol, Ali tried to fight like him but he couldn’t do it.”
“I’m a fan of Ali myself but I’m sorry, he’s not the greatest fighter of all time. He’s [Sugar] Ray Robinson and James Toney second, period. If you look at how we did it, we did it the right way… I fought, Ray Robinson, we fought. Where does it come from? My hometown, Detroit. We do it like no one else can.
In a separate interview, Toney also omitted Ali from his “five best” fighters in boxing history, but found room for three former alternate heavyweight champions.
