After then winning a series of fights at light heavyweight, cruiserweight, and even heavyweight, he again faced Montell Griffin in December 1996 and once again lost a close decision. His next fight after losing his title to Roy Jones saw him lose to Montell Griffin at light heavyweight in February 1995. After the fight Toney blamed making the weight for his flat performance and the loss of his cherished unbeaten record. Jones won a landslide decision over Toney, an upset at the time, taking Toney apart and briefly flooring Toney for the first time with a flash knockdown in the 3rd round. Toney was fancied to win by many experts due to his superior level of competition he'd faced up to this point. The fight was the biggest and most anticipated fight of the year with Jones and Toney ranked highly in the pound-for-pound rankings going into the fight. The fight was Jones' first at Super Middleweight Jones vacated his Middleweight belt to challenge Toney on November 18, 1994. This win paved the way for his fight with Roy Jones, Jr. His next defense was against former IBF Light Heavyweight champion Prince Charles Williams, whom he knocked out in the 12th and final round. During this bout, Toney suffered a bad cut which caused the referee and ringside doctor to intervene before round 4, allowing him one more round to try to end the fight. In his second defense, Toney beat the 24-0 Tim Littles by a 4th round KO. Toney remained one of the most active boxers in the sport, winning five mark-time fights throughout 1993, then defeating Tony "The Punching Postman" Thornton in his 1st title defense in October, via a landslide points victory. With Toney now a title holder at 168 lbs, alongside Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and his old nemesis Michael Nunn, the division was now one of the strongest in boxing. After a dominating performance by Toney, the bout was stopped after 9 rounds by Barkley's trainer, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, due to Barkley suffering severe swelling around both eyes. On February 13, 1993, he challenged Iran Barkley for his IBF Super Middleweight title. Toney moved up to the 168 lbs Super Middleweight division, a weight Toney felt would be to his advantage, after struggling to make the Middleweight limit of 160 lbs. Toney also outpointed Glenn Wolfe and tough Reggie Johnson and a draw and a win against Mike "The Body Snatcher" McCallum, in two evenly and heated contests. He outpointed Dave Tiberi in a split decision that was so controversial, it prompted United States Senator William Roth of Delaware to call for an investigation into possible corruption in the sport. Toney continued a regular fight program over the next 18 months at middleweight, before outgrowing the division, where he made several successful yet disputed defenses. The fight was stopped and Toney was the champion. In an unusually aggressive performance, there were many heated exchanges, but in the 11th round, with time running out for the young Toney, he dropped Michael Nunn to the canvas. Nunn dominated the relatively inexperienced Toney over the first 10 rounds with his excellent boxing skills. Toney's unbeaten run landed him a shot at Lineal & IBF Middleweight Champion Michael "Second to" Nunn, in May 1991. He won the Michigan Middleweight title in 1990, knocking out Philip Morefield in the 1st round.Ī draw with Sanderline Williams was the first blemish on Toney's record, although he beat Williams by unanimous decision three months later and in early 1991 he beat Merqui Sosa in a minor upset, between the two top-10-rated contenders. On March 10, 1989, his manager Johnny "Ace" Smith was killed outside of the Page One Bar in Detroit. His moniker of "Lights Out" was also given by either Gregory or his son. He was scouted and trained by Gregory Owens as a teenager, who also was his trainer through the mid-nineties. Toney had his first professional fight on October 26, 1988, beating Stephen Lee by a technical knockout in the second round. He won the 19 West Michigan Division Junior Title (156 lb), 1987 Novice Golden Gloves in Manchester (156 lb), 1987 Michigan Silver Gloves (156 lb) and 1988 Ohio State Fair (156 lb) Toney's amateur boxing record is 33 fights, 31 wins and 2 losses with 29 KOs.
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