Boxing stars predict Couture to beat Toney

Some of boxing’s biggest stars are predicting a difficult night for former three-weight world boxing champion James Toney ahead of his UFC debut against Randy Couture.

Toney’s bout with hall-of-famer Couture takes place before the meeting of Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn as part of UFC 118, which will take place in Boston this Saturday night.

In the lead up to the fight, 42-year old Toney has been bigging up his chances of an upset, but some of the most well-known practitioners of his former sport are united in their views that he has little chance against an MMA legend.

Here’s what they had to say:

Ricky Hatton (Former two-weight boxing champion): “James has a very good sense of timing, so there’s a chance he will land the one shot he needs and score a win right away. But, having been ringside at Randy’s fight with the much bigger Brock Lesnar, I think it is almost certain Couture will be able to maul Toney to the fence, take him down, and finish him there.”

Amir Khan (WBA junior welterweight champion): “Toney has to make his punch count right away, but Couture will be watching for that. In any fight, you need a plan B and I don’t think Toney has one in a UFC fight.”

David Haye (WBA heavyweight champion): “I admire Toney’s courage, but six months of training isn’t going to be enough. As a UFC fan, I know two or three years wouldn’t be enough. He’s delusional here. Couture isn’t only going to end his UFC career inside a minute, he is most likely going to break James’s arm or leg and end his boxing career too.”

Miguel Cotto (reigning WBA junior middleweight champion): “Two great fighters, one trained in MMA and one in boxing. In a boxing match, I give it to Toney and in an MMA fight; I have to go with the MMA fighter (Couture).”

Paulie Malignaggi (Former world junior welterweight boxing champion): “The problem is, most boxers, even in their prime, would not last in MMA. These guys know how to grapple and kick, and the same could be said the opposite way – no MMA guy is gonna last in the ring with a boxer if they’re boxing. You’re going into somebody else’s domain.  And not that Couture is a spring chicken, but if you look at James Toney, he’s always a guy who’s been a close-range fighter – shoulder rolls, dips, counterpunches. He never really had an outside game that was so special. He had slow feet and was plodding, but he had good upper body movement. You can’t do that in MMA, especially with Couture, who was a Greco-Roman wrestler.  He’ll just wrestle him, take him down, choke him or ground and pound him. I don’t see how James Toney can win the fight, even if Couture is the older guy, but the best to both guys.”