James Toney Is Not Mellowing Out

Former world champion James Toney is fighting a fellow named Samuel Peter next weekend in a title-elimination bout. The winner will be next in line to fight Oleg Maskaev for one of boxing's 342 world heavyweight titles (I think it's the one with the pretty rubies on the belt).

Toney, at age 38, might not be in the best shape anymore, but verbally, he's in his filthy, profanity-laden prime. From a Dan Rafael column at ESPN.com, observe:

"Why does that [expletive] Peter talk [expletive] about his power and think that he can ignore mine?. I got 43 [expletive] knockouts in 69 wins, and that big [double expletive] will be No. 44. What the [expletive] will he say then, lying flat on his back?

"Every [expletive] guy I fight is bigger and stronger than me — supposedly. Peter is no different. Look at Rahman and what I did to his face. He didn't knock me down. He didn't faze me. Nobody knocks James 'Lights Out' Toney down. If Peter thinks he is going to knock me [expletive] out, he has another [expletive] thing coming. I'll punish him more than he can ever believe could ever happen to him. I'll beat my respect out of him.

"I don't [expletive] cry over what these so-called big and strong guys say about me. I feed off of it. You tell Peter to bring what he's got and I'll bring it even more. I'll knock his [expletive] ass out, and when they send him back to Africa on a boat he'll still be sleeping. He'll have a [expletive] 'Lights Out' nightmare in the ring and relive it while he's asleep at sea.

"All I know is that Samuel Peter is going back to Africa a loser, and I will look forward to banging [expletive] Russians around."

I don't have any problem with the expletives, but I think the double expletive in the second sentence just went too far. Too far, James Toney.

For more James Toney verbal wizardry, check out the press conference for the fight. I particularly enjoyed the terrified white man at about the 2:30 mark, and then James Toney's repeated shouting of homosexual slurs towards the end.

Notebook: Toney has plenty of choice words for Peter [ESPN.com] Toney-Peter explodes [YouTube]