The IBF World Super Middleweight title fight between two of the best pound for pound fighters of the era. This fight would propel Roy Jones Jr into boxing super stardom. More info below...
James Toney was the IBF World Super Middleweight champion. He was undefeated in 46 fights with 44 wins, 29 by KO and 2 draws. He was the number 2 ranked pound for pound fighter in the world according to The Ring magazine and he was a 6-5 favorite to win. He was a former IBF and IBC World Middleweight champion before moving up in weight and winning the IBF Super Middleweight title from Iran Barkley in 1993. Toney had successfully defended his Super Middleweight title 3 times already however there were rumors Toney was struggling to make the Super Middleweight limit and he entered training camp weighing over 200lbs!
Roy Jones Jr was the third ranked best pound for pound fighter in the world and the current IBF World Middleweight champion. He had beaten Bernard Hopkins in 1993 to win the belt and in his last outing had successfully defended it against Thomas Tate. Jones, like Toney, was also undefeated with a 26-0 record and although he had beaten some experienced challengers he was yet to be known as the boxing legend he would become.
Roy Jones was in complete control for a majority of the fight. He was landing more punches and was the noticeably quicker of the two. Toney was still able to land some big shots but he could never pin Roy down long enough to take advantage. In round 3, Roy would catch Toney off guard and off balance while taunting and put him on the canvas. Toney was embarrassed more than hurt when he got to his feet and by the end of 12 rounds Roy had earned himself a deserved unanimous decision.
Roy Jones Jr would eventually move up to the light heavyweight ranks and become one of the best, if not THE best, light heavyweight champions of all time. In 2003 he even won the WBA World Heavyweight title from John Ruiz. In 2009 Roy Jones would try add a World Cruiser weight title to his list of achievements by challenging IBO champion Danny Green, but lost surprisingly by 1st round TKO. As of 2015 Roy Jones Jr was still boxing and looking for another cruiser weight world title shot...
James Toney immediately moved up to the light heavyweight ranks following this loss however his first fight at the new weight didn't go exactly as planned when Montell Griffin beat him by majority decision over 12 rounds. He quickly regained his form however and ended up winning the vacant WBU Light Heavyweight title in 1995, the vacant IBO World Cruiser weight title in 1997, the vacant IBA Super Cruiser weight title in 2001 and the IBF World Cruiser weight title in 2003. In late 2003 Toney made the permanent leap into the heavyweight division beating Evander Holyfield by TKO in his first outing and going on to capture the IBA and IBU World Heavyweight titles. As of 2015 James Toney is still boxing at heavyweight and it's hard for me to even imagine him at one point weighing 160lbs...