Scott’s On the Spot WBR: Toney Fails in the UFC; Calderon Finally Tastes Defeat; Maidana Does Enough to Win
Published: Aug 29 2010 by: Scott Levinson
-Scott’s On the Spot Weekly Boxing Report: James Toney (Shock) Flops in UFC Debut; Calderon Knocked Out and Suffers First Loss-
A lot went down this week in the ring, and even in the octagon in another surprising week in boxing. Let’s get the Randy Couture-James Toney fight out of the way first, like how I’d begin eating dinner as a kid by polishing off the vegetables so that I could focus solely on the good stuff. It really seemed that Dana White, a smart guy, scripted the whole thing. In order to make a cheap point, he dug up a washed-up boxer in James Toney, whose trash talk and resume would figure to command attention and interest.
To preemptively silence critics pointing out Toney’s age, White served up the even-older Couture—a freak of nature and a far more serviceable MMA fighter than Toney is a boxer at this point. Then comes the ridiculously difficult style matchup for a first time MMA fighter. It’s not enough that Toney has to fight an ex-champ in his debut, but to be paired with a fighter who is all about wrestling was too much to overcome. Wouldn’t it have been more interesting to see Toney fight more of a striker-type guy?
Either way, it’s time to put this MMA vs. boxing business to bed. While a natural rivalry on many levels, it basically only serves as fodder for juvenile Internet battling. MMA and boxing should work together in the spirit of further popularizing all forms of combat sports, not bickering about which one is better.
Coming from a boxing guy’s point of view, it seems like everyone in MMA from the cognoscenti to the casual fan has used the rise of their sport as an opportunity to put their foot to the throat of boxing. I’d like to think that MMA owes a debt of gratitude to boxing—the forerunners in legitimizing fighting sports. Had boxing not been around for centuries anesthetizing people to the inherent graphicness of fighting, it’s doubtful MMA would have been embraced.
Hopefully, Couture-Toney doesn’t ignite this ridiculous argument, but helps put it in the rearview mirror.
Now on to some boxing—
Ivan Calderon’s’ stranglehold on the junior flyweight division ended, as Giovanni Segura won their unification bout by 8th round knockout in a great fight. Calderon was boxing well early, but at age 35, was unable to hold Segura off for 12 rounds. Segura really began making strides in round 5, connecting on Calderon with hard shots and bloodying him.
Calderon got a measure of momentum back in a productive 7th round. But Segura showed true championship mettle in snatching back the upper hand in the 8th. A murderous hook to the body incapacitated Calderon, who was unable to rise before the count of ten. For Calderon, it was his first loss, bringing his record to 34-1-1 (6 KOs). The 28-year old Segura, 25-1 (21 KOs), is now the real champion at 108 pounds.
Beating an undefeated and long-reigning champion in his hometown represents a gigantic triumph for Segura. In beating Calderon, Segura scored the biggest win at 108 since Michael Carbajal beat Chiquita Gonzalez in their 1994 blockbuster slugfest. In 2008, in his first chance at world title honors, Segura lost a decision to Cesar Canchila. In the rematch, he looked much improved—savaging Canchila with a 4th-round TKO. Since then, he has been in top form, making quick work of all his opponents, culminating with the glorious win over Calderon.
For Calderon, it will be problematic for him to win a rematch with the peaking Segura; leaving his future is in doubt. Even if he never wins another big fight, he had a heck of a run. His resume puts him on the cusp for Hall of Fame consideration. Unfortunately for “Iron Boy,” the Segura fight might have been the difference maker.
140-pound player Marcos Maidana gutted his way to a 12-round nod over 36-year old ex-titlist DeMarcus Corley. While not known as much of a defensive master, the Victor Ortiz-conqueror was painfully easy to hit, even getting rattled by Corley from time to time. Corley, who started his career 27-1-1, is now 37-14-1 but fought a really good fight. He’s becoming quite the hardcore veteran. Maidana is slated to face Amir Khan in December.
Next Week…
Felix Sturm, who first made his bones against Oscar De La Hoya in 2004, defends his WBA title against tough and improving challenger Giovanni Lorenzo in Cologne, Germany. Let’s see if non-Italians named Giovanni can win titles in consecutive weeks against favored champions in their hometowns.
I noticed former lightweight titlist Antonio Pitalua is fighting a 12-rounder with old-timer Joe Rivera. How old school is Rivera? He turned pro in 1980! He fought a draw with junior lightweight champion and Hall of Famer Brian Mitchell in 1987. This will be the 47-year old Rivera’s first fight in 13 years.
Darkhorse welterweight titlist, Slovenian Jan Zaveck, 29-1, defends against tough Rafal Jackiewicz in a rematch from a split-decision win for Jackiewicz in 2008. Zaveck, with a valuable belt in his possession, looks to get in the mix with some of the big names at 147.
Another little-known champion in Roman Martinez, the WBO 130-pound champion and a frontrunner to be the top guy in that division, faces tough Ricky Burns in his native Scotland. Let’s see if the young champion is the goods.
I agree with you that there should be no beef between MMA and boxing. They are related(but definitely different) sports that can both do well. But I have to point out that Dana White had no interest in bringing in James Toney.
He mentioned in an interview that a boxer(using boxing alone) couldn’t come in and win in the UFC. James Toney heard the interview and started stalking White, bullying him into signing him and giving him a fight. Finally, sick of Toney calling him 10 times a day and coming to the UFC events to find him in person and talk trash, White agreed to give him a fight. So yeah, he matched him against someone he had no chance of beating. But it was to make him go away.
I agree White is smart and put forward the best possible matchup to make the UFC look the best it could, but Toney is the one who forced the issue and basically backed White into a corner until he gave him a fight.
Well, I hear ya on that. Toney certainly was the one who pressed for it. That’s a fair point.
My problem was that Dana made it as if Toney represented something that the other boxers who’ve asked to participate didn’t. Well, how old were those guys, 50?
I found it disingenuous how Toney was promoted as a viable boxer, when he’s years removed from his prime, then matched against a championship-caliber fighter whose style is kryptonite for an aged puncher.
The whole MMA vs. Boxing angle was just bogus. It was more like old neophyte fat MMA fighter vs. MMA contender. And the next time they do one of these, try to pick a boxer whose career didn’t begin in the Reagan administration.
Jason has it absolutely right and the author has it absolutely wrong. Dana White (who I seldom defend) did not “dig up” anyone. James Toney was relentless in trying to get this match and even threatened to show up at Dana’s house if he wasn’t given a match.
James Toney showed total ignorance about MMA, by thinking he could compete with a world class wrestler and MMA athelete (and disrepecting everyone in his path). Why should Dana have given him a lesser opponent? First of all, there is nobody on the UFC’s lightweight heavyweight or heavtwegiht roster that would have been a “good” matchup for him. Even the MMA guys who focus on standup would have taken him down with ease. I actually think Dana was nice to James by giving him Randy Couture who is a guy that wasnt going to hurt him badly or cause permanent damage. Had Dana given him Jon Jones (another guy Toney talked trash about) Toney would still be in the emergency room getting sewn back together.
I think you have another thing twisted too. Since MMA is newer and boxing has been around forever, MMA fans don’t percieve boxing as a threat to thier sport so the anomosity does not flow in that direction. Instead it come from boxing fans, boxers, and sports writers like yourself who feel boxing is threatened by MMA. I dont remember any MMA guys calling out boxers. In fact, Randy Couture explained rationally on many occasions that he does not think he would stand a chance in a boxing match versus Toney.
Lastly, this fight DID prove once and for all what MMA fans and athletes already knew. Boxing is too one dimensional to ever be the ultimate form of hand to hand combat. Boxers are great atheletes and artists, but their vulnerabilities are protected by well defined rules. MMA rules more closely mirror the “mean streets”, a war, or a gladiator contest. Randy proved that MMA, in that environment, is a superior fighting system to boxing. It turned out that the only ones who needed that lesson were stubborn boxing fans. And of course James Toney.
Thank you Gary for your thoughts.
I’m not exactly sure if Toney’s insistence gives everyone a pass for what happens after that. A lot of people insist for things. I’m not really searching for the root cause of what happened last night, except to say it was bogus. And I do think Dana went out of his way to make it hard on Toney to make a cheap point at his expense. If an MMA fighter tried his hand at boxing, he wouldn’t get matched with a still-tough ex-champ. Anyway, it’s over. Thankfully.
I am glad for you that you like MMA and you champion it like a good fan should. My only problem is with the reason you give for it being better than boxing. Why should I care what would happen in these mythical street battles that everyone talks about? I don’t judge sports by how well they translate to the streets or if they’re more practical in an armageddon-type scenario. I judge them by what happens in the arena of play. And any halfway decent pro boxer can more than handle himself in any street fight, barring the miniscule chance he runs into some MMA star.
I think it boils down to personal tastes more than matching the sports up in terms of how effective the styles are against each other. To me boxing is better. Why? Because I like it more. And that’s where it ends.
Good point Scott, but it would make little difference what boxer they put in there. Couture should that a wrestler doesnt even need to get within an arm’s length to take down a boxer so a pure boxer would never have the chance to use his tools. A boxer might do fine after he learned enough wrestling to effectively defend takedowns, but then he would be a mixed martial artist.
Couture was FAR from the worst matchup they could have give Toney. I would have like to see him eat a few Jon “Bones” Jones elbows for all his trash talking.
Lastly, and I shouldn’t even acknowlege this, but FUCK YOU KKK! Nobody wants to hear your racist bullshit.
I meant “Couture showed”
I really wonder why there is any discussion about which sport is better. They are completely different sports based on completely different rules. It’s like asking if rugby or American football is better or whether cricket or American baseball is better. There’s really no discussion. And as Couture pointed out, any athlete trying to transition from one sport to the other is going to be at a horrible disadvantage until they learn the appropriate skills and strategy for that sport. If Couture tried to take on James Toney in a pure boxing match he would be KO’d in mere minutes.
I’m personally a huge MMA fan, but my love for MMA has lead me to a greater appreciation and interest in boxing. The more I learn about boxing the more I love the subtleties of a pure striking match. Boxing is a beautiful sport and deserves a strong resurgence in popularity. I agree with the author that boxing paved the way for combat sports the world over and that the greatness of a sport isn’t dependent on it’s translation into real world combat.
Do you really think MMA would serve you better in a street fight? What if there were more than one attacker? You wouldn’t try to take anyone down and choke them out. You’d get soccer kicked to the face by the other attackers. In this instance a pure boxer would have a better chance. And in reality one might say a kickboxer would have the best chance. And what of guns, knives, or other weapons. So the whole argument about real world fights is ridiculous. It’s a completely bogus basis for comparison or argument.
I wonder whether there really are that many MMA fans talking crap about boxing or boxing fans talking crap about MMA. It seems to me that perhaps there is very little in the way of real attacks from either fan base and that perhaps the media or something else has tricked us into this illusion that we are set against one another. Any intelligent person sees that each sport is different and appreciates the skill and subtlety that both require of their respective athletes.
In reality, I think MMA should be leading people to a greater appreciation and interest in all combat sports – wrestling, jiu jitsu, judo, boxing, kickboxing, etc. I really don’t see how it couldn’t as to take an interest in MMA almost requires an interest in every other combat sport in existence.
- The End
Jake and Scott…
Would love your take on this.
http://sportschump.net/2010/09/02/chumpservations-vol-16-wishful-thinking-edition-randy-couture-takes-out-brett-favre-roger-goodell-and-fantasy-football/4380/
Now I don’t follow the UFC as religiously as most and I understand they’re all about selling tickets but it seemed to me this Toney-Couture fight was just a gimmick.
Is it just me? What am I missing?
Not missing much, Chris! That’s what it was.