The Boxing (and MMA) Weekend: James Toney Appears on UFC PPV
By Geno McGahee
Saturday
Argentina
A big mismatch in Argentina will be taking place with the Interim WBA Light Welterweight Title hanging in the balance. Marcos Maidana, 28-1, 27 KO’s, takes on former champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley, 37-13-1, 22 KO’s, in a twelve round bout. They should keep the stretcher close to the ring.
Corley is a very curious choice for an opponent for Maidana. He has a record of 6-9 in his last 15 fights, and he was knocked unconscious by Freddy Hernandez in February of this year. Maidana is a beast in the ring and has been on a spree of destruction lately, including an impressive stoppage of Victor Ortiz. Corley’s style of standing right in front of his opponent and looking for spots will be perfect for Maidana. He could not ask for a better opponent and expect a quick stoppage for the current Interim Champ, Maidana.
Quebec, Canada
ESPN2 will be airing a card on Saturday, featuring lightweight Omri Lowther, 14-1, 10 KO’s, against the dangerous TBA. On the undercard, we have welterweight, Kevin Bizier, 11-0, 7 KO’s, against Leonard Rojas, 8-10-3, 2 KO’s. On the surface, I hesitate to call this broadcast a “can’t miss.”
Puerto Rico
There is a boxing PPV this weekend, featuring Ivan Calderon, 34-0-1, 6 KO’s, the current WBO Light Flyweight Champion, facing the current WBA Light Flyweight Champion, Giovanni Segura, 24-1-1, 20 KO’s, in a unification bout. Segura has stopped his last five opponents and Calderon is up there in years at 35 and may have a hard time keeping the WBA kingpin off of him. It’s an interesting bout.
The rest of the PPV car looks very poor and this may be a dish strictly for die hard boxing fans that just want something to watch on Saturday night.
UFC 118
The big news this week for boxing fans takes place in the UFC, at UFC 118. Former middleweight, super middleweight, and cruiserweight champion, James “Lights Out” Toney, makes his debut into the Octagon at the age of 42 against the much more experienced and battle-tested, Randy Couture. MMA fans are expecting an easy night for Couture while boxing fans sense it, but there is the curiosity because Toney has never quit anything. He is a tough guy and appears to be determined to win, but he was determined to win against Sam Peter, and lost. He was determined to win against Fres Oquendo and was given a gift decision in a fight he should have lost. He is over the hill and this fight will not last long.
If you want to watch something this weekend, boxing fans, I would recommend renting the UFC 118 PPV. It will be the last time we see James Toney in combat, most likely, and that alone may be worth the price tag. I’m just hoping that he at least gets one shot in before he’s on the floor tapping out.