James Toney Cruises Past Damon Reed At San Manuel Casino

Stubborn fella, that Toney. He weighed in at 257 pounds, the most of his career, for the Reed fight, yet still insists he is after the crowns of the Klitschkos and Haye.

HIGHLAND, CA.-IBA heavyweight titleholder James “Lights Out” Toney carried extra baggage but it didn’t slow him down in cruising past Damon Reed by unanimous decision after 10 rounds on Thursday.

After nearly two years away from the boxing ring Toney (73-6, 44 KOs) came in weighing the most of his career but still won every round against the constantly running Reed (45-15, 32 KOs) at San Manuel Casino. Fans were not pleased at Reed’s shyness toward combat.

Fans wanted a knockout but got a unanimous decision instead.

Reed might have figured that if he ran Toney would chase. He thought wrong. As the Kansas heavyweight moved quickly out of range, usually going as far away as possible, Toney ambled toward him nonchalantly then would fire a few body blows before Reed scootered away again.

Reed used the first three rounds to entice Toney to trail him as he scooted around the ring seldom firing punches. The champion scored with some blows to the body as Reed frantically moved away from getting too close. Toney motioned to Reed several times to engage as the crowd booed the lack of action.

The fight slipped into another gear in the fifth round as Reed stopped moving. Toney fired several combinations that landed through Reed’s gloves and four body blows that all connected.

Reed finally struck back with a strong counter right that connected flush in the seventh, but he absorbed several left hooks and overhand rights during a busier round. The eighth was a carbon copy of the seventh with Reed landing some rights in close and moving out of range.

Toney, who weighed in at plus-250, advanced forward in the ninth but Reed seemed unwilling to trade with the champion. Moving side to side and occasionally moving in for a jab was all the Kansas heavyweight seemed willing to do.

In the 10th and final round Reed opened up with some combinations with 10 seconds left in the fight and it was the only aggressive action he administered. Toney smiled at the effort but was disheartened at Reed’s lack of heat. All three judges scored it 100-90 for Toney.

“Thanks everybody for your support,” said Toney who was not surprised by Reed’s constant running.

Toney, who trained with Buddy McGirt for this fight, said it’s just the beginning for a run at winning the other heavyweight world titles.

“I want all of the titles,” Toney said.

Fans shouted their displeasure at Reed, a few at Toney, but most were there to see the legendary fighter ply his trade. He won easy.

Other bouts

In fight that looked lopsided on paper a fighter with no wins beat an undefeated fighter when Alfredo Rivera (1-7) took a majority decision from San Diego’s favored Angel Estrada (5-1) after four rounds of a see-saw junior welterweight clash. Right from the opening bell Rivera bored in with heavy blows that seemed to catch Estrada by surprise. He never could gain momentum against Rivera who never stopped winging big shots. One judge scored it 38-38 but the other judges had it 39-37 for Rivera. It was his first pro win after eight tries in five years.

Rivera had lost to several very talented fighters, including Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis.

Fresno’s Mike Ruiz (7-0-1) out-hustled Tijuana’s Daniel Modad (2-4) after four rounds of a featherweight bout between southpaws. Ruiz was shorter but quicker and fought most of the fight inside where Modad’s longer arms were not effective.

Heavyweight Enrique Lobatos (2-2-1) of Bell used two looping left hands to drop debuting Granson Clark (0-1) at 55 seconds of the second round. Lobatos and Clark exchanged feverishly in the first round but those left hands proved too much for the Fresno fighter who was counted out by referee Jack Reiss.

Despite dominating for three rounds Edther Arvizu (1-1) lost by disqualification after he and Shawn Wate (1-5) tangled up and Wate was tossed to the floor. Wate could not continue and referee Tony Crebs called the fight off at 27 seconds of the fourth round. The referee had warned Arvizu twice for holding. Wate was taken by stretcher for further evaluation.

New York City’s Jorge Teron (25-2-1, 17 KOs) scored a technical knockout win over Mexico’s Jose Soto Karass (19-16, 17 KOs) in a lightweight bout. Teron opened up a cut on Soto Karass’s left eye and it became worse by the second round. After a ringside physician evaluated the eye the fight was called off by referee Jack Reiss at the end of the second round. Soto Karass was unable to see out of the injured eye.

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