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by Johnny Walker
Veteran American heavyweight James “Lights Out” Toney, never one to hold back a controversial opinion, has ripped the US men’s boxing team, which exited the London Olympics without winning a single medal.
Toney–who recently saw a fight with contender Tomasz Adamek fall through–tells Reuters that the group of fighters America sent to the games was the “worst team ever. B-Class.”
“They weren’t worth watching, every single one of them was garbage,” opines Toney.
Toney also says he would offer his services to the Olympic team in a coaching capacity, but expects he would meet with rejection.
“James Toney is too controversial,” he says.
“I’m the last old school fighter. I would clean the house out.”
Toney’s ability to offend may have helped cost him the fight with Adamek. After he read a column by an ESPN boxing scribe criticizing the matchup on the grounds of the 43-year-old Toney’s faded abilities and failing health, the boxer shot back with a video in which he cursed out and threatened to physically beat down the writer at his place of work.
Soon after the video went viral on the web, Toney was dropped as Adamek’s opponent.
He later made another video in which he apologized to the writer.
Toney tells Reuters that he is now looking for a fight with rising Anglo-Irish heavyweight Tyson Fury, and says that, regardless of rumors about his health, he is in fine shape and will fight on for five more years.
“I have five years left, I’m in the best shape I have been in 10 years, passed every medical. Look at my record, beaten 10 world champions,” says Toney.
“I would love to fight Tyson Fury. I would travel to England and knock him out.”
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