James Toney vs Charles Williams

James Toney retained the International Boxing Federation super-middleweight championship at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on July 29, 1994, by knocking out Charles “Prince” Williams with only 15 seconds remaining in the twelfth and final round. The finish came suddenly at the end of a severe, closely fought contest in which Toney’s left eye had been battered shut, and Williams stood ahead on all three official scorecards. Referee Joe Cortez completed the count at 2 minutes 45 seconds after a single right hand dropped the exhausted challenger heavily on his back. Toney, unbeaten in 45 professional contests, was making the third defence of the championship he had taken from Iran Barkley the previous year. Williams, a former IBF light-heavyweight champion, had reduced himself to the 168-pound limit and entered with a record of 36 victories, five defeats and two draws.

Williams did not approach the champion cautiously. From the opening bell, he pressed forward behind a busy left hand, seeking to deny Toney the room required for his measured counter-punching. Toney preferred to stand close, his chin tucked behind the raised left shoulder, and tried to pick holes in the challenger’s attack with short rights and hooks. Williams accepted the invitation to fight at close quarters. He worked with both hands to the body, then brought his punches upstairs whenever Toney remained against the ropes. The first round was hard and untidy, with heads and shoulders rubbing together and neither man willing to give ground. Toney struck after the bell and was warned by Cortez, an incident that later became important when the offence was repeated.

Toney’s cleaner punching gave him an argument for the first round, but Williams answered in the second by increasing the pace. The challenger crowded him along the ropes and made the champion work continuously, landing hooks around the guard and straight punches through it. Toney remained composed and struck back in short bursts, particularly with the right uppercut, but Williams was setting the terms of the contest. Toney appeared to edge the third on one official card through the accuracy of his counters, although the other two judges preferred Williams’s pressure and greater activity. Williams continued to come forward in the fourth, but Toney met him with compact combinations and did enough to take the round on two of the three cards.

The fifth followed the same demanding pattern. Williams advanced with his gloves high and his head close to Toney’s chest, throwing in numbers and refusing to be discouraged by the champion’s counters. Toney planted his feet and answered with hooks to the ribs and short right hands between Williams’s punches. He was economical and accurate, but the challenger’s persistence prevented him from controlling the exchanges for long. The left side of Toney’s face was beginning to swell from the accumulation of punches and the continual close contact. Toney won the fifth on all three official cards, yet he had been drawn into precisely the sort of physical contest Williams wanted.

Williams regained the initiative in the sixth. His pressure forced Toney to fight with little separation between them, and he continued to land around the champion’s left eye. Toney’s defensive movements remained subtle—rolling his shoulder, turning his body and slipping punches by inches, but Williams was throwing enough to ensure that some got through. The swelling worsened, gradually restricting Toney’s vision. The challenger also carried the seventh on all three scorecards, maintaining a pace that was remarkable for a man who had spent much of his championship career at light-heavyweight. Toney nevertheless began to obtain more useful distance during these middle rounds. When he could take half a step back, he drove straight right hands into Williams’s face and followed with hooks to the body. The challenger absorbed them and returned to the attack.

The eighth round brought the contest’s only official deduction. Toney had already been cautioned for striking after the opening bell had ended, but again continued punching after time was called. Cortez removed a point. The penalty turned what might otherwise have been a level or winning round into a damaging one on the cards. By then Toney’s left eye was virtually closed, and Williams continued to work toward that side while leaning on the champion and forcing him to expend strength. Toney remained dangerous whenever he found room, but Williams’s attack and the deduction left the champion in a difficult position.

The ninth was closely disputed. Two judges scored it for Williams, while the third gave it to Toney. Williams’s punches no longer carried quite the same speed, but he continued to advance and made the champion fight. Toney, now operating with severely limited sight on his left side, relied upon timing and experience. He turned his shoulder to the incoming punches and delivered rights down the middle, followed by hooks beneath Williams’s elbows. The tenth and eleventh went unanimously to the challenger. Williams was tired, yet his determination did not weaken. He kept Toney near the ropes for long stretches and continued to throw, while Toney searched for the clean counter that might reverse a contest slipping away from him. After 11 rounds, Mike Glienna had Williams ahead 105–103. Stuart Winston and Art Lurie each had the challenger leading 106–102. Toney therefore required a knockdown merely to improve his position and almost certainly needed a stoppage to retain the title.

Williams entered the final round exhausted but still advancing. Toney’s eye was completely shut, and the champion had endured the harder physical treatment for much of the contest. Yet Williams’s long effort had also taken its toll. His punches were slower, his legs less certain, and he was increasingly exposed when coming forward. Toney stayed patient and continued to look for the right hand. As the final minute passed, the challenger appeared close to completing the finest victory of his career. There was no sign of panic from Toney. He remained balanced, watched Williams’s approach with his one functioning eye and waited for the opening.

With the final bell only seconds away, Williams stepped in once more. Toney released a straight right hand with exceptional accuracy and full leverage. The punch landed flush on the challenger’s jaw and ended the contest at once. Williams fell backwards and struck the canvas heavily, his body folding as he tried unsuccessfully to gather himself. He made an effort to rise, but his legs would not answer him, and Cortez counted him out at 2 minutes 45 seconds. The knockout rescued Toney from defeat and provided a decisive conclusion to a contest in which Williams had fought with sustained courage and sound tactical purpose. Williams had forced the champion backwards, closed his eye and built a clear lead, but Toney retained sufficient composure and punching power to settle the matter with one correctly timed blow. The victory preserved his unbeaten record and cleared the way for his anticipated meeting with Roy Jones Jr later that year.

I’ve always rated James Toney as one of the cleverest fighters of his generation, but Charles Williams gave him a proper examination in Las Vegas. Toney was unbeaten, held the IBF super-middleweight title and had the Roy Jones Jr fight waiting. Williams, though, had been a light-heavyweight champion and knew how to make a man uncomfortable.

Williams got close, kept his hands working and gradually closed Toney’s left eye. That was the correct tactic. Standing off and trying to outbox Toney would have been pointless. Williams made it physical, forced the pace and built a clear lead. Toney also lost a point in the eighth for punching after the bell. Going into the last round, Williams led on all three cards. There was no argument about it: Toney needed the knockout.

What followed showed the difference between a very good fighter and a special one. Toney was tired, half-blind and behind, but he never panicked. With only 15 seconds remaining, he set his feet and landed a perfectly timed right hand that dropped Williams for the count. Williams had fought the better fight for nearly twelve rounds, but Toney found the one punch that settled everything. That was not luck. That was composure, timing and championship instinct.