James Toney

CTL-E-7101 · Person · other · 1968–present

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07973 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-7101.

James Nathaniel Toney, born August 24, 1968, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, fought as 'Lights Out' with an old-school craft the International Boxing Hall of Fame describes as technician and assassin in one — natural punching power, counterpunching and a signature shoulder-roll defense. He turned professional in 1988 and won his first world title on May 10, 1991, stopping Michael Nunn in the eleventh round for the IBF middleweight championship, a fight he entered as a heavy underdog while behind on the scorecards. He moved up to stop Iran Barkley in nine rounds for the IBF super middleweight title on February 13, 1993, and suffered his first defeat on November 18, 1994, losing that title by decision to Roy Jones Jr. His 2003 twelve-round decision over IBF cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov was named Fight of the Year and earned him Comeback of the Year honors, and he later campaigned at heavyweight, defeating Hall of Famer Evander Holyfield among others. The Ring named him Fighter of the Year in both 1991 and 2003. He retired in 2017 with, as the Hall states his totals, a record of 77-10-3 with 47 knockouts, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2022.

The record

• Also known as: James Nathaniel Toney, Lights Out, James 'Lights Out' Toney

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0485. Firsts disposition: no first is claimed; the Hall's distinctions carried are the two Ring Fighter of the Year awards thirteen years apart (1991, 2003) and the 2003 Fight of the Year / Comeback of the Year pairing, all attributed. Contested disposition: Toney's February 8, 1992 split-decision retention against Dave Tiberi was widely scored for Tiberi (BoxRec: 'Many people thought Tiberi was robbed'); the official decision stands and the fight is not carried in the description — it is flagged here so the AAES entry can carry it with attribution if the head wishes. A second variance: one BoxRec revision line misdates the Barkley title win to February 13, 1992; the same page's succession box and the standard record give February 13, 1993, which this record carries. Identity, stated plainly: this record is James Nathaniel Toney of Grand Rapids only — titles at middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight as the Hall states them, a heavyweight campaign without a heavyweight title, and nothing borrowed from any other fighter's record (his 1994 loss was to Roy Jones Jr.; his celebrated 2003 cruiserweight win was over Vassiliy Jirov). Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Toney's is a craft record — a throwback counterpuncher who won titles across three divisions over three decades and was still beating Hall of Famers at heavyweight in his thirties. Photo: CLEARED, CC BY-SA 2.0, 2011 photograph by stoyan vassev whose Commons description identifies the subject as boxer James Toney (shot at the Agalarov Estate, Moscow).

Relationships

• Evander Holyfield — related to
  James Toney defeated Evander Holyfield at heavyweight in 2003 — the win that anchored his second Fighter of the Year honor, carried in Toney's record (International Boxing Hall of Fame). Edge emitted by the head at assembly under the packet's defining-rivalry pattern, on the lane's flagged candidacy.

Sources

• International Boxing Hall of Fame. "James Toney." IBHOF.com. Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• BoxRec. "James Toney." BoxRec.com. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)

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Record CTL-E-7101 · Combined Graph record U-07973 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 2 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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