[D-MARV]

Goossen Tutor Promotions was informed today by Dr. Doug Frankel that heavyweight Tony 'The Tiger' Thompson is suffering from acute bronchitis and was given immediate orders to stay out of the gym and subsequently his plans to enter the ring next weekend (December 13) at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa to face three-time world champion, James Toney, (70-6-3, 43 KOs) in a scheduled twelve-rounder.Upon receiving the news, Goossen Tutor Promotions matchmaker, Tom Brown acted quickly and replaced Thompson, with former world title challenger, Fres 'The Big O' Oquendo (29-4, 18 KOs). "I was training for a fight that was recently cancelled, and when I was informed that I had the chance to fight Toney, there was zero hesitation," said an elated Oquendo. "This was the opportunity I was looking for. It gets me right back into a position to challenge for a World Title." The second featured televised bout will showcase 2004 Olympic gold medalist and WBO #4/WBC #5 super middleweight Andre Ward (16-0, 11 KOs) in a ten-rounder against Estaban 'Rocky' Camou (23-4, 19 KOs).

Good thing for Toney! this is a more winnable fight for him.

[BrutalBodyShots]

I feel like I have not seen Oquendo fight in years.

[Big Slim Sweet]

Good thing for Toney! this is a more winnable fight for him.

Much more winnable.

[JonnyBlaze]

I'm glad Oquendo got this fight..I know hes been training for a fight for a while now since I last talked to him..Oquendo is in shape all the time,he's lookin real trim these days..I think he'll put it to Toney pretty good..This is a weird match up though style wise..

[The Ollie Reed F...]

I'm glad Oquendo got this fight..I know hes been training for a fight for a while now since I last talked to him..Oquendo is in shape all the time,he's lookin real trim these days..I think he'll put it to Toney pretty good..This is a weird match up though style wise..

Yes very interesting fight Jonny. To me where Fres falls down is the mental aspect, I'm not sure he's got a big fight mentality. To me this is an area where James has a significant advantage and can take Fres out of his gameplan.

I'll take James by UD (hell he's not gonna get the knockout is he.)

[JonnyBlaze]

One of the best ways I think this fight could be best described would be Byrd/Oquendo..Although Byrd had more speed than Toney does now..The reason I compare this to that fight is because of defense for the most part and counter punching..Byrd and Toney are 2 of the best defensive fighters ever at heavyweight..Fres has the speed to get in a couple more shots than normal heavyweights would on both these guys..Toney's stamina hasn't been too great these days and I know Fres will be able to be able to keep a pace through out the whole fight..Like I said,Fres is looking trim these days and to think he is going into a serious camp on top of where he is at now,he'll look extremely good..When I first met Fres I was shocked cause I weigh 210 and he looked about the same as I did and he weighed like 220-230..I just hope Fres doesn't get robbed if he really wins this fight like he did against Byrd..

Toney should have 1 main focus for this fight like he should for every fight,get in serious shape..I want him at 220..Not gonna happen,but we can hope..If he can get in serious shape,he has the opportunity to bring major noise to the heavyweight division even at his age..We all see the future as grim for him but if he gets in shape,he is opening everything up..If Toney is in shape,I only see the Klitchkos beating him at heavyweight..I think Toney would whoop Valuev really really bad if he was in top shape..

[The Ollie Reed F...]

One of the best ways I think this fight could be best described would be Byrd/Oquendo..Although Byrd had more speed than Toney does now..The reason I compare this to that fight is because of defense for the most part and counter punching..Byrd and Toney are 2 of the best defensive fighters ever at heavyweight..Fres has the speed to get in a couple more shots than normal heavyweights would on both these guys..Toney's stamina hasn't been too great these days and I know Fres will be able to be able to keep a pace through out the whole fight..Like I said,Fres is looking trim these days and to think he is going into a serious camp on top of where he is at now,he'll look extremely good..When I first met Fres I was shocked cause I weigh 210 and he looked about the same as I did and he weighed like 220-230..I just hope Fres doesn't get robbed if he really wins this fight like he did against Byrd..

Toney should have 1 main focus for this fight like he should for every fight,get in serious shape..I want him at 220..Not gonna happen,but we can hope..If he can get in serious shape,he has the opportunity to bring major noise to the heavyweight division even at his age..We all see the future as grim for him but if he gets in shape,he is opening everything up..If Toney is in shape,I only see the Klitchkos beating him at heavyweight..I think Toney would whoop Valuev really really bad if he was in top shape..

Yeah as I said Jonny the physical side of Fres is no concern, in fact he has enough tools to have already won a strap by now.

I question is mental ability.

Now I know you're a boxer yourself so you might argue this a bit but the maxim with most sport is that is 80% mental 20% physical. Evander is a great example of this, there were plenty of times where he just literally WILLED himself to win.

a guy like Toney, he's a natural born fighter, he bleeds boxing, now Fres I'm sure he is a very hard worker and all the rest but from what I've seen i'm not 100% convinced he has the killer instinct to get over the top.

this fight may well prove it, but I think James has too many old school tools and old school moves for Fres, especially the mental side.

We shall see, I know you'll be pulling for Fres since he's a friend but if you're being brutally honest about his career you'd have to say he hasn't delivered on his potential.

[BigG]

Toney's punches are much heavier than Byrds though

[buford54]

This has the potential to be the most boring fight of the year.
Two counter-punchers. What a barn-burner.
At this point in Toney's career, I wouldn't even call this fight a chess-match.

[D-MARV]

This has the potential to be the most boring fight of the year.
Two counter-punchers. What a barn-burner.
At this point in Toney's career, I wouldn't even call this fight a chess-match.

LOL... I was thinking the same thing!