What is James Toney's Net Worth?
James Toney is a retired American professional boxer who has a net worth of $2 million. During his career, which lasted from 1988 to 2017, James Toney held multiple world titles in three weight classes, including the IBF middleweight, super middleweight, and cruiserweight titles. Toney also claimed numerous WBU, WBA, and WBF titles in various weight classes. Toney holds notable victories over Michael Nunn, Reggie Johnson, Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley, Charles Williams, Vassiliy Jirov, Evander Holyfield and Fres Oquendo.
Career Earnings and Biggest Purses
During his boxing career James Toney earned at least $10 million from purses and Pay Per View bonuses. His most notable known purses (without PPV bonuses) are:
- James Toney vs. Evander Holyfield (2003) – In this fight, Toney was reportedly paid around $2 million. Toney defeated Holyfield by TKO in the ninth round.
- James Toney vs. Samuel Peter (2006) – For the first fight against Peter, Toney is estimated to have made around $1 million. The fight ended in a controversial split decision win for Peter.
- James Toney vs. Samuel Peter II (2007) – For their rematch, Toney's purse was again around $1 million. Peter won the rematch by unanimous decision.
Early Life
James Toney was born on August 24, 1968 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He had a difficult life growing up, as his father, a boxer, was absent. Toney turned to street fighting and selling crack cocaine as a teenager. He found early success in high school as a star football player, and was offered football scholarships from Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan. Toney ultimately declined the offers, as he felt he wasn't a good team player and that boxing would better suit him.
Middleweight
After a relatively brief but successful amateur career, Toney had his first professional fight in late 1988, defeating Stephen Lee. He went on to have an unbroken winning streak throughout 1989, defeating such opponents as Carl Penn, Sammy Jenkins, Steve Chaney, Lemark Davis, Ricardo Simpson, and Joe Johnson. In 1990, he won all of his fights except for two that ended in draws. Toney's greatest career success yet came in May of 1991 when he won the IBF and lineal middleweight titles by knocking out Michael Nunn. He continued to fight at middleweight for the next year and a half, successfully defending his title. Some of his defenses, however, were controversial, such as his split-decision victory over Dave Tiberi. Toney made his final defense of the middleweight title against Mike McCallum in late 1992, winning by majority decision.
Super Middleweight
Moving up weight classes, Toney faced Iran Barkley for the IBF super middleweight title in early 1993. He won the title in dominating fashion, and made his first successful defense against Tony Thornton later in the year. Toney then successfully defended the title against Tom Littles and Charles Williams, before losing to the undefeated Roy Jones Jr. in 1994, his first career loss.
Light Heavyweight
Toney first competed at light heavyweight against Montell Griffin in early 1995, in a loss. A little later in the year, he won the USBA light heavyweight title by beating Anthony Hembrick. Toney subsequently won the WBU light heavyweight title by defeating Freddie Delgado via TKO. He successfully defended the title against Ernest Mateen, Earl Butler, and Duran Williams before falling once again to Montell Griffin in late 1996.
Cruiserweight
Going up against Mike McCallum in early 1997, Toney won the vacant WBU cruiserweight title. That June, he claimed the vacant IBO cruiserweight title by defeating Steve Little. Toney spent the subsequent years defeating such former title holders and title contenders as Adolpho Washington, Ramón Garbey, Saul Montana, and Michael Rush. Finally, in 2003, he won the IBF cruiserweight title by defeating Vassiliy Jirov. Toney went on to compete at heavyweight for the next seven years. He came back down to cruiserweight in late 2011, and lost to Denis Lebedev.
Holly Stein/ Getty Images Sport
Heavyweight
Toney made his auspicious entrance into the heavyweight division when he beat Evander Holyfield in October of 2003. A couple years later, he won the WBA heavyweight title after defeating John Ruiz. However, Toney was later stripped of the title after failing his post-fight drug test. He went on to beat Dominic Guinn and come to a draw against Hasim Rahman for the WBC heavyweight title. Toney's next two fights were losses to Samual Peter. In late 2008, he won a split decision over Fres Oquendo, and in 2009 beat Matthew Greer via TKO. He didn't fight again until early 2011, when he beat Damon Reed by unanimous decision. The following year, Toney defeated Bobby Gunn for the vacant IBU heavyweight title. In 2013, he lost to Lucas Browne for the WBF heavyweight title. Toney had his final fight in May of 2017, when he won the WBF heavyweight title by defeating Mike Sheppard.
Mixed Martial Arts
Beyond the boxing ring, Toney had a very brief stint as an MMA fighter. Coached by trainer Juanito Ibarra, and later by Trevor Sherman, he made his debut against Randy Couture at UFC 118 in August of 2010. Ultimately, Toney lost via submission, and was subsequently released from his contract by the UFC. The match was heavily criticized for being a freak show fight, including by UFC president Dana White.
Film Career
In 2001, Toney appeared in Michael Mann's biographical sports film "Ali," starring Will Smith as the titular boxer Muhammad Ali. Toney portrayed rival boxer Joe Frazier in the film.
