James 'Lights Out' Toney doesn't think Muhammad Ali is the greatest boxer ever. The three-weight world champion shared his thoughts on the WiseNuts Podcast, picking Sugar Ray Robinson instead.
Toney, now 56, had a long career in boxing. He started fighting professionally in 1988 and kept going until 2017. During that time, he won 82 of his 92 fights and grabbed world titles at middleweight, super middleweight, and cruiserweight.
The Michigan native tried to win a heavyweight title too, but couldn't pull it off in 2005 and 2006. Still, he beat some big names like Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley, and Michael Nunn. His last fight was a knockout win over Mike Sheppard in his home state.
In 2022, Toney got into the Boxing Hall of Fame alongside Roy Jones Jr. and Miguel Cotto.
On the WiseNuts Podcast, Toney said:
"Ali ain't the greatest fighter of all time, when he was Cassius Clay he was great, Ali is trash. The greatest fighter of all time is Sugar Ray Robinson, that guy was beautiful he fought beautiful. Ali wanted to be him, that was Ali's idol, Ali tried to fight like him but he couldn't do it."
Sugar Ray Robinson had a huge career. He fought 201 times as a pro and won 174 of those fights. He got world titles in two weight classes and knocked out over 100 opponents during his 25-year run.
Robinson died in 1989 after dealing with Alzheimer's Disease for a long time. Many people think he's one of the best, if not the best, boxer ever.
Toney's view goes against what a lot of people think. Millions of boxing fans see Muhammad Ali as the greatest. But Toney says Ali was only great when he was called Cassius Clay, and after that, he wasn't as good.
