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April 26th, 2003. James “Lights Out” Toney took on the undefeated reigning IBF Cruiserweight Champion “The Tiger” Vassily Jirov in a bid to become Triple Crown World Champion in his 72nd professional bout.
Prefight records; Toney 65(42)-4-2, Jirov 31(27)-0.
In June 1999, Jirov lifted the IBF Cruiserweight Title via TKO7 over Arthur Williams and successfully retained his title 6x between February 2000 & February 2002.
For his 7th defense, he was up against the 15 year veteran James Toney who made his Cruiserweight debut back in December 1995 where he captured the WBU Continental Cruiserweight Title via KO2 over Greg Everett.
In August 2002, Toney defeated Jason Robinson via KO7 in an IBF Cruiserweight Title Eliminator to earn the right to fight for the IBF Cruiserweight Championship against the unbeaten Kazakhstani southpaw.
Entering his 1st world title opportunity at Cruiserweight, the 34 year old Toney who was the former IBF Middleweight & IBF Super Middleweight Champion had notable wins over the likes of Adolpho Washington, Reggie Johnson, Tim Littles, Tony Thornton, Freddie Delgado, Glenn Wolfe, Doug DeWitt, Saul Montana, Steve Little, Charles Williams, Merqui Sosa, Francesco Dell'Aquila, Iran Barkley, Michael Nunn, Anthony Hembrick (2x) & Mike McCallum (2x).
On the other hand, the 29 year old Jirov had triumphs over top oppositions in Adolpho Washington, Arthur Williams, Jorge Fernando Castro, Saul Montana, Dale Brown & Julian Letterlough.
Toney and Jirov produced a Cruiserweight classic where dazzling boxing skills, crafts and resilience were showcased in a battle filled with plenty of infighting and combination punching through 36 action-packed minutes.
In round 1, Jirov set the pace as the aggressor by dispensing at a high output upstairs and downstairs while Toney often counter-punched on his backfoot and fought off the ropes.
In round 2, Jirov was warned twice for hitting Toney below the beltline.
In round 3, Toney was clocked with a low blow that caused him to take a knee thus referee Steve Smoger called for a 5-minute break and warned Jirov that he will be penalized if he repeats the same infraction.
In round 8, JIrov was deducted a point after several warnings for punches south of the border.
In round 10, Toney wobbled Jirov with a left hook 5 seconds before the bell after getting the better of most of the exchanges in an explosive stanza.
In round 11, Jirov shook Toney with a right hook and landed the more effective punches in yet another amazing round.
In round 12, both traded ferociously despite being exhausted from the furious pace in one of the most memorable finales in the history of world title fights. Ultimately, the edge went to Toney who hurt Jirov a number of times before scoring a knockdown with a 4-punch salvo set up with a left hook to the liver with less than 20 seconds to go.
The gutsy Kazakhstani somehow made it to the final bell in a tremendous display of determination.
After 12 unforgettable rounds, James Toney was crowned the new IBF Cruiserweight Champion via UD12 to become the 25th Triple Crown World Champion in boxing history.
As for Vassily Jirov, it was the 1st setback in his 32 fight career.
However, the scores of 116-110 & 117-109 (2x) by the 3 judges were in no way an accurate reflection of the boxing brilliance and bravery showcased by both fighters in one of the Greatest Cruiserweight Fights of All Time.
James Toney vs Vassily Jirov was elected as Fight of the Year 2003 by the BWAA.
Here are 10 more notable Cruiserweight bouts;
1) David Haye vs. Jean Marc Mormeck
2) Lee Roy Murphy vs. Chisanda Mutti
3) Marco Huck vs. Krzysztof Glowacki
4) Guillermo Jones vs. Denis Lebedev
5) Yoan Pablo Hernandez vs. Troy Ross
6) Steve Cunningham vs. Marco Huck
7) Vassily Jirov vs. Julian Letterlough
8) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk vs. Rakhim Chakhkiev
9) Tomasz Adamek vs. Steve Cunningham I
10 ) Evander Holyfield vs. Dwight Muhammad Qawi I
Enjoy this highlight of a TACTICAL MASTERPIECE by 2 ring elites and remember to SUBSCRIBE for boxing awesomeness!
