The left hook JAMES TONEY used last year to dethrone MICHAEL NUNN as the International Boxing Federation middleweight champion shocked more than the previously undefeated Nunn and his hometown fans in Davenport, Iowa. It also stunned the nation's boxing writers, who had somehow missed the promise Toney had shown in knocking out JOSE LUIS ESTEVEN a year earlier and his continued development under his manager, JACKIE KALLEN.
Caught unaware, the writers covering the fight had to ask Toney to hold a special interview session so they could catch up on biographical details of the fighter from Ann Arbor, Mich.
Since that victory, ever after referred to as "the shocking upset," Toney has defeated challengers REGGIE JOHNSON and FRANCESCO DELL'AQUILLA and survived a disputed draw with MIKE McCALLUM, bringing his record to 30-0-2 with 20 knockouts.
On Friday, amid evidence that the boxing writers are still reeling from that title-claiming left hook, Toney won another victory, this time over such boxing notables as TERRY NORRIS, JAMES (BUDDY) MCGIRT, PERNELL WHITAKER and RAY MERCER.
At the 67th annual dinner of the Boxing Writers Association of America, Toney was named the fighter of the year.