No disrespect to Prizefighter, but the sight of an out-of-shape James “Lights Out” Toney sharing the ring with a line-up of journeymen in the heavyweight version of the tournament at London’s York Hall was a sad reminder that time waits for no athlete — even a legitmate ring legend such as Toney.
When it comes to the fighter who stood out as the most skilled, outrageous, and memorable character I ever saw train at Freddie Roach’s Wildcard Boxing Gym in LA back in the early noughties there’s no contest.
Toney wasn’t so much a fighter as a force of nature. Whenever he arrived at the gym with his entourage of true believers the atmosphere underwent an instant and palpable change.
SYLVIA HIKINS recommends a fascinating, revealing, superbly acted evening of theatre
When Patterson and Liston met in the ring in 1962, it was more than a title bout — it was a collision of two black archetypes shaped by white America’s fears and fantasies, writes JOHN WIGHT


