Kimbo Slice Will Not Fight James Toney

Since the signing of one time heavyweight boxing champ James Toney (0-0) rumors have been swirling about his potential opponent. The one fighter talked about the most was Kimbo Slice (4-1) and we now that he will not be fighting James Toney anytime soon.

Slice had been slated to fight Matt Mitrione (1-0) at UFC 113 but many speculated that Kimbo would fight Toney in the street brawler versus pro boxer math-up since the Slice and Mitrione fight was not on the official fight card for UFC 113 at UFC.com. Well, let’s put that baby to rest as that fight is now official for UFC 113 on May 8 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

UFC 113 is a card headlined by the rematch between Fighters.com and UFC light heavyweight champion “The Dragon” Lyoto Machida (16-0) and third-ranked “Shogun” Mauricio Rua (18-4). The first fight between these two took place at UFC 104.

This will give Canada their first live look at Kimbo Slice and leaves James Toney without an opponent at this time. This is something I am glad to see from the UFC.

Never did I want Kimbo to fight James Toney because I felt it was a fight tailored made for Toney to win. I feel the best thing to do is put him in against a more well rounded fighter to show the world just how tough it can be for a pure boxer in the sport of mixed martial arts. I am not saying they should make sure Toney loses but I do feel they have done the right thing by not giving him a tailored made win.

The one issue I have with Toney using his boxing in the UFC is that he is mainly a defensive striker that likes to lay back on the ropes and draw his opponent in to him so that he can then hit him with the stunning power he has. This “lazy” style of boxing will not work in the UFC inside the Octagon. He will have to change his game up completely so feed him a guy that has decent leg kicks and take downs to see just how serious he is taking this sport.