Toney wins Split decision over Batchelder

24.05.07 - By Richard Rodriguez at ringside: James Toney (70-6-3, 43 KO's) W 70 (43 ko's) struggled tonight to win a 10-round split decision victory over journeyman fighter Danny Batchelder (25-5-1, 12 KO's) at the HP pavillion in San Jose, California. The scores were 98-92, 97-93 for Toney and 96-94 for Batchelder. The San Jose crowd, usually more accustomed hard working fighters, were none too impressed with Toney's economical, energy preserving counter punching style and let him know about it with a shower of boos for much of the bout.

Toney, 38, was far from impressive, and appeared to treat the fight as a sparring session rather than a bout to impress fans. On the other hand, Batchelder worked hard throughout, landing cleanly despite Toney's defensive work at moving his upper body to avoid punches. As was the case in his last two bouts against Samuel Peter, Toney plodded around the ring and showed zero footwork. If this bout was meant to impress, it failed to win any fans in San Jose, and me included.