Heavyweight Champ Lends Support
Heavyweight champion James “Lights Out” Toney (74-7-3, 45 KOs) came out to join the sold-out crowd at last night’s lively “Mixed Combats” show held at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. The inaugural event hosted by All Star Promotions and Square Ring Promotions showcased boxing, Muay Thai and MMA.
As SoCal fans witnessed plenty of bloodsport action in the Grand Ballroom, fans also got a chance to meet Toney, who has fought the likes of Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman, Sam Peter, Mike McCallum, John Ruiz, Roy Jones Jr. and more in his 84 pro fights. And the 43-year-old has not hung up his gloves just yet. He beat Bobby Gunn in April of this year for a vacant IBU title. The boxer has also held various world title belts through the years including the WBC, IBF, IBO, WBO NABO, USBA championships.
While catching up with the San Fernando Valley puncher, James told me he’s still in the gym training. He was hoping to fight this month and will now look for a match in the future. As his critics continuously call for his retirement, the prizefighter says he still wants to lace up.
During the night, Toney was introduced to the audience, which was filled with many boxing luminaries, local fighters, contenders and MMA stars. There was also a trio of brunette beauties new to the scene. Kelly Nishimoto and her Play-Lounge-Sleep Team had the crowd on their feet as the ring card girls strutted their stuff in between rounds.
There were a couple of boxing matches that were also featured during the bash. Local fighters squaring off were Peter Haro vs. Elliot Seymour and Robert “Scrappy” Ortiz vs. Manuel Delcid. Haro made his successful debut beating Seymour with a unanimous decision from the judges. Peter went full-blast at the game Seymour as the crowd cheered for the foes’ non-stop action center ring. Delcid upset the hometown hero Ortiz with a second-round KO win after referee Jack Reiss stopped the bout. Up until the time of stoppage, fans had “Scrappy” ahead in the battle.
Check out big game James at the “Mixed Combats” show along with some bonus photos from the evening.
See you at the fights!
Photos by Michele Chong
