Rumble On The Riverbank: Michael Nunn vs. James Toney

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Rumble On The Riverbank: Michael Nunn vs. James Toney
Fan Rating: 
0
Your rating: None
4.46154
Average: 4.5 (13 votes)

Date: 
Friday, May 10, 1991
Location: 
Davenport, IA
Rounds Scheduled: 
12
Contracted Weight: 
160
Titles at Stake: 
IBF Middleweight Championship
Referee: 
Nelson

Official Judging
Bob Watson 99 - 91
Dalby Shirley 98 - 92
Gary Merritt 97 - 93

More:

Michael Nunn

James Toney



Fight Notes: 

James Toney travels to Quad Cities to take on IBF Middleweight Champion Michael Nunn in the champion's backyard. Hopelessly behind on points, Toney floors Nunn with a huge left hook in the eleventh round. Nunn valiantly beats the count but is hammered to the canvas once more by Toney's right hand. Referee Denny Nelson stops the fight as Nunn's corner throws in the towel, crowning Toney champion.




Fan Cards: Rumble On The Riverbank: Michael Nunn vs. James Toney


scorecard by JB7
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
9
10
9
9
9
96
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
10
9
10
10
10
94


scorecard by TUXTUCIS
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
9
9
10
10
9
10
10
9
9
10
95
JAMES TONEY
10
10
9
9
10
9
9
10
10
9
95


scorecard by MUSHAVR96
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93


scorecard by POWERPUNCHER999
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
9
10
9
9
9
96
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
10
9
10
10
10
94


scorecard by MAGIC MAN
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
9
10
10
9
10
9
9
9
95
JAMES TONEY
9
9
10
9
9
10
9
10
10
10
95


scorecard by TREY813
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
9
10
10
10
9
10
10
9
9
9
95
JAMES TONEY
10
9
9
9
10
9
9
10
10
10
95


scorecard by METALHEAD123
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
9
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
96
JAMES TONEY
10
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
94


scorecard by VC1088
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
9
10
10
10
9
10
10
9
9
9
95
JAMES TONEY
10
9
9
9
10
9
9
10
10
10
95


scorecard by DOCSCORER
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
9
10
10
9
10
9
10
9
10
96
JAMES TONEY
9
10
9
9
10
9
10
9
10
9
94


scorecard by JAKAJAKA
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
9
10
9
10
10
9
10
9
9
10
95
JAMES TONEY
10
9
10
9
9
10
9
10
10
9
95


scorecard by THEUNDEFEATED
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
9
9
10
9
9
9
95
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
10
10
9
10
10
10
95


scorecard by AJPENA
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93


scorecard by SALTNUTZ1
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
9
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
96
JAMES TONEY
10
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
94


scorecard by CHRIS M95
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93


scorecard by THEALTERPLACE
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
9
10
19
JAMES TONEY
10
9
19


scorecard by PHILLYPHAN69
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93


scorecard by MARK ELDING
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
10
94


scorecard by ENDOFME1994
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
9
10
9
10
9
9
9
95
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
10
9
10
9
10
10
10
95


scorecard by GOLD
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93


scorecard by WHAT_IS_THE_DEFAULT_PASSWORD
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
9
10
9
10
9
10
10
9
9
10
95
JAMES TONEY
10
9
10
9
10
9
10
10
10
9
96


scorecard by KMSCR83
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93


scorecard by BOXING KNOWLEDGE
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93


scorecard by TALESFROMTHECRYPT
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93


scorecard by COREY WILLINGER
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93


scorecard by RORSCHACH
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93


scorecard by NICK_FOXX
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
MICHAEL NUNN
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
9
9
9
97
JAMES TONEY
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
93




Comments

rorschach's picture

rorschach

Mon, 2012-09-24 06:51

Time for the unappreciated greatness of James Toney!

rorschach's picture

rorschach

Mon, 2012-09-24 08:00

Great fight!

Corey Willinger's picture

Corey Willinger

Tue, 2015-06-30 13:01

This was called "The Rumble On The Riverbank." You can see the poster if you Google Image search it.

what_is_the_default_password's picture

what_is_the_def...

Fri, 2017-12-01 23:28

An entertaining back-and-forth fight between two stylists, a real joy to watch.

Some bizarre things happened in this fight though, I think it was round 8 where Nunn was at the corner and Toney was stalking towards him when Nunn suddenly shouted at Toney to 'stop'. Nunn appeared to have stepped on a puddle of water at the corner, and Toney ACTUALLY STOPPED. Nunn looked as if he tapped his feet on the canvas and then they resumed fighting. When most boxers would not even obey the referee's instructions Toney actually listened to his opponent!

There was another 'holy shit' moment in this fight where Toney was on the verge of pummeling and pushing Nunn of the ropes. Nunn had his upper body almost entirely over the ropes, Toney had his left pinned to Nunn's chest and his right raised so high as if he was going to deliver Zeus' own thunder.

Another almost-bizarre sight is James Toney himself, looking incredibly slim. He had that 'lean and hungry look' of Cassius, befitting his status as a challenger. His manager rented a house outside the city for Toney just to keep Toney off Burger King as Toney trained. This was a young Toney who looked as fit as a fiddle instead of a sumo wrestler.

Nunn himself looked funny too, what a gigantic middleweight!

what_is_the_default_password's picture

what_is_the_def...

Fri, 2017-12-01 23:41

A pervasive myth surrounding this fight is that Nunn was schooling or dominating Toney until Toney landed a Hail Mary left hook.

Having watched this fight yesterday I feel this could not be further from the truth, Nunn was leading on the hometown scorecards but Toney made the fight very competitive. Toney was young and relatively inexperienced indeed but he already displayed a versatile defense, good counter-punching and a solid inside-game. Toney landed so many good body-shots throughout the fight, which wore Nunn down and ultimately enabled that knockout win. Meanwhile Toney protected himself well, his shell shielded many body blows and his elusive head ensured he rarely took a hard,clean hit. This knockout was no fluke, it was the natural result of Toney being the better fighter. In fact, I have Toney leading by 1-point before the knockout.

Of course, you can reasonably argue Nunn was ahead before the knockout, but certainly not by any wide margins. Which is why I am surprised the other scorecards here seem to perpetuate the myth.

RobotBoy

Sun, 2023-06-04 19:35

100% accurate.
Nunn didn't do himself any favors by acting like he was invincible and fighting Toney's fight much of the way.
I think some of Toney's wild misses, along with Nunn's pitty-pat combos, swayed a lot of viewers. Then there's the fact that it often looks like Toney's getting hit when he's actually catching punches on his shoulders and gloves. (A problem for him with scoring throughout his career). Finally, Toney throws many short, accurate punches on the inside, often to the body, that are easily overlooked. That too plagued him on scorecards.

craftycounter

Thu, 2021-05-06 08:39

Good comments. Two of my favorite fighters. I used to go watch Nunn in his hometown late in his career and even then he had the fastest hands I've ever seen in a boxing ring. I think people forget how great his footwork and handspeed was.

I will disagree that 160 was a good weight for Toney, in fact he never had any business even fighting at this weight in my opinion. I believe he played high school football at 200+ then cut down to 160-168-174 to box. He was always simply weight drained at this weight, in fact I would argue he was most effective around 180-190 where he wasn't drained and still maintained his hand speed and strength.

The fight was close, I do believe Nunn was ahead but you're right, Toney deserved credit for the body work...but, boy oh boy what a knockout. Toney stepped up when he needed to and changed the course of both men's careers.

RobotBoy

Sun, 2023-06-04 19:39

I agree about Toney at 160. His sluggish performances in the later part of his middleweight career stemmed from that, Roy Jones being the premium example. I do think that he probably could have stayed at 168 or 175 - if you can make 160 at any point, than 175 is plenty realistic. But having been 200 lbs. as a fit teenager might have made it impossible long term.