Jones’ Speed Ends Toney’s Victory Streak : Boxing: Challenger wins the IBF super-middleweight championship by a unanimous decision.

LAS VEGAS —  At the end, James Toney was swollen, exhausted and dazed, limping around the ring. Speed kills.

For 12 punishing rounds, Roy Jones Jr. used his quick hands to slash and rock Toney at will for an unexpectedly dominant victory by unanimous decision in front of 8,520 at the MGM Grand Garden Friday night.

Afterward, Jones, who won Toney’s International Boxing Federation super-middleweight title and gave Toney his first professional defeat, did not lay claim to the title of best pound-for-pound fighter in the world--mostly because everyone else already had conceded it to him.

“My hands were so fast, my feet were so quick, that all I had to do was box,” Jones said. “To use my foot and hand speed was to give myself the edge.”

And as he stood propped on the throne, the 25-year-old Jones made sure to keep boxing’s high powers just as off-balance as he had kept Toney by emphasizing that, though Bob Arum promoted this fight, no single promoter held him under sway.

“My promoter? I don’t know. Arum, (Don) King, whoever,” Jones said with a smile.

Jones is the one who pushed for this bout to be put on pay-per-view, risking a $4.5-million combined purse for the chancy prospects of pay-per-view revenue. But for Jones, from Pensacola, Fla., the outcome was never at risk from the opening bell.

Jones’ left hook found Toney early and often--knocking him down in the third--and Jones’ footwork rendered Toney’s trademark inside attack moot and mute.

For most of the bout, Jones (27-0) put together blinding five- and six-punch flurries at moments of his own choosing. Toney appeared to be dazed by a combination that ended with a short right in the second, then went down in the third after taunting Jones and catching a Jones left on the chin.

Toney wobbled backward with the blow, then appeared to be pushed backward into his own corner and was up quickly. But though he wasn’t hurt by the knockdown, Toney clearly was struggling.

According to CompuBox statistics, Jones landed 263 power punches--more than 150 more than those landed by Toney (44-1-2).

No judge gave Toney more than three rounds--John Stewart had it 119-108, Glen Hamada 117-110, and Jerry Roth 118-109.

“What can I say, he lost the fight,” said Toney’s trainer, Bill Miller. “(Jones did) nothing unusual; it was nothing we didn’t expect.”

Said Toney: “Roy Jones did a great job of running away from me. He kept running the whole fight.”

Toney, who was over 200 pounds before he began training for this fight, was upbeat after the defeat. He said that he had simply grown out of the 168-pound division and that it was past time for him to move up to light-heavyweight.

“I just couldn’t get off,” said Toney, who weighed 182 hours before the fight after making 167 for Thursday’s weigh-in. “I felt sluggish because of my weight loss--drained a little, I guess. I’ll never fight at 168 again.

“I’m a true champ, I’ll be back.”

Jones, who gave up his IBF middleweight title and moved up eight pounds to challenge Toney, said he knew Toney wouldn’t be able to keep up with his pace.

“I knew he’d struggle to come down when he was 200,” Jones said.

Toney’s best opportunity came in the fifth round, when the two fighters began the final minute in the middle of the ring, trading bombs. Jones started it with a hard left hook-right-left hook combination, and Toney answered with a hard right to the chin that shook Jones.

“I was never in trouble,” Jones said, “but Toney’s got some strong punches, and you could feel the power of his punches because he’s a strong puncher, a very strong puncher.

“But I was taught to counter.”

Jones ended the exchange with another sizzling combination that sent Toney backward. Toney rallied in the round’s final moments with a fancy, spinning left to the jaw, but Jones was unhurt.

By the seventh, Toney looked unsure. And though it was Jones’ durability and endurance that was questioned before this fight, it was Toney who seemed to wear down under the barrage.

Toney hunted for the knockout he needed, but never scored with a punch that had Jones close to toppling.

In the eighth, Jones opened up with more than 20 unanswered shots. Toney looked ready to rally at the end of the round, but referee Richard Steele stepped in prematurely for the second time in the fight, mistaking the 10-second warning for the bell.

By the ninth, Jones had begun to flash around the ring--keeping well away from danger but dancing in with brief flurries and moving out before Toney could pull the trigger.

When the bell rang to end the fight, Jones was carried into the air by his trainer. Toney raised his arms, but he was alone, and obviously tired.

Jones began his big night in odd fashion--he sat ringside for an earlier fight on the card to cheer on stablemate Derrick Gainer, who lost a decision to Roberto Garcia.

Then, when it was his turn in the spotlight, Jones ambled into the ring wearing a white tuxedo and tails, gesturing with his hips right before climbing through the ropes.

Before anyone else, he knew it was time to celebrate.

Boxing Notes

In other bouts of interest, Roberto Garcia (17-0,13 KOs) of Oxnard scored a decision victory against Derrick Gainer (12-3,6 KOs) in a featherweight match, and Danny Romero (21-0, 19 KOs) of Albuquerque retained his North American Boxing super-flyweight tile with a first-round knockout victory over Domingo Sosa (26-4, 18 KOs).