It began as Hagler-Duran (a forgotten classic) and ended as Chavez-Taylor (a remembered one). In between it was the second greatest cruiserweight fight of all-time. James Toney-Vassiliy Jirov is now, and will still be come December 31st, the 2003 fight of the year.

	Toney emerged the champ in his toughest fight in years.

As expected, Jirov pressed the action. His 12-round body assault would have folded most fighters who ever laced 'em up. As expected, Toney countered Jirov with vicious, pinpoint lefts and rights upstairs and down. As expected, Toney's pride swelled even as (or was it because?) his face and body did the same. Not that he was grotesquely swollen or anything, but afterwards, you could tell by looking that Toney had been in a real fight. Jirov looked worse.

James "Lights Out" Toney is the best cruiserweight in the world. There can no longer be any question that he is a legitimately great fighter, and should be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

"I want people to talk about me the way they talk about Sugar Ray Robinson. I'll fight anyone, anytime, anywhere. Hopefully guys like you will make me a first ballot Hall of Famer," Toney told me after the fight.

Barely closer to 30 than he is to 40, Toney beat an undefeated-and-in-his-prime 29-year-old former Olympic gold medalist, with a 31-0 (27) pro record, and the top spot in the 190-pound Ring Magazine rankings. Jirov did not simply win the Gold in '96 - he won the Val Barker award as the outstanding fighter of those games, which is tantamount to being called the best amateur, pound for pound, in the world.

In turning back the relentless Jirov attack, Toney relied as much on his legendary toughness and unbreakable will as he did on his old-school boxing skills. In the 12th round, after Jirov rose from a dramatic knockdown and looked ready to fall again, Toney couldn't finish the job. It looked as though Toney could barely move his arms.

Was this the toughest fight of his career?

"Iran Barkley was tougher - stronger, but it's close between Jirov and Mike McCallum."

Was he as tired as he's ever been?

"No, it wasn't that I was that tired, it was that the ring was wet and I couldn't get my feet under me to punch."

While it is true that he slipped on the wet canvass more than once, it sure looked like Toney was totally exhausted at fight's end. It was a truly great, epic battle. As late as the ninth round, it was difficult to even interpret the story of the fight. Were Jirov's body shots writing the story, or would Toney's counters decide the narrative? Whose story would it turn out to be?

"I'll tell you the truth, I felt him a couple of times in the body. He's the second best cruiserweight in the world by far. He'd beat those other guys easily. I take nothing away from him. But I'm a great body puncher. You see the body shot at the end of the fight that set up the knockdown? He is a good body puncher, I'm a great one."

Going into he 12th and final round, most ringside observers felt the fight was very close. Toney's right hand, which had rocked Jirov throughout the fight, finally put him down and nearly out with little time left in the fight. Though Jirov barely survived, it seemed that the knockdown sealed the deal - Toney had won. The judges scorecards were unanimous and lopsided and the feeling around ringside was that the wide margins of the scores indicated that the decision had been given to Jirov. It was Jirov after all, who appeared to have won most of the early rounds. So when Toney was announced the winner, there was a sense of disbelief - surely Jirov had won more rounds than the judges gave him credit for - but more importantly, there was a sense of relief. Whether the scorecards were on the money or not, the right guy got the nod.

So how much time does James Toney have left? What else does he want to do? Who are his money fights?

"I want to fight another two or three years, another six fights, more or less. I'll fight anyone. I'll take Roy Jones at 190 or at heavyweight. I'll fight Chris Byrd, whoever."

In his incredible 15-year career, Toney holds a knockout win over the then-undefeated and top pound for pound fighter Michael Nunn, two wins in three fights against Hall of Famer Mike McCallum, a knockout over multi-division champ Iran Barkley, and now a win in a historically great fight over Vassiliy Jirov. At one moment or another in his career, Toney has been the best fighter in the middleweight, super middleweight and now cruiserweight divisions. He is a living, fighting boxing treasure - a combination of skill and toughness the likes of which old-timers claim no longer exist.

"I haven't been motivated to be at my best in a long time. I needed to be woken up. I knew I had to bring my 'A' game to beat Jirov. I brought my 'A-' game and it was enough. But I can be better than I was against Jirov."

It says here that James Toney is the favorite against any non-heavyweight in the world, and is as of right now, the most logical Roy Jones opponent not named Mike Tyson. After spending the better part of a decade in less-than-perfect shape, beating second-tier world class fighters, Toney is on top again. It's good to have him back.

Max Kellerman is a studio analyst for ESPN2's Friday Night Fights and the host of the show Around The Horn.