Toney, McCallum Meet Again : Boxing: The IBF middleweight championship is at stake for fighters who blended skill and power in their first bout.

They are going to try to pull off a replay of what many considered the 1991 “fight of the year” here tonight.

But if you watched James Toney and Mike McCallum in their match last Dec. 13, you have to wonder if such a thing is possible. In Atlantic City, N.J., they fought like gladiators for 12 rounds for Toney’s piece of the middleweight championship.

It came out a draw when McCallum, who had had a slight lead on two judges’ cards before the 12th round, faltered.

Seldom in recent years have two boxers blended in one bout the art and science of boxing with strength, power, conditioning and courage.

Round after round, they battered each other. But there were times when they finessed one another, too.

Once, in the second round, McCallum drilled Toney with a five-punch combination to the head. But in the middle of the combination, as he was being battered himself, Toney landed a solid right hand to the side of McCallum’s head.

But that big right hand did not interrupt McCallum’s combination.

Both of these guys apparently have world-class chins.

During a 10-second span of the sixth round, Toney landed three right hands on McCallum’s chin. McCallum hardly blinked.

Tonight, in the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Toney will earn $700,000, McCallum $500,000. But no one really expects them to duplicate what they did eight months ago.

Their first bout was scheduled as a unification fight, with McCallum’s World Boxing Assn. title and Toney’s International Boxing Federation championship on the line.

But before they met, the WBA stripped McCallum because he wouldn’t pay $125,000 in step-aside money to mandatory challenger Steve Collins, a fighter McCallum had beaten. McCallum called it “extortion money” and few argued about that description.

Whatever, it was Toney’s title at stake then, as it is tonight. Toney (31-0-2) has won three times since the draw with McCallum--champions retain titles in draws--and McCallum (43-3-1) has won once.

However, one of Toney’s victories was a disputed decision over Dave Tiberi last February in Atlantic City.

Toney has defended his IBF title five times since he knocked out Michael Nunn for the championship 15 months ago. He was a 20-1 underdog that night.

McCallum, 35, is unbeaten in his last 12 bouts, or since losing a decision in Italy to Sumbu Kalambay, whom he later defeated on a decision.

He is also a former WBA light-middleweight champion and is 12-1 in championship fights.

Toney, 24, from Ann Arbor, Mich., is boxing’s angry young man.

He says he dislikes everyone in boxing and said as much when two reporters interviewed him in his hotel room this week.

One reporter asked: “James, is there anyone in this sport who you like?

He looked down and said, “Well, I guess I like you two guys.”

His manager, who has learned to roll with her fighter’s mood swings, is Jackie Kallen. The former publicist for Thomas Hearns says she spends half her time anticipating her fighter’s moods, the other half negotiating for his fights.

“James is a very moody guy, and I’ve learned to accept that, and to deal with it,” she said.

Says Toney: “It calms me down after I hit something. When I’m mad, get out of my way or suffer the consequences.”

He seemed frustrated by the McCallum match, angry that he hadn’t won and surprised that his older adversary had not come apart in their intense fight. “I was surprised he took so much,” Toney said. “He’s a tricky old guy. I learned a lot from him.”

In that fight, McCallum showed a level of conditioning that few had seen in a 35-year-old.

“It’s simple, I take care of my body,” McCallum said. “Drugs and alcohol seem to be big problems today. I’ve never had those problems.”

On the undercard tonight, No. 1-ranked IBF lightweight Freddie Pendleton (32-17-3) fights second-ranked Tracy Spann (27-1) for the IBF’s lightweight crown. They will be boxing for the title vacated by Pernell Whitaker, who moved up to light-welterweight.