By Alex Trickett

TONEY FACT FILE Born: 24/08/1968 Turned pro: 26/10/1988 Division: Heavyweight Record: 68(43)-4-2 Alias: Lights Out Height: 5ft 11in Reach: 76in Trainer: Freddie Roach Manager: Himself

James Toney's victory over John Ruiz breathes fresh life into a heavyweight division badly in need of resuscitation.

By comfortably outpointing the WBA champion, "Lights Out" became only the third man to win genuine middleweight and heavyweight crowns - a remarkable feat in any era.

And his success ensured top-weight fireworks to come because sharp-tongued Toney can be taken at his word to go after Vitali Klitschko and the other "credible" champs.

At 36, the American is still an exceptional boxer.

Toney showed trademark skill, composure and ring savvy to brush aside Ruiz and take his record to 69 wins, with four losses and two draws.

Toney had already beaten the likes of Michael Nunn, Mike McCallum, Iran Barkley and a spent Evander Holyfield before defeating Ruiz.

And he fully deserves to be acknowledged alongside Roy Jones Jr, who beat him in 1994, and 19th century British icon Bob Fitzsimmons, the other men to have excelled at both middle and heavy.

Toney is also tremendous value out of the ring, famed for his put-downs.

"If there is boxing justice, we will never see him again - I'm sure [promoter] Don King is going to throw him in the trash can where he belongs," Toney said of Ruiz after their fight.

KEY CONTESTS 10/5/1991: Wins IBF middleweight title by stopping Michael Nunn 13/2/1993: Dethrones IBF super middleweight champion Iran Barkley 18/11/1994: Loses title by decision to Roy Jones 4/10/2003: Stops a fast ageing Evander Holyfield 30/4/2005: Beats John Ruiz to win WBA heavyweight crown - subsequently called "no contest"

"I didn't expect much from him because he is an average fighter. John Ruiz is stupid. He can't change his style."

Less than gracious words but amusing and welcome in a dull heavyweight division gasping for life.

With Toney on the prowl, fight fans are likely to see at least one unification bout in the near future.

The new WBA champion has already called out WBC holder Klitschko and would fancy his chances against the smaller-framed IBF supremo Chris Byrd.

But Toney's Madison Square Garden triumph is not all good news for boxing.

The fact that he prevailed at 233lb - 76lb heavier than when he won the middleweight title from Nunn in 1991 - raises serious questions about the state of the heavyweight division.

His body weight inflated by almost 50%, "Lights Out" hardly cut a chiselled figure in New York. But neither did Ruiz.

BBC rankings Room for Toney in the top-10?

Toney will invariably have more trouble getting past the leaner and meaner Byrd and Klitschko, while WBO champion Lamon Brewster is also on the scene.

If Toney succeeds in his distant dream of unifying the titles, his achievement will go down as legend.

But he will also have proved what many fight fans fear - that the current crop is one of the worst in the history of boxing.