Former boxing world champion James Toney has claimed Randy Couture retired from combat sports to avoid a boxing match against him.

In the modern era there’s a pretty substantial movement that’s been ongoing for years now regarding crossover fights. Whether it be MMA fighters heading over to boxing or vice versa, we’ve seen an increase in athletes wanting to test themselves outside the limits of what they initially trained to do.

Back in 2010, we saw a big example of this when James Toney, a former three-weight boxing champion, came to the UFC and faced off against Randy Couture. The bout went as many had predicted it would with Couture taking Toney to the ground and submitting him in the first round.

As it turns out, though, Toney and Couture were reportedly scheduled to meet in a rematch – this time in the squared circle. In a recent interview, Toney explained why he believes that didn’t happen.

“I knew he was scared when the fight was made,” Toney said. “Randy is a great fighter in MMA. We had made a deal that we do one fight MMA and one fight boxing. But of course, after he beat me, he retires. What kind of shit is that? That’s a coward move, I lost a lot of respect for him. He retired a week later. The bad thing about it is I made more money than he did. I offered to pay him more money for the boxing than he made with the fight with me.”

Quotes via MMA News

Do you believe that Randy Couture retired in order to avoid fighting James Toney in a boxing match? If it had happened, would Toney have easily beaten Couture and levelled their series up at 1-1? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments, BJPENN Nation!