LANSING, Mich., May 27 (UPI) -- Attorney General Mike Cox announced that recently crowned IBF Cruiserweight champion James Toney was arrested Tuesday at his California home for failure to pay $103,370.39 in back child support.
Toney, who was born in Grand Rapids and raised in Detroit, has a 10-year-old daughter who lives in the metro-Detroit area.
"James Toney said he was looking for a heavyweight fight, well,now he's got one," said Cox. "No parent should short-change their children, especially not when they are signing multi-million dollar sports deals."
Toney, 34, won the IBF cruiserweight title by a unanimous decision in a bout with Vassili Jirov on April 28, 2003. Late last week, Toney's promoter, Dan Goosen, announced an agreement to fight undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins for $2.5 million.
In Michigan, non-support of a child is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison. Based on a warrant issued by the Michigan Attorney General's office on March 15, Toney wasarrested at his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home earlier Tuesday morning. He is currently being held in the Twin Towers Los Angeles County Jail.
