Tavoris Cloud wins decision over Glen Johnson
The penultimate bout on a Saturday card in St. Louis featured Glen “Road Warrior” Johnson taking on Tavoris Cloud for the IBF light heavyweight title. Both have accomplished a great deal, but only Cloud has the excitement of a prodigious future in front of him, and it was he who emerged Saturday with a top-notch win.
Cloud (20-0, 18 KOs) had a successful amateur career before turning pro. After 18 fights, Cloud dominated veteran Julio Cesar Gonzalez in an IBF title eliminator bout, and then got his chance against Clinton Woods, which he promptly took advantage of.
While able to overcome his previous opponents, Cloud’s reputation still hinged on two key fights, and the win against Johnson further cements his talent as a legitimate world class fighter. Fans are wondering what he will pursue now, having taken a year off after his bout with Woods to flesh out business affairs and sign with Don King.
Against Johnson many anticipated a slugfest, as both fighters are known for their power and preference for trading heavy blows. It proved to be just that, with referee Steve Smoger hardly interfering at all due to the lack of clinching on both sides. But Cloud visibly appeared to be the better man, getting the heavier shots and managing to hurt Johnson a few times. Johnson is known to be an incredibly hard-to-knockout opponent, stopped just once in 66 fights, so as many expected it went to the score cards after 12 rounds.
Johnson felt that he won the fight, and did indeed fight excellently for a man of 41, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win. In total he landed 254 punches out of 883, while Cloud landed 246 in 682, racking up the higher percentage. Johnson’s best round was probably the ninth, in which he was able to unload 105 punches—unheard of for a light heavyweight, especially at his age—and initiate an attack that would eventually result in a cut over Cloud’s eye in the 10th.
As well, there was some controversy about the gloves used in the fight, since Cloud fought with a different pair than those selected at the glove meeting Saturday morning. Johnson’s promoter Leon Margules noticed the gloves were different as Cloud entered the ring, and he voiced his concerns to Missouri officials. Afterwards Margules told ESPN that the gloves will be tested to make sure they contained no illegal substances and that they were the proper weight.
With the outcome of the fight it is hard to determine what’s next for Johnson. He has proven a true boxing face and has earned some of the sport’s top names as fans. While he looked great for his age, there doesn’t seem to be many places he can go in the rankings following the defeat, given another recent loss to undefeated contender Chad Dawson.
Cloud on the other hand looks to take on Dawson, who fights Jean Pascal this weekend at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The winner of that fight would be a great prospect for Cloud, but many think he could use a few more fights before taking on the division’s top contenders.
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