by James Slater – A potentially thrilling and fan-friendly fight, it seems the IBF light-heavyweight title defence by Tavoris Cloud against Glen Johnson is back on for August; having been postponed from a few months back due to a leg injury on the part of the undefeated Cloud. According to Boxrec.com, the fight will take place in Saint Louis, Missouri, as part of a doubleheader on August 7th, with IBF and WBC light-welterweight champion Devon Alexander also appearing against a TBA..
While not yet knowing who the talented and exciting Alexander will face on the scheduled date makes it tough to predict for sure, the light-heavyweight battle could well be the fight of the night, action-wise. Fans are very familiar with the ageless “Road Warrior’s” pleasing style of fighting, and those fans who have seen Cloud in action know that he too is an aggressive-minded operator – one who comes forward all night long throwing virtually non-stop punches.
Put them both together, as promoter Don King and HBO have done, and the fireworks are sure to fly. Also, picking a winner is no easy thing. Okay, Johnson, 50-13-2(34) is 41 years-of-age now (compared to just 28 for the 20-0(18) Cloud) and he is bound to find that the well is dry one day, but he looked very good last time out, when he stopped the useful Yusaf Mack inside 6-rounds of yet another good fight back in February. Though I would make the younger, fresher and also possibly stronger Cloud a slight favourite, it would only be very slight!
Cloud, who has unfortunately seen precious little ring action over the past two years or so, may find that ring-rust is a problem for him in this bout. Having said that, Cloud – who fought just twice in 2008 and only once last year – showed no rust to speak of when he battled the man he won the vacant IBF belt against in Clinton Woods in August of last year. Though he had last boxed a full 12 months beforehand (in becoming the first man to stop Mexico’s Julio Cesar Gonzalez), Cloud looked fully fit, full of steam and also very sharp against the Sheffield man. Despite having now been out a further year (at least he will have been by the time the Johnson fight rolls around), Cloud may well look as good against Johnson as he did against Woods.
Both men will almost certainly come right out at the first bell and look to dictate the action. Johnson is as tough as they come and he can fight well on the inside, while Cloud has thus far stood up to anything and everything his 20 pro opponents have thrown at him and he too can rumble at close quarters – as such it’s safe to say there won’t be too much dancing in this one. Instead, a gruelling and absorbing battle looks likely to unfold.
Is this the fight where Johnson finally begins to look his age as he is out-toughed and ultimately beaten at his own game, or will the old warrior reach deep inside and pull out one more fight in which he breaks an opponent’s heart? As close to a 50-50 affair as you could probably imagine, I go for Cloud to pull out a close decision in a fight that will leave all those fans in attendance (who aren’t Johnson fans) feeling happy.
Hopefully, afterwards, Cloud – one of the more exciting young fighters currently plying his trade at the 175-pound mark – will not leave it so long until he is back in action.