Cloud Impressive Against Johnson on HBO
The undercard to the recent HBO broadcast of the Devon Alexander-Andriy Kotelnik junior welter title fight featured two light-heavyweight fighters going in opposite directions. IBF light heavyweight world champion Tavoris Cloud (21-0, 18KO’s) faced perennial contender and former champion Glen “The Road Warrior” Johnson (51-14-2, 34KO’s). Cloud, one of Boxing’s rising stars, retained his title via unanimous decision with all three judges giving it to him by identical scores of 116-112. Although Johnson complained about the result, 116-112 was in fact being charitable to Johnson. Johnson has the well-deserved reputation of being perhaps the most ripped-off fighter in boxing when it comes to (hometown) decisions going against him. He has in fact been the victim many times of terrible hometown decisions. In trying to slough off this most recent loss as just another bad decision going against him, Johnson was being less than honest with himself and the legions of boxing fans who have stood by him for years.
Tavoris Cloud dominated the fight from the opening bell. He threw accurate combinations to both body and head and mixed his punches up nicely, often overwhelming Johnson with his speed and accurate counterpunching. Cloud’s punch rate never wavered during the fight as he simply had too much energy and ardor for Johnson to handle. Johnson was accurate early in the fight but by the later rounds, his work rate and effectiveness had faded badly. At times, in the later rounds, Johnson looked completely spent and ready to quit. In fact, grunting with each punch he threw only seemed to emphasize his fatigue, and lack of accuracy and power. In rounds 9 through 12, Johnson seemed content just to make contact with Cloud’s body with a pitiful display of weak punches rather than make a real effort to knock him out, which by then, he must have known was the only way he could win. Simply put, Johnson’s gas tank was empty and it took a superhuman effort on his part just to finish the fight on his feet rather than quit due to exhaustion.
The most exciting round of the fight was the fifth round when Cloud caught Johnson with a powerful, bone-rattling right hook to the jaw. Johnson’s knees buckled and he hung on for dear life. Cloud poured it on, landing many hard shots to both Johnson’s head and body. Johnson seemed bewildered and on the verge of going down and being stopped. He managed to clinch with Cloud several times,who showed his ring smarts by breaking Johnson’s clinches throughout the round by pushing his own arms down, thus freeing himself to keep punching. It was only Johnson’s grit and experience which prevented him from being stopped for only the second time in his career. Johnson’s only KO loss occurred on July 20th, 1997, when Bernard Hopkins turned the trick in 11 rounds, turning back Johnson’s valiant but ultimately failed attempt to annex Hopkins IBF middleweight title.
Tavoris Cloud was consistently the aggressor throughout the fight and landed his combinations seemingly at will. His right and left hooks rattled Johnson every time they landed on his exposed jaw. Cloud was most effective when he was counterpunching. He had an answer for every punch that Johnson threw at him. When Cloud staggered Johnson in the fifth round, he once again displayed his intelligence by switching his attack to Johnson’s body, thus bringing Johnson’s arms down, which, in turn left his head an open and inviting target. Johnson made an effort at times but he simply had no ammo left and he looked to be finished as an elite level fighter. Johnson doesn’t really present a threat anymore to any of the current light heavy champs or even to the crop of up and coming stars of the sport. He could hang around as a stepping stone, a name with which other fighters could pad their resumes. Glen Johnson is a proud man and respects himself and his sport way too much to allow his career coda to end in such a fashion. Tavoris Cloud is an excellent fighter with a very bright future ahead of him, including many big fights against big name fighters. Glen Johnson’s nickname is, “The Road Warrior.” Let’s hope “The Road Warrior” stays true to his nickname and travels on only one more road, to Canastota, when he is inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, in five years time.
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