the_godslayer

Storm Cloud over the Windy City!
Ringside by Jacob Chavez
Photos by John Booz

Knockout artist Tavoris Cloud (19-0-0, 18 KOs) burst into the scene of top competitors in the light heavyweight division by completely dominating former world champion Julio Gonzalez, scoring a tenth round TKO, Friday night at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago’s north side.
Gonzalez was battered from start to finish, and stopped for the first time in his career—quite a feat for the undefeated Cloud, who claims the Windy City as his second home
The venue resonated with cheers as the combatants climbed into the ring, and many die-hard Mexican fans rooted their countryman despite Cloud’s having fought over ten times in the Chicagoland area.
The crowd, however, played no role in this match.
Right away, Cloud jumped on Gonzalez with a stiff jab that snapped his head back as they circled the ring. Cloud showed much faster hands as he quickly began mounting assaults to the head. The veteran in Gonzalez began pumping his own jab in efforts to keep Cloud at bay, but Cloud pressed on with hard blows upstairs. During the second half of the opening round it looked as though Gonzalez might be folding under the pummeling but he, amazingly, fired back and finished off the round.
Gonzalez came out in the second putting punches together and sticking to his jab. In a change of pace, Cloud studied his opponent and boxed more during the first half of the stanza. But during the final moments, the whirlwind of power shots battered Gonzalez to the head and he, again, found his back against the ropes taking punishment.
Cloud picked his punches conservatively in the third, and Gonzalez peppered him with combinations, but failed to do any real damage. The warrior in Gonzalez stood two-to-two with Cloud in the fourth and managed to connect with a hard left-hook to the body followed by one to the head, but it was far from enough to deter Cloud, and they traded in spectacular fashion in the center of the ring. At the sound of the bell Gonzalez staggered toward his corner.
As the fight progressed, Cloud picked the spots for his damaging bursts and used more footwork. The lateral movement from Cloud encouraged Gonzalez to walk forward and press the action. He managed to display a solid array of combinations and angles but the power behind them was insufficient to turn the tide. Gonzalez took more punishment in the fifth and nearing the end of the round, almost had the fight stopped by referee John O’Brien, as he was pinned against the corner and took incredibly thudding shots to the head.
This pace continued until the eighth, where Cloud switched to counter-puncher, allowing for Gonzalez to take the offensive. But again, it was mostly ineffective.
Surprisingly, Gonzalez started the tenth off with more success, and his sneaky combinations managed to find a home and scored. He never abandoned the jab and one could see his confidence growing. But it was short-lived, as Cloud responded with one of his more destructive volleys of the fight. Looking in very bad shape, Gonzalez fought back and looked to weather the storm but the onslaught showed no signs of ending. One could see Cloud leverage his punches with tremendous balance and momentum. After several moments, Referee John O’Brien wisely stepped in to halt the action, in spite of Gonzalez’ protests.
The time of the stoppage was 2:50 of round ten.
With this victory Cloud is in line to challenge the winner between Chad Dawson and IBF Champ Antonio Tarver, which takes place October 11th.

Source - - - Fightnews

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the_godslayer

Tavoris Cloud Provides a Silver Lining At Light Heavy

In what we can only hope to become a growing trend, youth was served for a change in the light heavyweight division as undefeated Tavoris Cloud exploded onto the scene with a 10th round stoppage of faded former linear light heavyweight champion Julio Cesar Gonzalez.
The bout headlined ESPN2's Friday Night Fight's telecast, which aired live from the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, IL.
The fight represented a huge step up in class for Cloud, but didn't prevent the chiseled Tallahassee (FL) native from starting out the same way as any of his previous bouts – full steam ahead, making his opponent feel his pain. Cloud took the fight right to Gonzalez, turning the fight into a high-volume affair less than a minute in.
A right hand midway through the round drew a collective "ooh" from the rabid crowd on hand at the Aragon Ballroom. Gonzalez was able to play matador defense, forcing Cloud to expend energy as he was missing with his power shots. But very little was coming back in return, as was also the case in the second round.
The third round was fought in a phone booth, with both fighters standing and trading in center ring. Gonzalez was looking for any opening to turn the tide, but Cloud always had an answer. When the action drifted toward the ropes, Cloud kept just enough distance to avoid Gonzalez' looping shots while nailing him with jabs and arcing right hands.
Back to close quarters they went in the fourth. Gonzalez was able to land to the body for the first time in the fight, but never able to put together a sustained attack. Cloud slowed down just a bit after throwing a high volume of punches through the first three, but was still swinging from the bleachers whenever the opportunity presented itself.
The fifth round appeared to be the beginning of the end for the former linear light heavyweight champion, though he showed an inhuman level of resiliency.
Cloud erupted midway through the round, a left hook to the body momentarily freezing Gonzalez in place to set up a left hook upstairs that put him on queer street. Cloud spent the rest of the round in pursuit, landing several right hands and left hooks upstairs. Gonzalez miraculously survived the round, but was slow in walking back to his corner.
That Gonzalez made it out of the round meant Cloud would enter uncharted territory in the sixth, the first time in his pro career that he was forced to go that deep in the fight.
This was the point in the fight where Gonzalez' greater experience was supposed to prove beneficial, but all it allowed him to do was absorb more punishment. Cloud was once again successful with left hooks and right hands upstairs. Gonzalez never wilted, but he also never fought back, forcing referee John O'Brien to give a long hard look with every landed punch.
With the first half of the fight fought at a furious – albeit one-sided – pace, things slowed down considerably in rounds seven and eight. Despite taking a massive beating in the fifth and sixth rounds, Gonzalez was still in front of Cloud looking for a fight. Cloud instead took it down a notch, keeping the fight at close quarters but not letting his hands go as often.
Round nine saw Tavoris Cloud the boxer, which didn't go over very well with a Chicago crowd that always expects guerrilla warfare whenever the light heavyweight steps foot in the ring. Little did they know he was saving up for a big finish.
Cloud went back to the advertised bombs away slugger in the 10th round, one that could very well represent Gonzalez' last at the contender level. The action wasn't as furious as in the early going, but steady and still heavily in Cloud's favor. A right hand midway through the round had Gonzalez hurt and trapped along the ropes. Cloud followed up with an overhand right that sent Gonzalez staggering into the corner. One final booming right was enough for referee John O'Brien to intervene.
The official time was 2:50 of round ten.
Claiming it to be the biggest win of Cloud's career is merely overstating the obvious. The 26-year old power puncher cruises to 19-0 (18KO) with the win, scoring his 13th straight knockout in the process.
The win puts Cloud in position to possibly challenge the winner of the upcoming highly anticipated light heavyweight clash between Antonio Tarver and undefeated Chad Dawson later this fall. In theory, tonight's fight was an eliminator, but Dawson dumped a title in order to secure the long awaited showdown with Tarver; there's nothing preventing the winner of this fight from doing the same - especially now well aware of what awaits.
Regardless, Cloud will be fighting for a title one way or another sometime in 2009. Given how wide open the light heavyweight division has been for years, his explosive arrival into the title picture couldn't have come at a better time. With most of the top light heavyweight players aged 35 years or older, Cloud offers a glimmer of hope that a division far too long clinging onto the past can now confidently look toward the future.
Such is not the case for Gonzalez, who suffers the first stoppage loss in his 11-year, 47-fight career. The hardened Mexican drops his third straight in falling to 41-6 (25KO). It was only five years ago that Gonzalez served as the linear light heavyweight champion after his upset of previously unbeaten Dariusz Michalczewski, but it seems like forever. He has since went 6-4, with all four losses coming in title fights or elimination bouts.

source - - - Tavoris Cloud Provides a Silver Lining At Light Heavy

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