By Ian S Palmer
Adonis Stevenson will be putting his WBC Light Heavyweight Title on the line at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada on Saturday September 28 when he takes on former IBF belt holder Tavoris Cloud of America. The 12-round bout will be broadcast across the U.S. on the HBO network. Stevenson, who was born in Haiti, but now lives in Montreal, will have the advantage of fighting in front of his hometown fans.
Stevenson shocked some fans in June when he stopped former champ Chad Dawson in the first round to win his belt while Cloud looked less than impressive in a unanimous decision loss to Bernard Hopkins back in March. Stevenson will take his impressive 21-1 record into the ring with him along with 18 Kos. Cloud, who hails from Tallahassee, Florida, has an equally impressive mark of 24-1 with 19 Kos.
Both of these boxers have knockout power and the 35-year-old Stevenson showed that with his 76-second demolition job over Dawson. However, the cynics will point out that Dawson had been stopped by Andre Ward in his previous contest and now seems to be past his prime. Stevenson basically won the belt with one solid punch, but he shouldn’t go into this match by taking Cloud too lightly. If Stevenson isn’t able to stop the American he’s going to have his hands full by trying to outbox him.
The 31-year-old Cloud is a steady and consistent boxer, but he’s not really one of the sport’s elite. He’s big and strong and has beaten some good fighters such as Glen Johnson, Yusaf Mack, Fulgencio Zuniga and Gabriel Campillo, but he hasn’t really faced any of the best light heavyweights out there unless you consider the ageless Hopkins to be one of them.
Campillo also gave Cloud a tough fight and many fans felt he should have taken the title from the champion as he outboxed him. So what we basically have here is two sluggers going at it for Stevenson’s belt as neither of them typically rely on their boxing skills to see them through. This matchup will suit both of them since neither has to worry about their opponent being too slick and cute for them. This will be more of a physical bout than a thinking-man’s fight.
Cloud has a solid chin and it’s hard to remember a time when he’s been in danger of being stopped. Stevenson has tasted the canvas before as his only loss was a second-round stoppage to Darnell Boone in 2010. Stevenson later avenged that defeat and will be coming into this contest with eight consecutive knockouts to his name. Knowing that Boone was able to stop Stevenson should give Cloud a boost of confidence, but he needs to remember it took place three years ago. Stevenson is on a high right now though while Cloud is in a bit of a decline and it’s not always easy to swing the momentum.
Both Stevenson and Cloud may end up swinging for the fences and this could be a short fight or an all-action 12-rounder. It really comes down to how good their chins are. Stevenson seems to own the better one-punch KO power, is more aggressive and has the faster hands while Cloud has the superior chin. This is really a tossup fight, but it looks like Cloud will probably have to stop Stevenson to beat him or at least dominate him. On the other hand, Stevenson is the champion and will be fighting in his adopted hometown where some odd scoring has taken place in the past. Look for Stevenson to hang onto his title via a close decision.
