Tavoris Cloud

Tavoris Karod Cloud (born January 10, 1982) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF light heavyweight title from 2009 to 2013.

Tavoris Cloud
Statistics
Real nameTavoris Karod Cloud
Nickname(s)Thunder
Weight(s)Light heavyweight
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Reach74 in (188 cm)
NationalityAmerican
Born (1982-01-10) January 10, 1982
Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights28
Wins25
Wins by KO20
Losses3

Early life

When interviewed by ESPN, Tavoris Cloud explained that he had a tough childhood.[1] His neighbourhood, as he recalled, was very rough. He lived in a small home that housed at times 10-15 people. It was a very poor environment. He went on to explain how meager his family's situation was, and spoke on how his family used a foot tub with ice in it as a fridge. His mother Emma Smith, reflected upon the day that Tavoris Cloud declared that he was going to take care of this situation. He was around 14–15 years of age. Alonzo Johnson (Boxing Coach), trained and housed Tavoris during his high school years. Tavoris trained with Alonzo Johnson since his amateur days. Johnson worked in his corner alongside head trainer Al Bonanni during Cloud's professional fights.

Amateur career

Cloud competed at the 2002 U.S. national amateur championships, losing in the final of the light heavyweight bracket to Curtis Stevens.[2]

Professional career

On August 8, 2008, at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Cloud defeated former WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Julio César González by technical knockout in the tenth round in an IBF Light Heavyweight title eliminator.[3] Cloud set the tempo of the fight early, hurting Gonzalez with a right cross in dominating the first round. It was more of the same in the next two rounds, although Gonzalez made the third round the most competitive. He kept the fight in the middle of the ring, but Cloud kept sending him back with uppercuts and left hooks. With González taking a beating for the majority of the fight, in round ten, the referee stopped the fight after Cloud landed a right hand.

IBF light heavyweight champion

Tavoris won the IBF Light Heavyweight title against the durable Clinton Woods by way of a 12-round unanimous decision after former champion Chad Dawson vacated the belt (it is argued in the boxing community that Chad Dawson vacated the IBF belt to avoid Tavoris Cloud, whom he represented the country with during his amateur career. However, this argument can not be concluded as fact). The fight against Clinton Woods took place on August 28, 2009. Cloud threw well over 1000 punches in the fight which is well over the average for that weight division and won the fight by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

Cloud defeated Glen Johnson by unanimous decision on August 7, 2010.

Cloud faced the Colombian knockout artist Fulgencio Zuniga (24-5-1 (20 KO)) for a title defense and earned a unanimous decision.

Following the Zuniga win, Cloud improved his record with another TKO decision over Yusaf Mack.

Cloud defeated Spaniard Gabriel Campillo via split decision. The win stirred up controversy, with fans scoring the bout for Campillo. However, unbeknown to Fans, "the referee said that there are no standing eight counts..."- A statement Tavoris Cloud made to Lem Satterfield when interviewed for The Ring Magazine's website The Ring. Tavoris Cloud further stated, "when we got in there the first round, and I dropped him, the referee pulled me out of the way and started to give him an eight count. I mean, that's the fight right there."

Cloud's next opponent was thought to be Former World Champion and Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist: Jean Pascal, with a scheduled fight date of August 11, 2012, but Pascal pulled out of the fight last minute due to a hand injury suffered in training. Cloud adamantly believes the injury was faked.

Consecutive defeats to Hopkins, Stevenson, Beterbiev

Cloud later took on Bernard Hopkins on March 9, 2013 at the Barclays center in Brooklyn and lost his IBF Championship via Unanimous Decision (UD).

In the following September Cloud challenged Adonis Stevenson for the WBC light-heavyweight title, and took a beating before quitting in his corner.

On September 27, 2014, Cloud faced Dagestan contender Artur Beterbiev. Right from the start Cloud was outmatched and unable to cope with the power of his vastly larger foe, getting dropped three times in the first round before finally being for the last time early in the second. Cloud was unable to beat referee Michael Griffin's count, making this his third consecutive loss.

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary
28 fights 25 wins 3 losses
By knockout 20 2
By decision 5 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
28 Win 25–3 Ryan Soft TKO 3 (8), 1:29 Nov 20, 2020 Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
27 Loss 24–3 Artur Beterbiev KO 2 (12), 0:38 Sep 27, 2014 Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada For vacant WBA–NABA light heavyweight title
26 Loss 24–2 Adonis Stevenson RTD 7 (12), 3:00 Sep 28, 2013 Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada For WBC, The Ring, and lineal light heavyweight titles
25 Loss 24–1 Bernard Hopkins UD 12 Mar 9, 2013 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S. Lost IBF light heavyweight title
24 Win 24–0 Gabriel Campillo SD 12 Feb 18, 2012 American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. Retained IBF light heavyweight title
23 Win 23–0 Yusaf Mack TKO 8 (12), 2:57 Jun 25, 2011 Family Arena, St. Charles, Missouri, U.S. Retained IBF light heavyweight title
22 Win 22–0 Fulgencio Zúñiga UD 12 Dec 17, 2010 American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida, U.S. Retained IBF light heavyweight title
21 Win 21–0 Glen Johnson UD 12 Aug 7, 2010 Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Retained IBF light heavyweight title
20 Win 20–0 Clinton Woods UD 12 Aug 28, 2009 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S. Won vacant IBF light heavyweight title
19 Win 19–0 Julio César González TKO 10 (12), 1:50 Aug 8, 2008 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
18 Win 18–0 Mike Wood KO 1 (12), 1:23 Mar 28, 2008 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Won vacant WBANABA, USBA, and WBONABO light heavyweight titles
17 Win 17–0 Jacob Rodriguez RTD 3 (8), 0:01 Dec 14, 2007 Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois, U.S.
16 Win 16–0 Jose Luis Herrera TKO 5 (10), 1:45 Aug 24, 2007 Congress Theater, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
15 Win 15–0 Jim Strohl KO 1 (10), 2:59 May 11, 2007 Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois, U.S.
14 Win 14–0 Aaron Norwood KO 2 (8), 2:03 Feb 16, 2007 Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois, U.S.
13 Win 13–0 Douglas LaFontsee TKO 4 (8), 1:55 Nov 10, 2006 Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois, U.S.
12 Win 12–0 Tim Shocks TKO 4 (8), 0:15 Sep 15, 2006 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
11 Win 11–0 Mitch Hicks TKO 1 (8), 2:10 Jul 21, 2006 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
10 Win 10–0 Anthony Dennis TKO 2 (8), 2:08 Mar 17, 2006 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
9 Win 9–0 Roosevelt Johnson KO 4 (8), 1:30 Jan 27, 2006 Farm Bureau Building, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
8 Win 8–0 Ron Krull TKO 2 (8), 1:23 Nov 3, 2005 Civic Center, Hammond, Indiana, U.S.
7 Win 7–0 Joseph Hill TKO 3 (4), 2:47 Jul 13, 2005 Majestic Star Casino, Gary, Indiana, U.S.
6 Win 6–0 Reggie Strickland UD 4 May 6, 2005 Farm Bureau Building, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
5 Win 5–0 Ronald Moore TKO 1 (4), 2:03 Dec 11, 2004 Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
4 Win 4–0 Curtis Mullins TKO 3 (4), 3:00 Nov 20, 2004 Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
3 Win 3–0 Kevin Thompson TKO 1 (4), 3:00 Oct 23, 2004 Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
2 Win 2–0 Taryll Carpenter TKO 1 (4), 2:05 Oct 9, 2004 Lighthouse Convention Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
1 Win 1–0 Luis Reyes TKO 3 (4), 2:39 Apr 2, 2004 Equestrian Complex, Ocala, Florida, U.S.

References

  1. "Tavoris Cloud: The Light Heavyweight Secret". BoxingScene. April 2, 2008. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  2. "USA2002". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  3. Chavez, Jacob (2008-08-08). "Cloud stops Gonzalez in ten!". Fightnews.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-22. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Chris Henry
WBANABA
light heavyweight champion

March 28, 2008 – June 2008
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Yusaf Mack
Vacant
Title last held by
Montell Griffin
USBA light heavyweight champion
March 28, 2008 – August 2008
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Otis Griffin
Vacant
Title last held by
DeAndrey Abron
WBONABO
light heavyweight champion

March 28, 2008 – August 2008
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Roy Jones Jr.
World boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Chad Dawson
IBF light heavyweight champion
August 28, 2009 – March 9, 2013
Succeeded by
Bernard Hopkins
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