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03/29/2008 Archived Entry: "Tavoris Cloud Savages Wood in One for National Titles & Shot at World Honors"
Tavoris Cloud Savages Wood in One for National Titles & Shot at World Honors
Louis Turner Stops Saunders in Five
Photos and report by Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Tavoris Cloud (left) bounces a short but crushing left hook off the chin of Michael Wood, whose eyes roll back with the impact
CHICAGO—It was like feeding a goldfish to a piranha or—perhaps more appropriately—a pubescent antelope to a ravenous tiger. The ebony hued bundle of muscle in tiger-striped trunks, AKA Tavoris Cloud, pounced, tore into and ultimately shredded his pale hued opponent. That would be Michael B. Wood.
The score: Ravenous Tiger—1, Pubescent Antelope—0. Turned out, the kid never had a chance.
Attacking with a fury, undefeated light heavyweight prospect Cloud, 26, bludgeoned Wood, 25, to the canvas twice in the first round—the first knockdown courtesy of a searing right and the second from a smashing left hook off the jaw. Referee Pete Podgorski waved the slaughter off at 1:23 into the first.
Wood collapses for the final time against Cloud, as referee Pete Podgorski waves off the bout
Small beads of sweat dotted his forehead and body. “I didn’t think he wanted to fight,” said Cloud matter-of-factly, shrugging. “He kept moving around, so I hit him first.”
Cloud, at left, ducks under a right counter by Wood
‘Nuff said. With that, Cloud (175 lbs.) moved to 18-0 with 17 knockouts and, in the process, won the USBA, NABA, and WBO NABO Light Heavyweight titles.
Confused? Don’t be. These national titles that mean Cloud is that much closer to getting his dream shot at a world championship. Meanwhile, his opponent, Michael Wood (172 lbs.) slips to 19-7-1 with 11 knockouts and is left to contemplate his place in the hierarchy of club level fights.
Turner (right) lands a long right to the head of Saunders
In a more competitive match, Chicago slugger Louis Turner (164 lbs., 11-1-0, 7 KO’s) overcame a couple rocky moments and gave the audience a jolt of adrenalin as he stopped Cincinatti, Ohio's game and tricky David Saunders (162 lbs., 9-4-0, 6 KO’s) in the fifth round.
Turner (right) and Saunders trade blows
Turner pressured early and often in the first, landing lefts and rights and taking some quick counters. After one surge where he drove Saunders to the ropes, he complained to the referee of a head butt.
In the second, Turner continued to bomb away, landing and jarring with the right. However, he was rocked himself with a counter right, prompting his corner to shout, “Keep the left up!” He was caught a couple other times with potent rights in a round he dominated.
In the third, Turner went down from a counter right, but may have been tripped; O’Brien maintained that it a slip. Turner turned up the aggression and repeatedly rocked Saunders. Dumping him into the ropes, he found himself turned and on the defensive.
Slowing down, Turner maintained the upper hand.
Working behind a sharp and quick jab, Turner found more success in the fourth round. He landed a long right to the head and pounced. The cycle repeated itself later. Suddenly, the stage lights went out and—moments later—referee John O’Brien called a momentary halt to the bout. Reserve lighting kicked in and the action resumed. Return to jab and pressure by Turner.
Down goes Saunders!
Turning up the pressure in the fifth, Turner trapped Saunders in a corner and dropped him hard face first. Rising after around five seconds, Saunders was closely scrutinized by O’Brien, who waved it off at 2:40 into the fifth.
Saunders was unhappy, saying, “I made the count! The ref stopped the fight because it was a hometown fight. I took the fight yesterday. I’m a junior middleweight and I gave him all he could handle! He caught me because I was engaged, and I got up.”
Continuing, Saunders said, “A couple times I hurt him. I got comfortable and I had my hands down and hit him with an up-jab. They could have at least let me finish and robbed me afterward.”
A stoic Turner mugs for the camera
“It’s good to be back,” said a relieved Turner. Acknowledging that Saunders caught him with some good crosses, he said, “He hurt me once.”
Referee O’Brien was adamant that the stoppage was good, insisting that Saunders was badly hurt and would have been in deep trouble had he let it continue. “As he was arguing, he was trailing off to one side,” O’Brien said. “He was tagged!”
Davis (left) jabs Barnes in the early going
He’d just signed a contract with Don King based on his explosiveness, but this night, Chicago heavyweight bomber Carl “Iron Fist” Davis (232 lbs., 10-2, 8 KO’s) struggled. A mountain of a man at 6’ 5” with slabs of quality beef hanging off his arms and torso, Davis fought an uncharacteristic tentative bout in eking out a unanimous decision over Rochester, New York’s durable Jermell Lamar Barnes (226 lbs., 18-15-2, 4 KO’s).
Perhaps with that contract, Davis felt like he was finally getting ahead in boxing, had a lot to lose and—falling back on his professional football experience—packed in his “bombs away” approach in favor of a “prevent” defense.
Davis (right) finds himself in unfamiliar territory, being jarred on the ropes
As the bout got underway, the crowd buzzed in puzzlement. Did he get tagged in sparring and suddenly lose confidence? Or, had he gotten rocked early on in the bout?
Either way, Davis jabbed a little, postured a lot, and threw one significant right in the first round. The busier of the two, Barnes won the round by way of default.
In the second, Davis let his hands go a little, battering Barnes on the ropes. Caught with a couple jarring blows to the head, he also caught a low blow that resulted in a break, which granted him a little reprieve.
“We worked on that in the gym!” shouted one of Davis’ corner men in between rounds. Clearly, they were trying their best to light a fire under their charge.
Davis began putting his punches together in patches, but still remained oddly lethargic. This lethargy continued into the fourth, where Davis jarred Barnes a couple times with booming rights, but tired badly and found himself rocked repeatedly while trapped on the ropes. Shaking his head “no” after getting clocked a few times, the fight appeared to be slipping from his grasp.
Davis summoned up reserves in the seventh, launching tentative jabs followed by lumbering, ponderous roundhouse rights. Predictable. An old pro, Barnes anticipated these charges, covered and absorbed whatever bombs snuck through.
Referee Gerald Scott looks on as Davis unloads on Barnes
In the eighth, Davis unleashed more of the fire that fans were accustomed to, pressuring Barnes to the ropes, chipping away with jabs and whaling away with more ponderous rights and lefts. The buzz and mood of the crowd rose. Finally, some satisfaction!
But it was not to be.
Davis fires a hard right, with Barnes pulling back to mitigate the damage of the blow
It was a classic case of “Punchus Interruptus”—a tantalizing build-up, but no payoff. There was no knockout, no knockdown, and no opponent reeling about the ring helplessly. Nothing. Weathering the storm, Barnes fired back effectively in spots.
Boos and some cheers greeted the announced results: Judges scored the bout 78-74 twice and 79-73 for Davis, giving him a unanimous decision victory. One observer said that although both looked bad, it was a case of Davis being the more active and carrying the fight that garnered the victory.
Davis (right) poses with fans at ringside
Asked afterwards if he’d been rocked early prompting his unusually tentative bout, Davis said, “Nah, I don’t even know!”
“I thought I beat him five rounds to three,” said Barnes afterwards. He added that he indeed hurt Davis early with “an overhand right and a hook. Yeah, he knew.”
Suarez (left) swarms Packer with a two-fisted attack
Their bout was by no means a one-sided affair, as Packer (left) bounces a straight left off of Suarez's head while referee John O'Brien observes
Burbank, California’s Jonathan Suarez (157 lbs.) moved his record to 2-0-1 and 1 knockout with a testy unanimous decision win over Battle Creek, Michigan’s Guy Packer (156 lbs.), who slipped to 2-17-2 and 2 knockouts, by scores of 38-37, 40-35, and 39-36. Packer was deducted one point in the fourth round for excessive holding by referee John O’Brien.
Illinois Boxing Commissioner Ron Pucillo (left) and former CBS and Fox News anchor Walter Jacobsen talk at ringside
Tavoris Cloud (right), with his three new title belts and fans at ringside
Dominic Pesoli's Eight Count Productions did a fine job in promoting this evening’s festivities. Fact was, with Cloud's and Turner's scintillating performances, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.
