"I've beaten better than you" - Woods warns Cloud

[banjo]

I sincerely hope Cloud smashes Woods into tiny little pieces then that's a another old fart off the scene.

[Dioufy]

But stopping Gonzo is quite impressive, don't you agree, Spuddy?

maybe Gonzo's previous opponents took all fight out of him!!!

Of course.

[Old bones Ian]

Forgive my own lack of knowledge - however I seriously doubt some of yours - some of you are s*cking Cloud's c*ck as if he is the second coming - he has not fought a name who is in his prime for anyone to think such a thing - and in addition other than the really and I mean really avid boxing fan - do you honestly know that much about Cloud to jump on his train so much??

I freely acknowledge some of you have an opinion on Woods and what you perceive as his decline - however there is not many of you who know too much about Cloud to have such lofty opinions of him!!!

Honest opinion - and also TRUE!!!

Honest as always Spud.

And your correct that Cloud hasn't faced anywhere near the class that Clinton has, but at this point in his career i think the younger Cloud has the talent to overcome a tough man in Clinton.

If this fight was against the Clinton of 2005/2006 i'd pick him to win, but i feel the long career of Clintons will catch up with him.

going by my usual predictions though, Clinton will win early

[steelcity 65]

Tough one really.

Tarvoris looks legit enough - and Clinton can be a handful on his day.

It's just the Tarver fight lingers in my mind so strong. No point going over old ground with that one.

I wish him luck, maybe he'll need it.

everyone needs to relise clinton was not happy all through is training camp when he boxed tarver,and it affected him badley in his fight as you all saw..but he is now happy and after watching 4 fights of cloud i saw oponnents who were scared,not throwing back, and when you checked them out they were journey men or shot...yes cloud is strong but so is clinton,he as one of the best chins ever.cloud stopped a poor gonzalez but never put him down,so that shows cloud aint no 1 punch ko man..clinton will have to stay with him for 5 or 6 but thats when cloud tires and clintons just warmed up....clouds had 19 fights only so clinton should school him to a points win or a late stoppage,early part of fight favours cloud....he looks good in sparin too

[Coco]

Tough one really.

Tarvoris looks legit enough - and Clinton can be a handful on his day.

It's just the Tarver fight lingers in my mind so strong. No point going over old ground with that one.

I wish him luck, maybe he'll need it.

everyone needs to relise clinton was not happy all through is training camp when he boxed tarver,and it affected him badley in his fight as you all saw..but he is now happy and after watching 4 fights of cloud i saw oponnents who were scared,not throwing back, and when you checked them out they were journey men or shot...yes cloud is strong but so is clinton,he as one of the best chins ever.cloud stopped a poor gonzalez but never put him down,so that shows cloud aint no 1 punch ko man..clinton will have to stay with him for 5 or 6 but thats when cloud tires and clintons just warmed up....clouds had 19 fights only so clinton should school him to a points win or a late stoppage,early part of fight favours cloud....he looks good in sparin too

Obviously the jury is out on Cloud untill he steps up, but we will be in a good position to rate him after this fight. Woods may have been a bit fortunate to have an extended reign with the IBF but even now he is still at least a genuine gatekeeper to the division

[hitman_hatton1]

gotta check out some cloud clips on youtube.

woods prefers boxing come forward fighters.

seems like cloud is no fancy dan from what i've read on him.

he sounds a good prospect though and a bit too much of a handful for clinton at this stage. :(

[lefthook82]

Want Cloud to win. Sick of this round robin IBF circus involving Woods.

See him as the epitome of the term ''title holder'. never been a Champion for me

[ERIC GUY]

I would like to see him win, I sent him the DVD last week, lets support our guys!!

[Old bones Ian]

Well lets hope we see a repeat of Andres v Tony Willis.
In that one Dennis was the old ex champ, and Willis was the young up'n'comer who was unbeaten in 16 with 12 KO's.
The american had beaten some shop worn former contenders on the way up, just like Cloud has. But it all counted for nothing because he ran into a well trained and determined boxer in Andres.
Dennis controlled the fight from the start, and KO'd the young pretender in 5 rounds.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I've always enjoyed watching Clinton, he's tough and gritty, just like the city of steel he's from.

Could this be another Rico Hoye job, let's hope so.

[Coco]

Whats Dennis Andries up to these days?
Did he make enough money to retire comfortably?

[Horse]

I sincerely hope Cloud smashes Woods into tiny little pieces then that's a another old fart off the scene.

You want to see Woods smashed into tiny little pieces? Do you not like Woods or what?

[crusader]

I've always enjoyed watching Clinton, he's tough and gritty, just like the city of steel he's from.

Could this be another Rico Hoye job, let's hope so.

Cloud hasn't been getting by with gift decisions against shot former champions like Montell Griffin. I doubt its a Hoye repeat and if Cloud losses it definitely won't be a one sided five round beat down. I'm hoping Cloud wins so there is some young blood to the division.

[Horse]

See him as the epitome of the term ''title holder'. never been a Champion for me

Woods beat Johnson once and Gonzalez twice during his title reign, so he was a solid world title holder. If you think that makes him the epitome of a 'title holder' then being a 'title holder' is no bad thing.

[lurkyshaka]

I've watched a little of Cloud in action and he does have one huge flaw that a fighter of Woods level could and really should exploit fully.
Woods has been a good counter puncher in the past and this could serve him well again, in exploiting Cloud basic but major flaw. I'm sure if people watch a couple of Cloud's fights they'll spot the flaw(some of his fights are available on youtube)

But the big question marks over Woods are...how much is left in his tank? And how well will he travel considering his past visits to America?

Hard fight to pick a winner as both men have some serious question marks about them. Is this a case of an old former champ being shown the exit door by the up and comer? Or will we see a veteran take a young pretender to school?

I've little faith in Woods after the way he performed against Tarver, but he certainly should be able to beat Cloud.

[Pugilist-specialist]

Tough one really.

Tarvoris looks legit enough - and Clinton can be a handful on his day.

It's just the Tarver fight lingers in my mind so strong. No point going over old ground with that one.

I wish him luck, maybe he'll need it.

everyone needs to relise clinton was not happy all through is training camp when he boxed tarver,and it affected him badley in his fight as you all saw..but he is now happy and after watching 4 fights of cloud i saw oponnents who were scared,not throwing back, and when you checked them out they were journey men or shot...yes cloud is strong but so is clinton,he as one of the best chins ever.cloud stopped a poor gonzalez but never put him down,so that shows cloud aint no 1 punch ko man..clinton will have to stay with him for 5 or 6 but thats when cloud tires and clintons just warmed up....clouds had 19 fights only so clinton should school him to a points win or a late stoppage,early part of fight favours cloud....he looks good in sparin too

Who has Clinton been sparring ?

Thanks

[banjo]

I sincerely hope Cloud smashes Woods into tiny little pieces then that's a another old fart off the scene.

You want to see Woods smashed into tiny little pieces? Do you not like Woods or what?

Yes I want to see him smashed into little pieces because he's too old and clogging up the scene.

[ERIC GUY]

Orvile Mckenzie has been sparring with him,

[bennie]

Sheffield’s Clinton Woods ventures across the pond to take on dangerous-looking American Tavoris Cloud for the vacant IBF light-heavyweight title in Florida later this month.
Woods, who held the title for several years, finally lost it to Antonio Tarver in a shockingly ‘flat’ performance in the same Florida last year, so the omens are not good. The 37-year-old Woods took almost a year out but came back and looked surprisingly good in outscoring rugged New Yorker Elvir Muriqi over 12 rounds in Jersey earlier this year, and this opprtunity arose when Chad Dawson (who had relieved Tarver of the IBF title) relinquished to pursue more lucrative fights. “No major television network was willing to buy the (Cloud) fight,” said Dawson’s promoter Gary Shaw, which tells you that Cloud is still something of an unknown quantity, and possiby overrated (a lot of Americans are). Yes, the 27-year-old Cloud is unbeaten in 19 fights (18 early) and stopped the rugged Julio Cesar Gonzalez in 10 rounds in his last fight in August, but Gonzalez had been softened up by Woods (twice) and just lost to veteran Reggie Johnson. There cannot have been too much of the original Gonzalez left. Cloud’s other victims don’t even warrant a mention, a pitiful collection of body bags.
Cloud can obviously clout (up to now) and talks a good fight, but they said he same thing about Detroit’s unbeaten Rico Hoye a few years ago (labelled “the new Bob Foster,” by some) and Woods, vastly more experienced, hammered him in five rounds. Clinton, 42-4-1 (24), is a punishing fighter on the quiet: cute solid-boxing, iron-jawed and strong finishing. His assets loook good against someone like Cloud, a man used to bowling over his opponents quickly.
I remember a fellow from New Jersey called Earl Hargrove running up a 24-0 (24) record when he ran into New York cop Mark Medal for the IBF light-middleweight title in 1984 in Atlantic City, a cop who stood up to his early onslaughts and came back to win in the fifth. Nigel Benn was 22-0 (22) when he punched himself out against Michael Watson; Mac Foster was 24-0 (24) when Jerry Quarry hammered him… You know, a run of quick knockout wins is the worst thing that can happen to a fighter. The fighter looks sensational, gets all the praise, starts to believe it, skips on his training and thinks everyone is going to roll over. Mike Tyson thought the same against Buster Douglas.
Nevertheless, the 10 year age gap - and the journey – makes one wonder if Woods' time is over. He froze against Tarver in a bitterly disappointing display, and Clinton’s only other fight in the States saw him stoped in six by a peak Roy Jones back in 2002 when he was never really in the fight. He might be as much of a home boy as Naz.
Whatever happens, at this stage Woods has probably forgotten more than Cloud will ever learn and proved his mettle as world champion when he edged the ageless Glen Johnson, the Archie Moore of his era and a man who had previously shown he was a better fighter than Woods. Woods just needs to put the Tarver experience behind him and go out there and do his thing. He can lose this, for sure. He can also undoubtedly pull off a win.

[crusader]

Sheffield’s Clinton Woods ventures across the pond to take on dangerous-looking American Tavoris Cloud for the vacant IBF light-heavyweight title in Florida later this month.
Woods, who held the title for several years, finally lost it to Antonio Tarver in a shockingly ‘flat’ performance in the same Florida last year, so the omens are not good. The 37-year-old Woods took almost a year out but came back and looked surprisingly good in outscoring rugged New Yorker Elvir Muriqi over 12 rounds in Jersey earlier this year, and this opprtunity arose when Chad Dawson (who had relieved Tarver of the IBF title) relinquished to pursue more lucrative fights. “No major television network was willing to buy the (Cloud) fight,” said Dawson’s promoter Gary Shaw, which tells you that Cloud is still something of an unknown quantity, and possiby overrated (a lot of Americans are). Yes, the 27-year-old Cloud is unbeaten in 19 fights (18 early) and stopped the rugged Julio Cesar Gonzalez in 10 rounds in his last fight in August, but Gonzalez had been softened up by Woods (twice) and just lost to veteran Reggie Johnson. There cannot have been too much of the original Gonzalez left. Cloud’s other victims don’t even warrant a mention, a pitiful collection of body bags.
Cloud can obviously clout (up to now) and talks a good fight, but they said he same thing about Detroit’s unbeaten Rico Hoye a few years ago (labelled “the new Bob Foster,” by some) and Woods, vastly more experienced, hammered him in five rounds. Clinton, 42-4-1 (24), is a punishing fighter on the quiet: cute solid-boxing, iron-jawed and strong finishing. His assets loook good against someone like Cloud, a man used to bowling over his opponents quickly.
I remember a fellow from New Jersey called Earl Hargrove running up a 24-0 (24) record when he ran into New York cop Mark Medal for the IBF light-middleweight title in 1984 in Atlantic City, a cop who stood up to his early onslaughts and came back to win in the fifth. Nigel Benn was 22-0 (22) when he punched himself out against Michael Watson; Mac Foster was 24-0 (24) when Jerry Quarry hammered him… You know, a run of quick knockout wins is the worst thing that can happen to a fighter. The fighter looks sensational, gets all the praise, starts to believe it, skips on his training and thinks everyone is going to roll over. Mike Tyson thought the same against Buster Douglas.
Nevertheless, the 10 year age gap - and the journey – make on wonder if Woods time is over. He froze against Tarver in a bitterly disappointing display, and Clinton’s only other fight in the States saw him stoped in six by a peak Roy Jones back in 2002 when he was never really in the fight. He might be as much of a home boy as Naz.
Whatever happens, at this stage Woods has probably forgotten more than Cloud will ever learn and proved his mettle as world champion when he edged the ageless Glen Johnson, the Archie Moore of his era and a man who had previously shown he was a better fighter than Woods. Woods just needs to put the Tarver experience behind him and go out there and do his thing. He can lose this, for sure. He can also undoubtedly pull off a win.

Clinton Woods is nothing special and never was. He is an average world champion at best, don't go overboard with talk like that. Cloud has the potential to achieve just as much as Woods did in my view.

[Spud]

Crusader,

Perhaps Clinton has over-achieved, and you also try to demeen his achievements by stating he is an average at best.

I prefer to look at it this way:

Former Central Area Super Middleweight Champion
Former Commonwealth Super Middleweight Champion
Former WBC International Light Heavyweight Title Holder
Former British Light Heavyweight Champion
Former Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Champion
Former European Light Heavyweight Champion
Former IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Of The World

To add a couple of other things to the CV - He has fought in a number of European Title fights and in addition has fought in something like 8 World Title fights and in addition he fought at the time the World's P4P best fighter in RJJ - not bad for an overachiever!!!

In addition - he went the traditional route - thus avoiding no one who stepped in his way!!!

[lurkyshaka]

From reading the article and interview with Cloud in Boxing Monthly its clear he's a very ambitious and determined fighter.

However the good news for Woods is Cloud seems to have the wrong impression about Woods and his fighting style. He seems to be under the impression that Woods is a comeforward fighter. But thats not the case, Woods is definitely at his best when an opponent comes to him and he can counterpunch.

Woods will find Cloud's style is suited to his. Its just whether or not Clinton still has it and whether he can hold his nerve fighting in the States.

[Old bones Ian]

Clinton isn't average, far from it.
and has been stated he has fought the best, something bigger names have not done.

[Horse]

Yes I want to see him smashed into little pieces because he's too old and clogging up the scene.

In what way is he clogging up the scene? Which fighters are not getting an opportunity because Woods is around?

[crusader]

When I say average I mean at the world class level in comparison to other champions, obviously he is better than the average professional boxer. Commonwealth and Euro belts are nice, but that means little on the world scene. Look at who he won those titles from, Juan Nelongo and Crawford Ashey, two guys who were far from world class opponents and went on to do nothing.

The bulk of his wins comes over the likes of fringe contenders Muriqi, Hoye, Jason DeLisle, and lesser boxers. He has faced four world class opponents and lost to three of them. His two best victories were over Glen Johnson and Julio Gonzalez. Gonzales is a decent operator but basic and limited. Johnson is a top LHW and I will give Woods credit for scoring a win over him, however unimpressive it was.

Maybe is Woods is better than average, as I originally put it, but he is hardly special to the point where he will have " forgotten more than Cloud will ever learn".