Tavoris Cloud

Last updated
Tavoris Cloud
Born
Tavoris Karod Cloud

(1982-01-10) January 10, 1982 (age 43)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesThunder
Statistics
Weight(s) Light heavyweight
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Reach74 in (188 cm)
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights28
Wins25
Wins by KO20
Losses3

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

Contents

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. 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. Comeback. On 11/20/2020, after a nearly 6-year hiatus,former IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Tavoris "Thunder" Cloud successfully fought out of Deadgame Fight School, defeating Ryan Soft by TKO in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Professional boxing record

28 fights25 wins3 losses
By knockout202
By decision51
No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
28Win25–3Ryan SoftTKO3 (8), 1:29Nov 20, 2020 Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
27Loss24–3 Artur Beterbiev KO2 (12), 0:38Sep 27, 2014Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, CanadaFor vacant WBA–NABA light heavyweight title
26Loss24–2 Adonis Stevenson RTD7 (12), 3:00Sep 28, 2013 Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, CanadaFor WBC and The Ring light heavyweight titles
25Loss24–1 Bernard Hopkins UD12 Mar 9, 2013 Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S.Lost IBF light heavyweight title
24Win24–0 Gabriel Campillo SD12Feb 18, 2012 American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.Retained IBF light heavyweight title
23Win23–0 Yusaf Mack TKO8 (12), 2:57 Jun 25, 2011 Family Arena, St. Charles, Missouri, U.S.Retained IBF light heavyweight title
22Win22–0 Fulgencio Zúñiga UD12Dec 17, 2010 American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida, U.S.Retained IBF light heavyweight title
21Win21–0 Glen Johnson UD12Aug 7, 2010 Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.Retained IBF light heavyweight title
20Win20–0 Clinton Woods UD12Aug 28, 2009 Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S.Won vacant IBF light heavyweight title
19Win19–0 Julio César González TKO10 (12), 1:50Aug 8, 2008Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
18Win18–0Mike WoodKO1 (12), 1:23Mar 28, 2008Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.Won vacant WBANABA, IBFUSBA, and WBONABO light heavyweight titles
17Win17–0Jacob RodriguezRTD3 (8), 0:01Dec 14, 2007Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois, U.S.
16Win16–0Jose Luis HerreraTKO5 (10), 1:45Aug 24, 2007 Congress Theater, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
15Win15–0Jim StrohlKO1 (10), 2:59May 11, 2007Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois, U.S.
14Win14–0Aaron NorwoodKO2 (8), 2:03Feb 16, 2007Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois, U.S.
13Win13–0Douglas LaFontseeTKO4 (8), 1:55Nov 10, 2006Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois, U.S.
12Win12–0Tim ShocksTKO4 (8), 0:15Sep 15, 2006Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
11Win11–0Mitch HicksTKO1 (8), 2:10Jul 21, 2006Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
10Win10–0Anthony DennisTKO2 (8), 2:08Mar 17, 2006 Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
9Win9–0Roosevelt JohnsonKO4 (8), 1:30Jan 27, 2006Farm Bureau Building, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
8Win8–0Ron KrullTKO2 (8), 1:23Nov 3, 2005 Civic Center, Hammond, Indiana, U.S.
7Win7–0Joseph HillTKO3 (4), 2:47Jul 13, 2005 Majestic Star Casino, Gary, Indiana, U.S.
6Win6–0 Reggie Strickland UD4May 6, 2005Farm Bureau Building, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
5Win5–0Ronald MooreTKO1 (4), 2:03Dec 11, 2004Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
4Win4–0Curtis MullinsTKO3 (4), 3:00Nov 20, 2004Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
3Win3–0Kevin ThompsonTKO1 (4), 3:00Oct 23, 2004 Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
2Win2–0Taryll CarpenterTKO1 (4), 2:05Oct 9, 2004Lighthouse Convention Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
1Win1–0Luis ReyesTKO3 (4), 2:39Apr 2, 2004Equestrian 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
IBFUSBA
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