In the co-main event of HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO, reigning IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris “Thunder” Cloud (21-0, 18KOs), won a unanimous decision over the always competitive Glen “The Road Warrior” Johnson (50-14-2, 34KOs).
Before the bell rang for the opening stanza, the fighters accosted one another in the center of the squared circle for the stare down, Cloud roared at the top of his lungs in act of thunderous intimidation while Johnson just smiled. Johnson and Cloud got right to business once the fight commenced staying in the center of the ring and exchanging crisp jabs, left hooks to the body and hard rights up top while staying within inches of each other.
In the early goings, Cloud’s superior athleticism was allowing him to get the better of the action which is often the case when “The Road Warrior” fights due to the youth of many of his opponents. Tavoris “Thunder” Cloud was punishing Johnson with repetitive left hooks to the body and flush right-hands to the chin. As is the usual M.O. for Johnson, he stayed in the pocket taking punches and began to land his own hard rights and left-hooks up top that seemed to hurt Cloud and make him clinch towards the end of the second period. In the last seconds of the round, Cloud came back with some hard shots and the fighters were each landing knockout punches to the head finishing the round.
Towards the end of the fifth round, Johnson began slowing while their bodies were laying on one another and Glen could not get any space to get off his strikes. Cloud was employing good dirty boxing and at :50 seconds of the round he clipped Johnson over the left ear with a right hook then a crashing left hook to the right temple that staggered and hurt Johnson. Cloud then landed a huge left hook but Johnson held his ground and was firing back while dazed. At :10 seconds Cloud landed another right upstairs that swayed “The Road Warrior” who survived the round staggering back to his corner and waving his fist to an appreciative crowd.
To start the sixth Tavoris poured it on thick with punishing blows while Johnson tried to stay on his feet in survival mode. Johnson weathered the clouds and when it seemed Tavoris punched himself out, the seasoned “Road Warrior” resumed his attack making for some great back and forth action. Entering the second half of the fight, the crowd in St. Louis had an even, full fledged brawl unfolding in front of them.
At two minutes of round eight Cloud landed a big right hook to the head of Johnson affecting Glen, causing him to cover up while Tavoris unleashed about twenty-five unanswered power shots. “The Road Warrior” absorbed the blows and continued to drive forward returning the action. Cloud took the ninth off and Johnson won the round with work rate alone. Many times Cloud tried to overwhelm his older foe with power and aggression but the cagey veteran would not acquiest Cloud’s demands by folding. At moments Johnson was hurt and seemed to be out on his feet while also gassed but would continuously get his bearings together to come back and mount another attack, showing that he is a true road warrior and consumate pro.
Going into the championship rounds it seemed as though either combatant could be ahead. In the eleventh, Cloud doled out another campaign of heavy punishment digging into the head and body of Johnson with bad intentions. Entering the twelfth and final round, though it was close, it was a safe assumption that Johnson would need a knockout to achieve victory. Glen landed some hard rights to the head going after Tavoris and probably won the final stanza but as the former statement predicted, Cloud won a unanimous decision with scores of 116-112 across the board.
The fight could of gone either way and it definitely seemed like Johnson did enough to get a draw but as the story of “The Road Warrior’s” career goes, he was left defeated with questionable judging scores against him. While the scoring was questionable, Cloud did enough to win the fight with hard, aggressive, damaging punches defending his IBF title and improving his undefeated resume to 21-0, 18KOs.
Photo by HBO