By Jason Kim: The scheduled December 31st fight between IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (23-0, 19 KO’s) and 37-year-old former WBO light heavyweight champion Zsolt Erdei (33-0, 18 KO’s) is a no go after Erdei reportedly suffered a bad hand injury during a sparring session.

The card could still take place, as former WBA light heavyweight champion Gabriel Campillo has volunteered to step up and take Erdei’s place to challenge for the title against Cloud. It’s still unclear whether the fight card will take place or not.

The fight is supposed to be aired on Showtime in the United States, and one can imagine that they’ll want a say so about whether to approve Campillo for this fight. You’re really not getting much of a drop off in talent from Erdei to Campillo, because Erdei is mostly just a jabber nowadays and has lost a lot of the little hand speed that he previously had.

Erdei’s opposition has left a lot to be desired his entire career, as he never got around to fighting the best guys like Chad Dawson, Antonio Tarver or Bernard Hopkins for some reason. Most of Erdei’s opposition have come from Europe and he never had any real dangerous fights until the one scheduled with Cloud. The injury may have saved Erdei from a loss.

Campillo is a high volume puncher who’s best win have come against the likes of Beibut Shunenov, Hugo Hernan Garay and Lolenga Mock. He was beaten by a controversial 12 round decision by Shumenov in their rematch in January 2010. A lot of boxing fans thought that Campillo should have given the decision in that fight.

On the undercard, former two-time Olympic gold medalist for Cuba Guillermo Rigondeaux (8-0, 6 KO’s) is supposed to be facing unbeaten WBA World super bantamweight champion Rico Ramos (20-0, 11 KO’s) in a fight that overshadowed the main event fight even before Erdie’s injury. If the card does take place on December 31st, this is the fight to watch. Ramos is an excellent fighter with good boxing skills and power. However, he’s never been in with anyone close to being as good as Rigondeaux. Ramos, 24, could be brought back down to earth by Rigondeaux in this fight.