By Eric Thomas: WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (21-1, 18 KO’s) will be making his first title defense this month against former IBF 175 lb. champion Tavoris Cloud (24-1, 19 KO’s) on September 28th at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Canada.
Stevenson, who will be turning 36-years-old thus Sunday, sees himself either knocking Cloud out at some point in the fight when he makes a mistake or he’ll give him a beating for 12 rounds.
Stevenson he has a plan A-D to fall back on if his original plan A fails to work against the hard-hitting Cloud.
Stevenson told RingTV “Now he’s facing a power-puncher…plus, I can box…sooner or later, Tavoris Cloud is going to make a mistake, and I’m going to catch him, just like Chad Dawson….it’s going to be the same thing for Tavoris Cloud…If he doesn’t get knocked out, then he’s going to get punished.”
Stevenson better plan on getting hit back in this fight because Cloud can punch a little, and if he’s still around late in the fight he could pull off an upset and stop Stevenson. We saw Stevenson get knocked out by journeyman Darnell Boone in the 2nd round in their fight in 2010, and while Stevenson did eventually avenge the fight in stopping Boone in the 6th round their rematch last March, he showed that Stevenson is vulnerable when he’s hit back.
Stevenson can punch and he looks very good when on offense, but he’s less than super when getting hit back. Even in his win over Boone in their recent rematch, Stevenson looked vulnerable when Boone got in close to land his shots.
Stevenson’s power is mostly generated from the outside, and when his opponents get near him, he doesn’t have any leverage on his shots and he looks very average in terms of power and defense. Cloud covers up when his opponents get close, and he’s susceptible to getting beaten if he faces someone that stays near him for 12 rounds.
Cloud lost his WBC title to Bernard Hopkins last March and he fought a poor fight by allowing Hopkins to get in and out to land his shots. It was a winnable fight for Cloud, but he lost control over the fight by letting Hopkins dictate the distance.
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