Time is money when it comes to mine, take it in blood… – Nas
Beating a legend doesn’t make you one, but it damn sure brings notoriety. Tavoris Cloud is in desperate need of that as he appears on HBO this Saturday to face the ageless Bernard Hopkins for the IBF light-heavyweight title. Cloud’s breakthrough fight was supposed to have been in 2010, when he dug out a tough decision win over the then still-formidable Glen Johnson. Instead, Cloud’s career stalled due to a sporadic fighting schedule and a disasterous February 2012 performance against Gabriel Campillo. Cloud won the fight via a highly controversial split decision that unfortunately for him, is the fight that most casual fans remember his name for.
An emphatic victory over Hopkins erases the stain of the Campillo debacle and puts him in line to unify the IBF strap with the winner of WBC title rematch between Chad Dawson and Jean Pascal.
At 29 years old, there’s no further time to waste.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: Hopkins has traditionally done well with sluggers like yourself. What can you bring to the table to prevent ending up like Kelly Pavlik and Jean Pascal?
Cloud: Everyone knows Bernard Hopkins is a dirty fighter and more than likely he’ll come out the bag with some of those tricks in the fight. For the head butts, y’know, one thing you don’t do is let you head hit the heavy bag when you hit the heavy bag. [laughs] I trained at a higher altitude over here at Big Bear so I can be more elusive and block more shots. I’m not concerned with what Bernard Hopkins is gonna bring. I think he’s gonna have a hard time keeping me off of him.
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Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: Having last fought in February 2012, this is the longest layoff of your career. How did you deal with it, especially with the last fight being the bad one against Campillo?
Cloud: The thing with the layoff, I was in camp all of last year, pretty much. With the [canceled] Jean Pascal fight I was in camp four months. I even stayed in a little longer after they canceled the fight to see if anything popped up. I had a lot of sparring that I didn’t get a chance to use. I had another training camp for a fight in Venazuela that didn’t take place. I was right back in camp in Big Bear in January. I’ve been mentally ready to fight even with these fights not happening.
I’ve had a lot of sparring — I’m still sparring right now. My mind has been focused on fighting so I don’t think [the layoff] will bother me.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: After the Campillo fight the scouting report is now that you’re susceptible to being outboxed. Why was that fight such a struggle after you nearly ended it in the first?
Cloud: The fight with Campillo, I didn’t train like I was supposed to. I was bullshittin’. I still think the fight should’ve been over in the first round. I’ve never seen a referee grab a fighter’s hand and stuff like that. One of the reasons I wasn’t in the best shape was because after another fighter had pulled out, I was just like the hell with it, fuck boxing. I actually became depressed and I wasn’t there mentally. I was tired of that happening. I went into that fight and my [weak] training showed.
I learned from that Campillo fight to stay ready, don’t lose your patience, be ready for a dirty game and pray out there. Had I still been patient, the fight would’nt have been so damn ugly if I was motivated in camp. I had no business fighting with that man for 12 rounds. I won’t get caught like that ever again.
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Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: Hopkins has prided himself on representing that tough Philly mentality in boxing. Tell me about the Florida mentality that you bring to the ring.
Cloud: I feel like I’m definitely representing and I’m gonna carry the torch for the state of Florida. It’s a Florida thing, a Florida mentality — we don’t go away easy. We’re men — everything they get from us they got to get with blood. I’m definitely proud to hold this torch and fight Bernard Hopkins with Florida on my back.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: Given any thought to any final Hopkins mind games, like maybe a mush at the weigh-in or a stunt like the push-ups between rounds?
Cloud: He might try it but I’m ready for anything. I’m not really caring about what he’s gonna do. If he wants to make an ass out of himself, let him do it. More power to him.
Hopkins vs. Cloud, a 12-round fight for Cloud’s IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship will take place Saturday, March 9 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Don King Productions and sponsored by Corona, AT&T, Ford and Rocawear. The HBO World Championship Boxing telecast begins at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. The co-main event will be a 12-round fight between top rated undefeated contender Keith Thurman and former World Champion Jan Zaveck for Zaveck’s WBO Inter-Continental Welterweight Championship.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 