By Mark Vester
IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud retained his title last Saturday in St. Louis with a hard fought victory over veteran Glen Johnson. This coming Saturday, IBO/WBC-interim champion Chad Dawson goes up against full WBC champion Jean Pascal. Cloud feels Dawson will pull it out, but he doesn't see a fight taking place between the two of them.
During an interview with BoxingScene.com's Bill Emes, Cloud dropped some verbal bombs when asked for his opinion on Dawson as a fighter.
"Chad Dawson don't have a chin. He ducks fighters. He ducks punchers. Every puncher that he has to fight, he ducks them. He vacated his title because he didn't want to fight Diaconu. He vacated his title because he didn't want to fight me. He fought four old men. He ran from Glen Johnson [during their fight] and now he's going to fight Jean Pascal because Jean Pascal has two broken shoulders. He's fighting an injured man," Cloud told BoxingScene.com. "When are you going to fight someone healthy and strong and young?"
Cloud is happy with his win over Johnson. He doesn't buy Johnson's version of the events, where the veteran claimed he wasn't hurt in the contest.
"I started off kind of slow. But then I picked my shots. I was explosive. I hurt Glen Johnson like he had never hurt before. He was hurt. Everybody knew he was hurt. He didn't really hide it that good," Cloud said.
There is still some controversy over the gloves which Cloud wore to the ring that night. As BoxingScene reported last Saturday at the late hour, Cloud switched his gloves prior to the fight. Both sides agreed to a certain Everlast model with a red color. Cloud came to the ring with a pair of black gloves and the gloves were a different model from what was agreed upon for the fight. The local commission has the gloves. Johnson retained well known boxing attorney Patrick English who made a request for the gloves to be examined and tested for any improper factors.
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