Bellew poised to get title shot against Stevenson-Cloud winner

07/26/201307/25/2013 Michael Collins

bellew64 Tony Bellew (20-1, 12 Ko’s) failed the last time he got a title shot against WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly in losing a 12 round majority decision to him two years ago in October 2011. Bellew, 30, is now on the cusp of getting another world title shot, this time against the winner of the Adonis Stevenson vs. Tavoris Cloud fight.

Bellew is tentatively scheduled to fight the winner of that bout on November 30th, which just happens to be Bellew’s birthday. I seriously doubt it being his birthday is going to help him beat either Stevenson or Cloud, because those guys are a step up from Bellew’s recent opponent Isaac Chilemba. We just saw Bellew struggle badly against Chilemba twice and look terrible both times.

WBC gives permission for Adonis Stevenson v. Tavoris Cloud fight to go ahead

07/10/2013 Michael Collins

The World Boxing Council has given permission for WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (21-1, 18 KO’s) to make a voluntary defense against former IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-1, 19 KO’s), according to Steve Kim.

This means that that the 35-year-old Stevenson can bypass his mandatory title defense against challenger Tony Bellew. I’m sure Bellew won’t like this news because he had been hoping that he’d be next in line to face Stevenson after he beat Isaac Chilemba recently to become his mandatory.

Bernard Hopkins and Cloud: A Battle of Old Versus New

03/11/201303/08/2013 ESB

By Jack Scales: Age and time eventually catching up with us are two inevitabilities we are faced with in this life. However, one man who has continued to evade this fact, is none other than Philadelphia’s treasured son, Bernard ‘The Executioner’ Hopkins. For years, critics, fighters and trainers alike, have predicted his fall from the upper echelons of the sport, but as every boxing fan knows he has constantly proven his doubters wrong, whilst simultaneously defying common trends in human biology.

Throughout his 40s, he has systematically broken down a vast number of much younger fighters who were touted to finally put an end to his illustrious career. Despite the best efforts of these young pretenders, at 48, B-Hop remains a major force in the Light Heavyweight division, and on Saturday night he will again challenge for a world title. This time, it will be against the IBF belt holder, Tavoris Cloud. Judging on Bernard’s performance against Chad Dawson, perhaps father time is finally catching up on the slick veteran, but as history has shown us, his opponents should count him out at their own peril.

Hopkins to challenge Cloud for IBF 175 lb title on 3/9 in Brooklyn

12/17/201212/16/2012 ESB

By Bill Phanco: 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KO’s) faces IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-0, 19 KO’s) on March 9th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Hopkins wants to win another world title, and he’ll be 48 by the time this fight takes place, making him one of the oldest world champions.

Bernard Hopkins to fight on March 9th in Brooklyn, Cleverly, Shumenov and Cloud possible opponents

12/12/201212/11/2012 ESB

By Bill Phanco: Former two division world champion Bernard Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KO’s) will be fighting on March 9th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The possible opponent will be picked from one of these fighters: Nathan Cleverly, Beibut Shumenov and Tavoris Cloud.

It’s safe to say that Cleverly won’t be the one getting the fight because he has a mandatory title defense coming up against his mandatory challenger Robin Krasniqi in February, and he’s got to take that fight if he doesn’t want to risk getting stripped by the World Boxing Organization for failure to defend against his mandatory.

Hopkins will be turning 48 in January, and that’s pretty old for a fighter still looking to compete at the world class level. Hopkins looked like he’d lost something from his last two fights with Chad Dawson. He was beaten by Dawson last April by a 12 round majority decision, and before that Hopkins had fought to a 2nd round no contest with him in October last year.