The theme of the evening at the Seminole Hard Rock was pressure and strength trumps experience and precision as Juan Urango and Tavoris Cloud both came away with excellent wins over their very accomplished opponents.
In the main event we saw the challenger Randall Bailey play the part of matador to the champion Juan Urango . Urango 6 years his junior plodded forward all night with a strong focus at Bailey’s body. Bailey worked at angles to stop the slow moving Urango from setting his feet when close.Bailey accomplished exactly what he set out for early as he outlanded Urango to the head and was able to drop a thunderous straight rightthat put Urango on his back and opened a cut under his right eye.
As the fight continued however the tide began to turn. Urango was able to get to Bailey’s body more as Bailey, convinced that he could take Urango out, began to widen his stance and move less. This became his undoing as Urango caught Bailey with a clean left that put him on the canvas and left him on queer street until the end of the fight came in the 10th . Urango performed as he has in most of his bouts with relentless pressure and provided once again to be super strong with an iron chin. I would love to see Juan Diaz vs. Juan Urango next.This bout would certainly be a tough one for Diaz but packed with lots of action..
In retrospect this fight was really a battle of a relentless one dimensional fighter against an experienced one handed fighter. Bailey is extremely frustrating to watch as it seems if he could commit to his jab he has the potential to jump tothe upper echelon of boxers in the division. But sadly it is very difficult to teach an old dog new tricks.
The first fight of the double header was IBF number one contender Tavoris Cloud versus number 2 contender Clinton Woods for the vacant IBF World light heavyweight championship.From the start Cloud was the picture of youth and strength putting fantastic pressure on the more experienced Woods . Woods was able to establish his jab supremacy in rounds 2 and 3 but after that the body punching and thunderous left hook of Cloud was the story. Woods showed that he really didn’t want the fight enough. Woods inability to adapt to Cloud’s pressure resulted in a badly swollen face and a unanimous decision loss. Cloud was a lot of fun to watch in thisbout and from now on the sky is the limit.
Watching Cloud is reminiscent of James Kirkland.Relentless and explosive, Cloud is a breath of fresh air in the light heavyweight division. Woods showed that Cloud still needs a lot of work on his strategic game. I think that pitting Cloud versus Dawson would be a disaster at this point. Cloud needs to keep active and work on his defense. With a few years and proper management I think Cloud could become a great force at both light heavy and cruiserweight.
