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08/25/2007 Archived Entry: "Cloud Performs ‘Tallahassee Slide’ on Herrera, Flattening Him in Five!"
Cloud Performs ‘Tallahassee Slide’ on Herrera, Flattening Him in Five!
Photos and story by Juan C. Ayllon at ringside
Tavoris Cloud walks to a neutral corner as referee John O'Brien intervenes and Jose Herrera collapses face first
CHICAGO—Blocking and slipping punches one moment, and hurling gloved missiles the next, light heavyweight bombers Tavoris Cloud and Jose Herrera roused the packed crowd at the Congress Theatre to a loud buzz. Behind high guards, they appeared to be engaged in a dangerous, high-speed synchronized dance. With concussive blows exploding left and right, tolerance for errors was minimal.
Like smelling rain just before it comes, there was a communal sense that someone was going to get caught clean and their dance would end abruptly—and sooner than later. Of course, it didn’t hurt that 6’ 1” Herrera had 14 knockouts in 14 wins, the undefeated Cloud had 14 knockouts in 15 wins and 8 Count Productions publicist Bernie Bahrmasel could be heard telling several ringsiders, “He’s our next world champion…inside 18 months.”
Would the tall, dark and dour Herrera, clad in black, upset their plans? Or could the 5’ 10” Cloud, girded in tiger-striped shorts and appearing chiseled from ebony, deliver against such a brute?
Fighting on even terms the first couple rounds, Cloud began asserting himself in the third and fourth, jarring Herrera at the end of the latter stanza with what appeared to be a right to the head.
However, Cloud got the worst of it when their heads clashed in the fourth round, opening a bothersome cut on the outside of Cloud’s left eyebrow.
Blood spurts from the cut over Cloud's left eye as he attacks Herrera (left) on the ropes
Then, early in the fifth, Herrera really opened up the cut with punishing blows. Blood seeping down into his eye, Cloud took on a sense of urgency. Stepping up his attack, Cloud backed Herrera to the ropes and pounded him with fierce lefts and rights on the inside. Hurting Herrera with a left to the jaw, Cloud pounced. He pursued Herrera from one set of ropes to the other. Trapping him in a corner, he landed a short, crunching right uppercut to the chin. Herrera collapsed. Rising at about the five count, Herrera faltered and was waved off at 1:45 into the fifth round.
“He was hurt about three punches before that, said referee John O’Brien. “His eyes weren’t clear and he was obviously unstable.”
Referee John O'Brien directs Cloud to a neutral corner
With the win, Tallahassee, Florida’s Cloud, 176 lbs., advances to 16-0 and 15 knockouts, while San Onofre, Columbia’s Herrera, 177 lbs., slipped to 14-4 with 14 knockouts.
Rosales (right) fires a right to the head of Licona on the ropes
He wore basic black trunks with his nickname, “Bronco,” emblazoned across the front and a pair of white stripes running down each leg. However, his approach to boxing was less than conventional as the loose-limbed Guadalupe Rosales, 24-1, 17 knockouts carried his hands low, weaved, battered and dominated the durable but overmatched Marcos Licona—who wore traditional Mexican colors of green, red and white on his trunks and sported a record of 23-9-1 and nine knockouts—over 10 rounds.
Rosales jarred Licona several times in the first and second rounds behind aggressive volleys of lefts and rights. In the third, Licona stepped up and rallied, as Rosales appeared to back off a bit. However, Rosales resumed the mugging in the third and fourth through the sixth, repeatedly beating Licona to the punch with sharp, sneaky left uppercuts, straight rights and other jarring blows to the head and body. Still, Licona pressed forward behind a high guard, worked the body and made a fight out of it.
In the sixth, it appeared that Rosales might be on the cusp of stopping Licona, snapping his head repeatedly with sharp blows that wobbled him.
Licona (right) lands a right to the head of Rosales on the ropes
Clearly frustrated by the sustained pounding, Licona trapped Rosales on the ropes and unleashed a tempest of lefts and rights at the end of the seventh round.
Stepping up his domination, Rosales uncorked a flourish of blows to body and head in the tenth and final round, repeatedly battering Licona about the ring. Licona refused to fold, however. Storming back, he dug a very low right to Rosales’ cup, buying him time. After warning him, referee Pete Podgorski had the ring doctor examine the cuts above Licona’s eyes. Resuming battle, Rosales continued battering Licona’s head to and fro. Alas, he didn’t have the punch to finish him. Bleeding from two cuts above both eyes, Licona slugged back and remained erect at the bell.
The ending came as expected, with judges scoring the bout unanimously 100-90 thrice for Rosales, who hails from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Licona represented Mexico City, Mexico.
Alvarado, left, jolts Padilla with a ripping left uppercut, knocking him back and raising his left foot off the ground
The human body can only tolerate so much abuse. And after absorbing a pounding for the better part of the bout, Mexico City’s Jorge Padilla succumbed to the stepped up pounding of Thornton, Colorado’s Mike Alvarado, with referee Gerald Scott jumping in at 2:48 into round eight.
Trapping him on the ropes, Alvarado tees off on Padilla
“He was just getting hit with two many clean shots,” said referee John O’Brien from ringside. “He’s got a lot of heart, but he can’t take his firepower. I’d be willing to bet that he usually fights at junior welterweight, not welterweight.”
Padilla was dropped from a left hook in the third round, but it appeared to be more the result of an off-balance shot. With the win, welterweight prospect Alvarado, 144.5 lbs., rises to 18-0 and 12 knockouts, while Padilla (144.5 lbs.) slips to 7-4 with one knockout.
Clinton (right) slugs away at Suarez on the ropes
Middleweights Jonathan Suarez (158 lbs. in his pro debut) and Eric Clinton (160 lbs., 0-1) fought a surprising barn-burner of a fight, with Clinton controlling a lot of the action behind aggressive punching, but Suarez slugging back effectively, nearly stopping Clinton in the fourth and final round. Clinton wobbled to his corner after the bell.
Suarez, right, traps Clinton on the ropes and returns the favor, as referee Gerald Scott looks on
Judges scored the bout 38-38, 38-38 and 39-37 for Suarez, resulting in a majority draw.
Nekrasas, left, batters Hedrick
Down goes Hedrick!
Up and coming Chicago cruiserweight Deividas Nekrasas, 195.5 lbs., 2-0, 2 knockouts battered the game, but outgunned Kearney, Nebraska's Dustin Hedrick, 193 lbs., 1-0, knocking him down twice in the second round, the second for keeps—courtesy of a wicked left hook to the jaw followed by a smashing right—as referee John O’Brien waved it off at 2:26 into the second round for a second round knockout.
Taylor, left, and Montalvo trade along the ropes
In an entertaining scrap, debuting Chicago super middleweight Gerald Taylor, 171 lbs., dropped Omaha, Nebraska's Nick Montalvo, 168 lbs., 2-4 and one knockout with a flashing left hook to the jaw, and then rocked him with a follow-up left hook that caused referee Pete Podgorski to halt matters at 1:01 into the third round.
Referee Podgorski is about to intervene as Montalvo, right, gets rocked by a wicked left hook from Taylor (center)
Tavoris Cloud, center, poses with his corner after his victory
Make no mistake about it: this evening’s proceedings were not to be mistaken for some safety-first dance card. They were hard-fought fights with some ring science thrown in. Promoted by Bob Arum's Top Rank and Dominic Pesoli's 8 Count Productions, the show lived up to Arum's recent dictum that fighters featured on his shows will fight. And that they did.
As for Tavoris Cloud, make no mistake about it: He had to box as never before against a dangerous puncher with a solid defense intent on knocking him out. With lessons learned in this victory, Cloud might just prove 8 Count Productions publicist Bernie Bahrmasel correct and, within 18 months, slide his way into a world title crown, Tallahassee style--with punches aplenty. So far, it’s looking pretty good.
Chicago middleweight prospect, Victor Polyakov, posing at ringside before doors opened for the evening's fights at the Congress Theatre
Pulled up to the curb near the Congress Theatre, World Boxing Council Lightweight title holder David Diaz, on the right, chats on his cell phone from his wife Tanya's sports utility vehicle
