Before this fight, it was hard to find a pundit that picked Clinton Woods to win this bout. This proved to be absolutely correct as Woods struggled with the pace that the younger Cloud was able to fight at.
How Woods vs. Cloud Went
The opening round was competitive, but Cloud started fast and took the session on workrate alone. His bodywork was effective, but Woods made sure he also stayed busy; jabbing well from the outside.
Woods had arguably his best round in the fight in the second. He was controlling range and using his reach well, as well as being very accurate, something that Cloud could not boast about.
The tide turned in the third though, and Cloud showed that whenever he upped his workrate, Woods just couldn't cope. He carried on working the body, but Woods was still very much a live threat. The fourth went in very much the same way.
Round five could be given to the veteran. While neither utilised a good workrate, Woods was typically accurate and this should have been enough to take the round.
In the sixth and seven rounds, Cloud worked hard and was winning clearly. Woods kept straying on the inside when he should have been using his reach, and Cloud was making him pay for these incorrect tactics.
Cloud managed to hurt Woods in the eighth. After a mean looking left hook, Woods stumbled and had to see out the round by protecting himself on the ropes. The youth of the Florida native was really starting to tell.
Woods recovered well though and used his wealth of experience to his advantage. Despite this, Cloud picked his shots well, and quite impressively didn't just run in and try to blow a hurt Woods out of the water.
He did take the tenth and eleventh rounds easily though, although Woods made the eleventh as tricky as he could for the hot prospect.
Clinton Woods carried on the hard work to take the twelfth round, but Cloud was way too far ahead for this to matter. Cloud knew he had the fight in the bag by this point.
The Judges Render Their Decisions
All three judges scored the bout 116-112 to Cloud, making him the new IBF World Light Heavyweight champion. These were definitely fair scores.
Where Now For Cloud And Woods?
After his victory tonight, Cloud has some serious bargaining power within the Light Heavyweight division. He may now look to renew interest in a fight pitting him against Chad Dawson, which would be a winnable fight for him.
As for Woods, there seems to be two options. One is retirement, and the second is a fight against up and comer Nathan Cleverly who has already called out the Sheffield veteran. While he has faced better fighters, Cleverly would pose a significant threat as he is undefeated and most definitely on the way up.
