Around the Net: Tavoris Cloud vs Glen Johnson Edition

Though not billed as the feature attraction on tonight's HBO telecast, the light-heavyweight match-up between Tavoris Cloud (174 1/2) and Glen Johnson (173) could very well steal the show.  Cloud likes to rumble - as does Johnson - and unless the Jamaican has really slipped, chances are we'll be see an intense give and take struggle with plenty of leather exchanged.

Let's take a look at some of the pre-fight buzz from around the net...

Bad Left Hook Fight Previews: Alexander-Kotelnik and Cloud-Johnson

I'm finding it difficult to even discuss this fight without a ton of open questions. And that's why I like it so much, and have liked it so much since it was announced the first time. Cloud (20-0, 18 KO) and Johnson are meeting at something of a crossroads, and they both have a lot to prove still. Cloud wants to prove he's for real at 175, and possibly earn a fight with the winner of Dawson-Pascal next weekend. Johnson is a fighter, plain and simple, and always comes to win. It should be a good one. I'm going with the younger fighter simply because when there are this many questions about a fight, I tend to err on the side of conventional wisdom, and with this matchup, that leans toward Cloud's youth and activity. But I'm not totally sure what to expect out of this fight at all. I can't wait to see it. Cloud UD-12

The Queensbury Rules - Showcasing A Fighter, Showcasing A Fight: Previews And Predictions For Devon Alexander Vs. Andriy Kotelnik And Tavoris Cloud Vs. Glen Johnson

Part of me thinks that the old man can pull it off, that Cloud might not be ready for the kind of heat Johnson can bring and that Johnson's more intelligent punching might trump Cloud's more voluminous punching. Another part of me thinks Johnson might get knocked out for the first time since facing Bernard Hopkins in 1997. Most of me, though, is thinking that if Cloud can't KO no-defense Woods, he won't KO the some-defense Johnson -- but I have a hard time seeing how the slower (in speed and in work rate) Johnson doesn't lose most rounds of this fight, maybe mustering a late rally that will amount to his career's last hurrah. Cloud, by UD, is most likely.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Cloud brings thunder to ring

Cloud is, in many ways, like Alexander, but from Tallahassee, Fla. Both came out of tough parts of their hometowns (both have brothers who are in prison) and both have gotten their boxing careers off to sparkling starts. Both are 20-0 and won their first world titles last August. (This will be Cloud's first defense, while it will be Alexander's second.) Cloud, however, is five years older and about 35 pounds heavier.

ESPN - When opportunity knocks, Glen Johnson answers

"I don't think Glen Johnson is the fighter that he used to be, and I don't think I will have any problems winning the fight," said Cloud, of Tallahassee, Fla. Wasn't he at least a little impressed by how he thrashed Mack? "I'm not impressed," he said. "Not impressed. I watched the fight. I watched the Johnson and Yusaf Mack fight, and to me it didn't look like Yusaf Mack was in any kind of shape to be fighting. He basically gave up. I don't believe that Glen Johnson was fighting a fighter who had a strong mind that night. I can look at Yusaf Mack, and I know that [Johnson will] be fighting a different kind of fighter in me."

Boxing FanHouse - Glen Johnson Looks to Defy Age Against Tavoris Cloud

"My mentality is that I'm blessed. I'm one of those elite few that can still do sports at that age where most people say that you shouldn't be able to do it. I'm very thankful that I'm able to do what I do at this age, and you know, I don't know what the answer is," said Johnson, whose birthday is on January 2. "People ask me all of the time how I do it. I just train hard and I don't have any bad habits as far as drinking or smoking or drugs or anything like that. I don't let that play a part," said Johnson. "I don't know if it's genes. I don't know what it is. But I'm still able to do it well and I'm doing it and I just try to go out there and represent myself well each and every time."