Quote Originally Posted by killersheep View Post
unenthusiastic because he kept getting blasted in the face, have you watched that fight yet?
Yes...Tavoris (probably dude to Don King being his promoter) has been out in the cold in trying to line up important fights at light heavyweight. He fought Campillo and was under prepared and unenthusiastic. Since then Cloud has swapped trainers and he's been in Big Bear preparing for this fight and it is a big one, one that should he win could land him a match vs Dawson or Pascal (who ducked Cloud last time). I think Cloud was just frustrated by the Campillo fight in general, he was getting looked over for big fights and after a while that goes from being "insulting" to a "well this guy is a punk, I don't need to give 100% to beat him"...its bad mentally for a fighter to feel unchallenged & overlooked, it lulls them into a state of complacency

Bernard Hopkins is still a very cagey technical fighter, he's by no means an easy ask even at his advanced age. Cloud should cut the ring off, avoid clinches & roughhouse tactics (or directly show B-Hop you're too strong for that crap), Bernard will try to make the fight a dirty ugly mess. Cloud must keep his hands free & firing, but also not allow for Hopkins to keep him at the end of his jab. Cloud must be energized & dynamic to beat Hopkins.