Tavoris Cloud Brings the Thunder, Juan Urango Brings the Pain

Michael Nelson gives his thoughts on last night's FNF show.

Tavoris Cloud and Juan Urango delivered career performances against game opposition last night in a very solid Friday Night Fights doubleheader. Cloud captured his first world title at 27 years old while Urango retained his IBF strap in the gripping main event.

Cloud's opponent didn't come from the UK to lay down. The grizzled Clinton Woods fought the Tallahassee, Florida native on even terms through the early going, which included a second round that had Woods snapping off a variety of hard uppercuts and straight right hands. It looked like the beginnings of a long night for young Tavoris.

But Cloud found a groove in the middle rounds, being more selective with his punches while landing sharp counters against his taller foe. His James Toneyesque shoulder-roll-right-hand was especially effective in snapping Clinton's head back. Once he began digging in with beautiful triple left hooks - one to the head, one to the midsection, and another one up top as Woods would pull back - he started doing damage. A series of hooks left Woods in serious trouble in the ninth round.

The heart and resiliency he displayed in his trilogy against Glen Johnson though was still evident at 37 years old. Woods refused to go down as Cloud rained blows on him, and came back to hold his own during the championship rounds. Surprisingly, all three scorecards at the end read 116-112, which meant the judges in Cloud's hometown gave Woods most, if not all, of the close rounds. After last week, it was nice to be reminded that hometown bias isn't a guarantee in boxing.

What is guaranteed is action whenever Tavoris steps inside the ring. A showdown with Glen Johnson would be breathtaking. Fights with Jean Pascal or Chad Dawson wouldn't be short of thrills either. Let's just hope he's more active as a titlist than he was as a contender.

Juan Urango had his own set of problems as a belt holder in the main event, getting put on his back for the first time in his career.

The fight went as expected through five rounds. The brute southpaw stalked Randall Bailey and tore into his body while mixing in clubbing right hooks and left hands. Randall tried to maintain distance, paw with his jab, and drop in the occasional right hand.

The script was flipped in the sixth. One of those right hands deposited Urango on the canvas, and for a moment it looked as if he wasn't going to get up. Using the same recovery skills he showed when Nasser Athumani badly staggered him two years ago, he managed to beat the count and make it out of the round without further issue. But he was now sporting a nasty cut and lump under his right eye.

Juan went back to work immediately. He continued chopping Bailey down, taking his older opponent's legs piece by piece with every thudding body punch landed. In the ninth round, Bailey's legs were completely gone as a left hand took him off his feet. He struggled up at the count of nine and suffered a sustained beating until trainer John David Jackson rightly called an end to the proceedings in the 11th.

Urango's flaws are what they are; he has cement feet, and even after seven years of fighters tying him up on the inside, he still refuses to work inside a clinch. He may always struggle against a quick, durable opponent. But match him correctly, and blood and drama will not be far behind.

A dry FNF season ended with a monsoon thanks to all four combatants. Hopefully, it sets the pace for the remainder of 2009.

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Juan Urango vs Randall Bailey Preview

Lee Payton breaks down tonights FNF junior-welterweight match-up between Juan Urango and Randall Bailey.

On tonight's edition of Friday Night Fights, 140 lb brute, Juan Urango defends his title belt against KO artist, Randall Bailey in what should be a hard-hitting affair. This is a must win fight for both men. As silly as the sanctioning organizations are these days, this fight is an example of their rare usefulness. You have two hungry veterans swapping heavy leather for a title that actually means something. Even if it's not for the real title, that strap is the world to these guys right now. I think they'll fight like never before.

Urango is solid. Solid in build, chin and punch. It's been enough to get him love from those who hand out these belts, but he has not get it done in the big show. Andre Berto and Ricky Hatton did enough to keep him out of the fight for the majority of 12 rounds, but it says something about the man's quality as a fighter that those are the only two losses in 24 fights.

At his best, the Colombian rolls forward like a tank. Steadily coming behind thick armor with blasts to the opponents heart, lungs and liver. No one has managed to tear through his own defenses so far, he has basically just run out of time. Does Bailey have enough ammunition left to shock Urango?

Well, he did score a devastating knockout over another left hander in his last fight. In fact, this will be his third consecutive contest against a southpaw, so his hands and feet should be ready for the looks coming his way. He knows what he has to do in there. Can he do it for 36 minutes at 34 years old, against a guy who doesn't take backwards steps? He may have to.

Many would argue that Bailey has improved in the last few years and I think there is something to that. The loss he suffered to Ngoudjo last year could have gone either way in the eyes of many fans, and he showed that he could operate some by using his legs to stay on the outside.

I think this one has the potential to be a lot of fun. The two fighters aren't exactly there to protect their hands...

In trying to pin down a winner, I recalled Diosbelys Hurtado chopping Bailey down with nasty body shots. Urango has big time power downstairs. I'll take those loud whacks to the ribs to decide this one.

Email Lee Payton

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Bailey Tops Figeuroa with Highlight Reel KO

Andrew Fruman recaps last night's FNF main event.

Randall Bailey can still crack.

Just ask Frankie Figueroa. The southpaw battler was the victim of a picture perfect straight as an arrow right hand. The punch landed flush on the jaw and sent Figueroa crashing backwards to the canvas where he was counted out at 1:46 of the 4th round. He was down for several minutes, before being helped to his stool and eventually to his feet.

It was a spectacular finish to an entertaining fight that saw both fighters floored during the opening two frames.

Bailey scored the first knockdown less than a minute into the 1st round, catching Figueroa with a straight right hand along the ropes. Luckily for Figueroa, the punch was only a glancing blow, and he was up almost immediately.

Despite tasting the canvas early, Figueroa showed no fear of his power punching rival, and stood in there looking to land his own shots. His moment came a little before the halfway mark of round two, when he caught the taller Bailey with a glancing right hook on the side of the head. Bailey stumbled into the ropes, before going down and while he wasn’t badly hurt, he didn’t look completely steady when he got up.

Figueroa tried to follow up, but the experienced Bailey slipped a hook and forced a couple clinches. If there were any ill-effects from the knockdown, they didn’t last long, and after a relatively uneventful 3rd round, Bailey ended matters midway through the 4th with the stunning straight right.

With the highlight reel knockout, the resurgent 34 year old has earned himself another shot at a strap, as he’s now owns the mandatory spot for Juan Urango’s title. With the rugged Colombian moving up to challenge Andre Berto next month, just who Bailey might face for that belt is very much up in the air.

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