by James Slater – The promoter of Clinton Woods, Dennis Hobson, has been working hard to get the former IBF light-heavyweight champion a big fight for his next outing. According to a news article that has appeared in the Sheffield Star, Hobson has been trying to iron out a deal for Woods to face former conqueror Roy Jones Junior in a rematch that would take place at The Sheffield Arena.. Failing that fight being made, Woods may well wind up facing the unbeaten Tavoris Cloud instead.
Apparently, Hobson has only a few days to finalise a deal with the Jones Junior camp, whereby the all-time great and former pound-for-pound king who stopped Woods in six rounds back in 2002 would come to Sheffield for a rematch. According to The Star, Jones is willing to come if the money is right. However, herein lies the problem. The money would come from the T.V rights to the fight, but, as was the case with the Carl Froch-Jermain Taylor fight a while back, the money is so tight over here the fight may not be affordable to any U.K T.V companies.
Woods’ main aim is to get back the IBF belt he lost in such disappointing fashion to Antonio Tarver last April, but he would also relish the opportunity to get revenge over Jones.
“Clinton would love to fight the man who beat him in 2002,” Hobson said. “But I have only got a few days to make the [financial] numbers up. But all is not lost if it can’t be fixed.”
Hobson then spoke about the possible Woods-Cloud fight. Back in February of this year Woods beat Elvir Muriqi in an IBF elimination bout. Cloud, meanwhile, earned his shot at the IBF crown last August, when he became the only man to stop the teak-tough Mexican Julio Cesar Gonzalez. Hobson feels current IBF 175-pound boss Chad Dawson’s vacation of the title is imminent, and that his man could then face Cloud this year – in either September or October.
“I believe Chad Dawson will vacate his world title soon which will mean the number two and three contenders Tavoris Cloud and Clinton will fight for the title instead,” Hobson said. “That could be September or October. Winning his world title back is appealing to Clinton.”
It seems, then, that whichever match Woods lands he is in for a big fight before the year is out. Many people thought he was finished after he was so clearly out-pointed by Tarver last April, but the 37-year-old has since bounced back with the commanding points win over “The Kosovo Kid.”
Both Woods-Jones II and Woods-Cloud are appealing and intriguing fights. Jones is not the man he was when he comprehensively TKO’d Woods seven years ago, and Cloud, though a red hot talent with power and skill, is still somewhat untested at top level.
Though the Jones camp said they would be willing to travel to Sheffield for the Woods fight if the money was right, that fight does have the look of a long shot about it. The Cloud fight – a clash of top ranked IBF light-heavyweight contenders – looks a far more likely fight in my view.
Who knows, Clinton Woods may be just one win away from getting a chance to regain the world title he held from March of 2005 to April of 2008!