by James Slater – The intriguing IBF light-heavyweight title elimination bout between tough warriors Yusaf Mack and Glen Johnson, that had its original date of Jan. 30th scrapped due to the Berto-Mosley fight not happening, is back on for Miami, Florida on February 5th. Now to headline on ESPN’s Friday Night fights series, the fight, hugely important for both men, figures to get a good audience.
Mack, the younger man by eleven years at age 30, was most upset the January date fell through, having worked himself into optimum shape as he let us know he had. The 28-2-2(17) contender, who is unbeaten as a light-heavyweight, will be most pleased now that the fight is back on – even if it will not now take place under the glittering lights of Las Vegas..
Johnson, too will no doubt be relieved. With both guys knowing they have everything to fight for, with the winner assured a shot at current IBF 175-pound champ Tavoris Cloud, a great battle can be expected. Presumably, with the fight now taking place just less than a week later than it should have done, both men’s training and preparations will not have been too badly affected.
Sticking with my original prediction that said Mack would out-point the 49-13-2(33) former world champion, it will be interesting to see if I’m right. Also of interest is when the winner will get his shot at unbeaten IBF champ Cloud.
The 28-year-old and peaking Cloud is set to box again on March 26th in Las Vegas, against a yet to be announced foe. Coming off his title-winning victory over the durable and experienced Clinton Woods as he is, Cloud will be looking forward to making his first defence. March 26th looks way too early for the Johnson-Mack winner to be able to take Cloud on, so who will the all-action 20-0(18) champion face next?
Whoever Cloud faces in what will be his Las Vegas debut, it’s a good thing he is back in action after seven months, instead of being forced to remain idle for a year as he was leading up to the fight with Woods. Seven months is still a fair amount of time for a young and peaking champion to have had to wait for his next fight, but at least it’s less than 12 months!
A exciting fighter who is fun to watch, Cloud could well become a star one day. Again, it’s unlikely he will meet the winner of Mack-Johnson, his mandatory challenger, next, but going by the venue, it’s safe to assume Cloud will be in with a pretty big name. Then, if he wins and holds onto his belt and unbeaten record, we will look ahead to Cloud Vs. either Mack or the long-time servant to boxing known as “The Road Warrior.”