The much anticipated August 11th IBF Light Heavyweight title bout bout between champion Tavoris Cloud and Jean Pascal has been postponed due to a hand injury suffered by Pascal.
“Don (King) called and told us the fight has been postponed but we’re continuing to train,” said Cloud’s trainer Al Bononni from Cloud’s training camp in Ohio.
“It’s disappointing, however, I don’t believe he has a hand injury,” Cloud said. “We believe he was unprepared for the fight on Aug. 11 so he had to use politics and try to maneuver himself out of an ass whipping. I’ll wait for him. It gives me more confidence because I know I got the edge on him and I’m not gonna give up the edge. I’m gonna keep the pressure on him.”
“I just can’t believe he is doing this,” Bonanni said. “I think he has known for some time that he was not fit to fight for whatever reason. He hasn’t fought for (more than a year). We would have just destroyed him. We would have gone through him like (expletive) through a goose. Whether it’s his hand, or his weight, or he has no (expletive), is of no consequence to us. It’s just typical in the life of Tavoris Cloud. We’re always ready and then something comes up.
“We want to reschedule the fight. If he needs 30 days or whatever, we’ll give him the time.”
“(Pascal) has tried hard to fight through it with a cortisone shot and therapy but (Tuesday) morning our doctor, Dr. Francis Fontaine, said he was not giving him medical clearance for the fight,” wrote Pascal’s promoter Yvon Michel
“Jean was in good physical condition, his weight was good, his training camp was excellent and he was on target for his preparation,” Michel said. “He has tried extremely hard to convince us to let him fight believing he could beat Cloud with one hand like he did when he beat Adrian Diaconu with a dislocated shoulder in December 2009 (but) we were not going to let him jeopardize his career taking a fight injured.”
“Tavoris is in great shape and training hard and anxious to fight,” Alan Hopper, King’s spokesman said. “He’s at Don’s camp in Orwell, Ohio, working very hard and ready for this fight. Showtime only called us and told us that the conference call was canceled. But it wasn’t canceled because of any issues with the Cloud side of things.”
“We would have 13-14 weeks in camp by the time of the fight,” Bonanni said. “Our weight is 181 pounds, so we’re in great shape and ready and then we heard Pascal advised that he had injured his hand in training, so he needs to let it mend.”
“We’re going to stick it out in camp and, hopefully, Showtime will be true to their word and deliver this fight,” Bonanni said.
“I learned my lesson,” Cloud said. “I’m keeping the edge this time. I learned from what I’ve been through. I went home for a little while and came back at the beginning of the year, plus I had to change from a short righty (Erdei) to a tall lefty (Campillo). We know how to train now when these fights get postponed. I’m still training, I’ll still go running. I’ll probably go hunting.”
