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| Date | March 9, 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Barclays Center,Brooklyn, New York,U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | IBF light heavyweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hopkins wins via unanimous decision (117–111, 116–112, 116–112) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tavoris Cloud vs.Bernard Hopkins was a professional boxing match contested on March 9, 2013, for theIBF light heavyweight title.[1]
In his last fight, Bernard Hopkins had lost theWBC andThe Ring light heavyweight titles toChad Dawson on April 28, 2012. It was not immediately known if the 47-year old Hopkins would fight again, with Hopkins himself expressing to the media "I could be a mentor in the game if I choose to go out that way" after the fight.[2] However, in November of that year, it was announced byGolden Boy Promotions CEORichard Schaefer that Hopkins would indeed return on March 9, 2013, to face one of the reigning light heavyweight champions at the time; IBF champion Tavoris Cloud,WBO championNathan Cleverly orWBA championBeibut Shumenov at theBarclays Center inBrooklyn.[3] The following month, Cloud was officially announced to be Hopkins opponent, with the IBF approving the fight in January after both fighters agreed to face mandatory challengerKaro Murat should they win.[4][5] The bout was planned to be aired onShowtime'sShowtime Championship Boxing, butHBO, who had long broadcast Hopkins fights, stepped in and made a deal with Golden Boy Promotions to air the fight instead.[6]
In the months leading into the fight, Cloud fired his longtime trainer Al Bonanni and parted ways with his manager Jerry Attardi, enlistingAbel Sanchez as his new trainer and hip hop mogulJames Prince as his new manager. Cloud mentioned that he had no "bad feelings" with Bonanni but "needed somebody with a more open mind and that happened to be Abel Sanchez."[7] Sanchez likened the bout to theRay Leonard–Terry Norris fight 22 years before, in which Norris, whom Sanchez trained, convincingly defeated the aging Leonard, predicting Cloud would do the same to Hopkins.[8]
Hopkins controlled the pace of the fight, thoroughly out landing Cloud in total punches and using his defense to stymie Cloud's offense. Though largely a tactical affair like most Hopkins fights, Hopkins did open a large cut above Cloud's left eye after landing a short left hook during the sixth round. Hopkins would land 41% of his total punches thrown and nearly half of his 227 thrown power punches while keeping Cloud to land just 21% (139 of 650) of his thrown punches.[9] The fight would ultimately go the full 12-round distance with all three judges scoring the fight in Hopkins favor with two scores of 116–112 and one score of 117–111.
With the victory, Hopkins became the oldest fighter to win a major world title, breaking the record he himself set when he beatJean Pascaltwo years earlier at age 46.[10]
Confirmed bouts:[11]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Heavyweight | 175 lbs. | Bernard Hopkins | def | Tavoris Cloud | UD | 12/12 | Note 1 |
| Welterweight | 147 lbs. | Keith Thurman | def. | Jan Zaveck (c) | UD | 12/12 | Note 2 |
| Lightweight | 135 lbs. | Michael Perez | vs. | Lonnie Smith | D | 10/10 |
^Note 1 ForIBF light heavyweight title
^Note 2 For WBO Inter-Continental welterweight title and WBO Welterweight title eliminator
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light middleweight | 154 lbs. | Eddie Gomez | def | Javier Gomez Rueda | TKO | 1/8 | |
| Light middleweight | 154 lbs. | Frank Galarza | def. | Guillermo Ibarra | TKO | 2/6 | |
| Light heavyweight | 175 lbs. | Marcus Browne | def. | Josh Thorpe | TKO | 1/4 | |
| Cruiserweight | 200 lbs. | Stivens Bujaj | def. | Zeferino Albino | UD | 4 | |
| Bantamweight | 118 lbs. | Claude Staten Jr | def. | Mike Hill | UD | 4 |
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Australia | Main Event |
 Hungary | Sport 1 |
 Norway | Viasat Sport |
 Panama | RPC |
 Poland | Polsat Sport |
 United Kingdom | BoxNation |
 United States | HBO |
| Preceded by | Tavoris Cloud's bouts 9 March 2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Bernard Hopkins's bouts 9 March 2013 | Succeeded by |