TAVORIS CLOUD RAINS ON GONZALEZ’S PARADE!!!
HARD EIGHT 8COUNT PROMOTIONS ARAGON BALLROOM, CHICAGO, ILFRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 2008
I was always told to never use the word “never”. But in this case, no other word will do. I have NEVER been to a bad boxing event hosted by Dominic Pesoli’s 8Count Promotions. Anyone in the Chicagoland area could learn a thing or two about running a successful promotion by watching the daily actions of Pesoli, who has been bringing competitive boxing events to the area for many years. ESPN has noticed, and on this night, the FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS crew from ESPN2 made the trip to cover the event, with Joe Tessitore and Shannon Briggs calling the blow-by-blow analysis from ringside. Briggs, the former two-time heavyweight champion of the world, would be filling in for fan favorite Teddy Atlas, who is in Beijing, China with the USA Boxing team. ZAID ZAVALETA UN. DEC6 JOSE NAVARETTE (136 lbs)
What an exciting, rip-roaring opening fight! Wall to wall action, both men in trouble at various points. . . why couldn’t THIS fight have been televised?
It certainly deserved to be. Punching machine Zavaleta (Lyons, IL, 17-4) took on powerhouse Navarette (Chicago, IL, 12-17) in an all-action war from bell to bell. The only problem with this fight is that it wasn’t long enough. Zavaleta’s body attack thumped throughout the entire Aragon Ballroom, and Navarette’s left hooks simply couldn’t miss. Of the two, 
however, Zavaleta had the better combinations, landing an unanswered 8-punch combo in the second round, much to the delight of the near-capacity crowd. Navarette had more success in the third and fourth round, bloodying Zavaleta’s nose with his full-blown attacks with his opponent against the ropes. In fact, Zavaleta was nearly at his mercy on the ropes, but in full command anywhere else. The fight ended with Zavaleta being the forward-moving aggressor, and the judges scored the bout 
60-54, 59-55, and 59-55, all for Zavaleta. The scorecards, admittedly, didn’t tell the entire story, but the cheers from the crowd did, as both combatants were hoisted on their respective trainers’ backs to receive the glory they deserved.(136 lbs) What an exciting, rip-roaring opening fight! Wall to wall action, both men in trouble at various points. . . why couldn’t THIS fight have been televised? It certainly deserved to be.
CARLOS MOLINA UN. DEC8 DONALD CAMARENA (147 lbs) 
The lone blemish on the record of Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. is the draw he received when he first fought Carlos Molina (Appleton, WI, 12-4). should have been an indicator as to the warrior ethic of Molina, who lost a mere majority decision to Chavez a few months later. On this night, his opponent would be Camarena (Arvada, CO, 18-5), and both fighters wanted this victory badly. Molina kept his steady, cautious pace until such time that he could get inside, unleashing his killer body attack. His 1-2 combos were just crushing Camarena, whose best rounds were 4 and 7 with his constant pressure. Molina’s chin was impressive, and it served him well as he received a unanimous decision of 79-73, 79-73, and 78-74.
TAVORIS CLOUD TKO10 JULIO GONZALEZ 
This is the fight that brought ESPN2, along with throngs of fans, to the Aragon Ballroom. Tavoris Cloud (Tallahassee, FL, 19-0, 18 KO’s) is truly a superstar in the making. Heavily muscled, incredibly quick, and being noticed by RING Magazine as part of the future of the lightheavy picture, Cloud already has the look of a champion. But on this night, his opposition would be Gonzalez (Huntington, CA, 41-6), who had, quite simply, “been to the dance before”. Gonzalez had a huge experience advantage over Cloud, with wins over Julian Letterlough, David Telesco, Glen Johnson, Montell 
Griffin, and even gave Dariusz Michalczewski his first professional loss back in 2003. His only losses came from Zsolt Erdei, Clinton Woods (twice), and Reggie Johnson. Oh, yeah. . . he also lost to Roy Jones, Jr. back in 2001, but can that REALLY be held against him? The fight between Cloud and Gonzalez would be youth against experience, speed against a granite chin, and it simply would not disappoint. Heck, even the legendary flag-waver Tomas Mendoza, with his distinctive moustache and bald head brought Gonzalez to the ring, if that was any indication of the scope of this fight.The 
chin that had never before been stopped was truly tested on this night, as Cloud unleashed an attack on it like Gonzalez had probably not seen since his fight with Letterlough (2001). Cloud’s abilities are taking shape nicely, and when he’s attacking, not many men are going to have the ability to withstand it. For the first four rounds, we were treated to a show of Cloud’s abilities; landing power shots while moving forward OR backward, killer rips to the body, and powerful uppercuts and hooks to the head. Then, in round five, Gonzalez turns the tide a bit, landing some power shots of his own. Cloud seemed a bit confused, but not hurt, as if he were asking himself, “How is this man still here?” We had only just begun to ask ourselves that from ringside, but Gonzalez was on his way to winning his first round of the fight when Cloud decided he had tasted enough of Gonzalez’s experience, and rocked his opponent in the corner, nearly ending the fight in the process. Gonzalez was on shaky legs, but to his credit, had lots more fight left in him.
After eating around 40-50 clean headshots in round six, Gonzalez came back in the seventh to clearly win his first round of the night. Was Cloud pacing himself, or out of gas? Cloud wasn’t attacking like he was before, but Gonzalez’s left eye was becoming a purple plum. Staggered throughout rounds eight and nine with renewed energy from Cloud, Gonzalez’s legs were all but gone entering the tenth. But then, all of a sudden, the referee stopped the fight at 2:50 of round 10. No standing eight. No knockdowns. Just. . . stopped. It begs the question, what did the referee see in round ten that he hadn’t already seen for six prior rounds? Gonzalez was upright, still throwing shots, and Cloud was looking better than ever. So why not allow Cloud to score a “real” knockout, which was probably a round away from happening? I hate to see a crowd boo a referee’s decision after a golden performance like Cloud’s, but that’s just what happened. In the end, Cloud stays undefeated, and can now say he’s the only man to have stopped Julio Gonzalez. 
With this IBF lightheavy eliminator under his belt, Cloud lays claim to the sanctioning body’s number one contender spot. But what will this translate into for Cloud? Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver have their IBF title fight coming up, and neither will want to fight a young, undefeated lion like Cloud. His time will come, undoubtedly, but we’ll have to wait and see. For now, let’s let Tavoris Cloud bask in the glory of the biggest win of his career. He deserves at least that.
THERON JOHNSON DEC4 WILLIAM WILLIAMS 
This was an interesting fight to watch, if for no other reason than to see the difference in how 230 pounds can 
be spread throughout one’s body. Johnson is tall and lanky, whereas Williams is short and heavily-muscled. Both had a devil of a time getting to one another, but Johnson (Chicago, 2-1) had slightly better success in this four round affair over Williams (Jackson, MI, 1-1). After a slow start, an accidental clash of heads energized both fighters in the third, but made 
them both a bit timid to engage in the fourth. Johnson was awarded a split decision with scores of 40-36 and 39-37, with one judge awarding it to Williams, 39-37.Williams (Jackson, MI, 1-1).
Other action of the night included:
JOHNATHAN SUAREZ (Burbank, CA, 2-0-2) fought to a majority draw against GUADALUPE DIAZ (Chicago, 4-4-2) in their 147-lb clash. (Burbank, CA, 2-0-2) fought to a majority draw against GUADALUPE DIAZ (Chicago, 4-4-2) in their 147-lb clash.
NICHOLAS CASAL (Las Vegas, NV, 18-3) scored an exciting TKO in the fifth round with a left uppercut over the very game JESUS ZEPEDA (Shelbyville, IN, 16-7) in a 141-lb fight.(Las Vegas, NV, 18-3) scored an exciting TKO in the fifth round with a left uppercut over the very game JESUS ZEPEDA (Shelbyville, IN, 16-7) in a 141-lb fight. .
Special thanks goes out to Dominic Pesoli’s 8Count Promotions, especially Bernie Bahrmasel, for issuing Bolo Punch the credentials to cover this event. This is one promotion that really pays attention to details, like utilizing a venue as unique as the Aragon Ballroom, with its vintage Latino styles and charms, as well as live mariachi musicians treating the audience to outstandingly lively music. All in all, a GREAT night at the fights. Like I said, they NEVER disappoint
