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Williams in a breeze over Ishida - Cloud nips Campillo via split verdict... by George Elsasser
 

Showtime Saturday night twin-bill delivered the goods with mixed bag of busy ring action that had a bit of everything for the enthusiastic fans in attendance - show opens with l/heavyweight action - hard punching undefeated IBF champion Tavoris Cloud in with veteran Gabriele Campillo that would leave little to the imagination over twelve busy stanzas.

Cloud was the quicker out of the gate bringing it to a cautious Campillo - then bingo when late in the stanza a Cloud straight right hand found the mark and Campillo is down - beats the count but looks shaky that has the one called "Thunder" is all over him with a barrage and the game Spaniard falls against the ring strands - third hack in charge Mark Nelson directs Cloud to neutral corner and gives it a standing eight count.

On that note the opening three minutes go into the books as a Cloud 10-7 point advantage - it also takes on the appearance of a quickie for the defending champion.

But not to be, as Campillo surprises the entire joint including Cloud, with an assorted variety of solid punches from both sides of the plate - jabs, hooks and inside uppercuts that has "Thunder" assuming a defensive stance.

The one called "Chico Guapo" would have a big candle three before Cloud would regroup with strong finish to grab numero cuatro - but is also seen bleeding from cut over the left eye.

The entertaining battle for the IBF bauble continued to the final bell with most rounds a coin flip that would be scored in a beauty in the eyes of the beholder that would go in favor of the defending champion to the tune of Cloud 116-110,114-112; Campillo 114-112.

My unofficial saw it Campillo 114-112 in points and 8-4 under the more reliable round by round method.

Post Scripts: Cloud (24-0, 19 KOs) ~ age 30 (5'10") -- No surprise here the "Thunder" sobriquet fits to the letter - mega-power in both mittens. Would like to see him work in style ala Joe Frazier with the bob-and- weave from a crouch. Still, my dime goes with him in return. Gave credit to the taller southpaw with the longer reach.

Campillo (21-4-1, 7 KOs ) ~ age 33 (6'2") -- Tall southpaw uses the long reach with effective jabs and combinations - also unorthodox in movement. Were he a big puncher he'd not have been a stranger to these shores.

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The Paul Williams-Nobuhiro Ishida main event that followed surely had a tough act to follow - but not a chance, altho not due to lack of effort. It was simply a matter of too much Paul Williams in size and quality over the brave Ishida of Osaka, Japan.

Both tall jr. middles - Williams at 6'2" and Ishida 6'1-½" in size - but biggest edge was the bigger, stronger and harder punching Williams busy style while working from the port side.

Only pride, and strong chin construction kept Nobuhiro upright and battling back over the full twelve one-sided stanzas.

Official scoring went Williams 120-108 - my unofficial agreed Williams 120-108 in points and 12-0 under round by round method.

Post Scripts: Paul Williams ( 41-2, 27 KO) ~ age 30 - "Punisher" sobriquet pretty much fits with the fast pace from start to finish. Mixes the offense targeting both body and head. Would have no objections to a Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. … or maybe Miguel Cotto. Flip a coin, on paper it sounds A-OK for the viewer.

               Nobuhiro Ishida (24-7-2, 9KO) ~ age 36 - no loss of face - came to fight while armed with smaller caliber than his opponent - but never tossed in the towel.

 GEO  

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Post-Fight Quotes: Tavoris Cloud and Eric Molina from Corpus Christi

Tavoris Cloud:  "I feel like I won the fight.  I knocked him down a few times and was the aggressor throughout.  I wanted to put him away but sometimes you get it and sometimes you don't.

"I wanted to stay busy and be aggressive.  I did that.  He was a busy fighter, and that's what the crowd here in Corpus Christi responded to.  The difference is I was landing the power shots, and that's what the judges responded to.

"I give Campillo credit.  He's a good fighter and he hung around with me.  I think he looked bad in the judges' eyes for celebrating in the ring thinking he had it won while the fight was still going on.  He forgot he was still in a fight.

"When he was throwing the left uppercut, he was catching me with the laces on his wrist, and I think that caused the cuts over my eyes.

"I was never hurt to the point I couldn't keep coming forward and throwing shots.  I closed the distance between us in the later rounds trying to go to the body and stop him from throwing flurries.

He was another bouncy-bouncy guy.  He couldn't deter me from coming forward."

Eric Molina: "I said before this fight that if I had Arreola hurt I would come right at him, and I did just that.  I landed some big right hands.  He was in trouble and holding on for dear life, but he caught me.  I did my best."

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Williams in a breeze over Ishida - Cloud nips Campillo via split verdict... by George Elsasser