Boxing fans can look forward to a meeting between Tavoris Cloud, here smacking Clinton Woods, and Chad Dawson one day. Photo / Javiel Centeno-fightwireimages.com

Tavoris Cloud’s impressive 12-round decision over former titleholder Clinton Woods added some much-needed youth to a mature 175-pound division and might have paved the way for a showdown between America’s two best light heavyweights younger than 30.

If you’re getting tired of watching Chad Dawson fight Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver, the 40-year-old former champs who have occupied the talented southpaw’s dance card last year and this year, Cloud (20-0, 18 knockouts) is heaven sent.

If the thought of a rematch between 44-year-old Bernard Hopkins and 40-year-old Roy Jones Jr. doesn’t excite you, a boxer-brawler matchup between two hungry undefeated 27-year-old light heavyweights probably does.

Dawson-Cloud might not happen until late next year or even 2011, but the mere prospect of their eventual clash adds life to a division that was getting rather stale with age.

No disrespect to Hopkins, Johnson, Tarver and Jones — all of whom are RING-rated contenders — but they’ve had their time in the spotlight.

The old lions are still world class, they can beat most fighters who are 15 years their junior, but they are not going to be around for much longer. Fans want to know who will be the champions and the potential stars of the next decade.

Dawson, who has been the lone young gun among the elite light heavyweights for the past 2¾ years, has already proven himself with victories over Eric Harding, Tomasz Adamek, Johnson and Tarver.

Despite one year of inactivity, Cloud is well on his way to doing the same with impressive wins over Julio Gonzalez, who he stopped in 10 rounds last August, and Woods.

Although Gonzalez was close to being shopworn when he fought Cloud and Woods was no spring chicken at 37, the Tallahassee, Fla., native appears to be the goods in terms of his ability to fight and entertain.

Cloud has a relentless pressure-fighting style that is similar to Johnson’s but with more speed, power, offensive variety and activity.

Cloud threw over 1,000 punches against Woods on Saturday, and the 5-foot-10 punisher accomplished that feat with a stomach virus and a sore throat, according to the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat, his hometown newspaper.

Imagine what he would have been like if he were 100 percent? Now imagine that healthy version of Cloud pitting his high-volume pressure fighting tactics against Dawson’s speed and athleticism, and then add some bad blood to the equation.

Cloud has a chip on his shoulder where Dawson is concerned. He thinks the Connecticut Yankee has been avoiding him.

When Dawson beat Tarver the first time last October, he didn’t just pick up the IBF title, he inherited Cloud as the mandatory challenger for the belt. The Cloud-Gonzalez fight was an IBF title elimination bout, and according to the sanctioning organization’s bylaws its beltholders must defend against their mandatory challengers within six months.

Cloud thought that meant that he would get his long-awaited shot at a title in February of this year. However, Tarver enacted a rematch clause that forced Dawson to face him again this year. The return bout was scheduled for March but postponed to May after Dawson suffered a hand injury in training.

During this time, Cloud was inactive, choosing not to risk his mandatory position.

He thought he would get his opportunity after the May rematch, but a lack of TV interest in Dawson-Cloud prompted Dawson to relinquish the IBF belt in order to pursue a fight that HBO was willing buy, a rematch with Johnson, which will take place in November.

Cloud, whose highest payday was the $95,000 he made against Woods, says he understands Dawson’s business decision but in the same breath he chastises Dawson for only facing 40-year-old fighters in recent fights.

However, now that Cloud is among the top light heavyweights, he might soon realize that there isn’t much choice but to take on older fighters if one wishes to engage in high-profile bouts. For the past two years, the average age of THE RING’s light heavyweight Top 10 has been 38.

Who will Cloud fight next? The IBF’s highest available contenders are Johnson and Jones.

There are young light heavyweight standouts to be found if one looks hard enough, and one need only take a look at THE RING's ratings to find a couple of worthy opponents for Cloud (or Dawson, for that matter).

Jean Pascal, THE RING's No. 8-rated contender, has speed and athletic talent that is on par with Dawson's. The 26-year-old Canadian boxer-puncher is not as polished as Dawson but he might have a better chin, which he proved in his lone loss against Carl Froch at super middleweight. At light heavyweight, Pascal reminds some of a poor-man's Roy Jones with his improvised style, which was enough to win a decision over beltholder Adrian Diaconu in June.

Diaconu, THE RING's No. 9-rated contender, is still factor despite his lone loss to Pascal. The 31-year-old Canadian-based Romanian is strong-willed pressure fighter who guarantees intense fights, as Pascal can attest to.

Another fighter who always delivers action is THE RING's No. 10-rated contender Yusaf Mack. The 28-year-old former super middleweight slugger from Philadelphia broke into the ratings with a 12-round split decision over Chris Henry in February.

Either of these lower Top-10 RING contenders matched against Cloud would constitute must-see TV, and hopefully a network will televise his next bout.

From here on out, every fight Cloud has will build toward an eventual meeting with Dawson.

RATINGS UPDATE

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS:

Cloud crashed the Top 10 at No. 7 thanks to his unanimous decision over Clinton Woods (No. 7 last week). Woods exits.

“Although there were a number of other significant fights last week involving fighters rated by THE RING, none of the winners advanced. For instance, junior featherweight Celestino Caballero and junior flyweight Brian Viloria were already ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions, which means the only way they can advance is to win the championship. Viloria would have to unseat THE RING’s reigning 108-pound champion Ivan Calderon, while the 122-pound title has been vacant since Israel Vazquez relinquished it to campaign at featherweight. As the ratings currently stand, a match between Caballero and No. 2 contender Juan Manuel Lopez would crown a new junior featherweight champion.

“Cruiserweight Marco Huck (No. 5), junior welterweight Juan Urango (No. 7), bantamweight Abner Mares (No. 7) and flyweight Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (No. 2) were also victorious, but the caliber of their opposition was not good enough to warrant moving up.”