He's not that good. The only reason he's being mentioned is because he gave You Know Who a tough fight.
No, he's poor. They were both poor in that fight, it was fought at a disappointing level considering it turned out to be for the full WBC title. Cloud is a far better prospect, and there are no guarantees even with him.
Cloud is a pretty good prospect. I could easily see him picking up a belt or two along the way. I'd like to see Cloud-Glenn Johnson in a good old fashioned Litmus Test fight.
I think Gonzalez already was a pretty good test that he's a serious contender. Nobody ever knocks that dude out, he may be battle torn now, but it was still an impressive result. More impressive than anything Diaconu has done sadly. I'm surprised he does not get more love.
He's certainly under the radar. One of the more interesting things about Cloud is that he was in talks to potentially face off with RJJ before the fight with Calzaghe was signed up. Had he beaten RJJ, He'd probably be more hyped up.
He is better then I expected but that doesnt mean he is all that good. He is physically a massive lightheavy. I emailed some of boxrec editors re his weights in between fights and they are legit, he cuts a fair bit to get down to lt heavy. Him and Garay would be a pretty good scrap.