J'Leon Love was said by promoter Floyd Mayweather to possibly be just a fight away -- a win away -- from a world title opportunity. If that was in the works, those plans came crashing down tonight on ShoBox: The New Generation, as Love was knocked out in the third round by heavy punching Rogelio "Porky" Medina in the main event.
Love (18-1, 10 KO) had struggled a bit in prior fights, and critics didn't think he had often looked like a particularly great prospect -- a solid guy, but no blue chipper. Tonight, Love got himself caught throwing a left hook with his back to the corner, which resulted in Medina (33-6, 27 KO) landing a crushing hook of his own to a wide open Love, who never saw it coming, went down hard, and couldn't make it back. With his legs shaking, he tried his damnedest to shake it off and return to his feet, but referee Tony Weeks waved it off as Love dropped back to the canvas.
It's a huge blow to the immediate prospects for the 26-year-old Michigan native, but if he can bounce back, there's still plenty of time and future in his career. That said, that's hardly a guarantee for anyone, and to some (myself included, to be fair), this result felt like it was a few fights in the making. It also seemed that Love was hurt a bit in round one and wasn't particularly comfortable in there after feeling Medina's power; to be totally fair, Medina can punch. That's the thing he does really well.
Mark down another upset in ShoBox history.
As for bouncing back, Love's Money Team stablemate Badou Jack was safety-first in his comeback from his first career loss, and he dominated and outclassed Jason Escalera over 10 rounds, winning on scores of 100-90, 100-90, and 99-91. BLH had it 100-90 for Jack, who improves to 17-1-1 (11 KO). Escalera (15-3-1, 12 KO) looked pretty sluggish, and his wild slugging style didn't work against the more technically sound Jack the way it did a few weeks ago on ESPN2 against Norbert Nemesapati. Jack got his groove back progressively as the fight went along, as he started off very cautiously, but eventually became more himself; that is, still a careful fighter, but a bit more aggressive. His body punch output seemed down, as that's been one of his better weapons to date.
Another super middleweight prospect stayed unbeaten, as Ronald Gavril stopped Thomas Falowo in the seventh round of a fight scheduled for eight. Gavril (10-0, 8 KO) dropped Falowo (12-3, 8 KO) on a pretty lead right hand in round three, and pretty much dominated Falowo physically and stylistically. He was just clearly the stronger, more skilled fighter in the ring. He had to make some adjustments, as Falowo wasn't there to be walked over, but the finishing flurry in round seven was very nice work from Gavril, and the Romanian rep of the Money Team looks to have a nice future. The skills are obvious, but like anyone with a whopping 10 pro fights, there's work to be done.