Friday Wrap: J'Leon Love Cruises, Badou Jack Goes Down Hard
Photos by Tom Casino for Showtime
by Gautham Nagesh
It was another excellent Friday night for boxing fans, as both Showtime and ESPN delivered entertaining shows with competitive fights. ShoBox was the standout on this night, with one surprise knockout and another near-upset in three fights featuring unbeaten prospects. Friday Night Fights was not nearly as action-packed, but ESPN deserves credit for experimenting with the tournament format and finding some intriguing unknowns to take part.
Detroit’s J'Leon Love (above) dominated “Mr. Providence” Vladine Biosse for nine and a half rounds before the referee mercifully stopped the carnage at Turning Stone Casino in Upstate New York on Showtime. It was mostly easy work for Love. Both fighters were cut, and Biosse was still standing at the time of the stoppage, but he had taken a lot of punishment. Overall, Love was more competent than dynamic, and must avoid complacency by stepping up his competition.
North Carolina veteran Derek Edwards shocked Badou Jack in the co-feature, hurting the Swedish-Gambian import early in the first round with a sharp right hand (below) and finishing him soon afterward. Detroit’s Lanardo Tyner almost scored the upset in the opening bout, flooring unbeaten Dayton junior middleweight Chris Pearson in the sixth round of scheduled eight. But Pearson was saved by the bell and managed to squeak by with a split decision, thanks to some extremely questionable scoring.
[[MORE]]Love is still finding himself at super middleweight, after spending most of his career at 160 lbs. Taking it slow might not be a bad route, because his body is still getting used to taking harder shots from larger opponents. Biosse was a durable, physical foe who used everything he had in the middle rounds to rough Love up, from his head to his body weight. He leaned on Love and butted with the top of his head, using every trick in the book.
It’s never a bad thing for young fighters to go rounds, but Love could have probably stopped Biosse sooner had he focused on doing so. The length of the fight shows Love is not a huge puncher, and may not have the killer instinct. But he still seems skilled enough to out-box top fighters for 12 rounds. That’s not an easy way to earn a living, but his mentor and promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr. has done pretty well for himself using just that formula.
Jack was another prize super middleweight in Mayweather’s stable, a Swedish native who represented his father’s homeland Gambia in the 2008 Olympics. He’s also known as a slow starter, which proved to be a fatal flaw against the rugged Edwards. Jack was caught reaching with the jab just seconds into the fight, and Edwards delivered with a picture-perfect overhand right to the jaw. Jack went down in a heap, and was lucky to regain his feet before the ten count ended.
Jack attempted to hold after the fight resumed, but Edwards shrugged him off and sent him to the canvas again with another right hand. Jack failed in his first attempt to rise, then slumped against the ropes, where the referee wisely waved off the fight. Jack protested in vain as he watched Edwards celebrate his biggest win to date (below).
Anyone can get caught with a punch they don’t see, so we still don’t know whether this is just a speed bump, or the moment when Jack went off the road. But make no mistake, this was a disaster for Jack. He had already secured a “title eliminator” fight against James DeGale, which would have set up a potential title shot against WBC beltholder Sakio Bika down the road.
Now it will likely take Jack another four or five wins to reach the same level again. We never write a fighter off after just one loss, so we hope to see Jack back on TV again before too long. But there are no shortage of good fighters seeking title shots at 168 lbs., so his road probably just got a lot tougher.
Pearson, on the other hand, may have been exposed by Tyner in the sixth round. In classic car terms, Pearson is a daily driver: he looks good from a distance and works well enough, but up close the flaws are apparent. Against Tyner, he seemed in control early, but Tyner’s refusal to go away after being hit appeared to confound him. Tyner’s determination kept him moving forward, and eventually the pressure appeared to wear on Pearson in the middle rounds.
Tyner found his feet and rocked Pearson with series of wide punches at the end of the sixth, hurting the Ohioan badly and forcing him to take a knee. Fortunately for Pearson, the round was almost over and he had a full minute to recover without facing more damage. Pearson had found himself trapped in the corner, and had inexplicably pulled straight back with his hands down. His lack of composure in that moment will either be an important learning experience, or the first indication of a fighter not destined for the top level.
Tyner kept up the pressure in the next two rounds, but flagged at the end of the fight. Had he been more prepared for this fight, it’s easy to see Tyner winning handily. As it stood, we thought the final scores should have been within a round or two for either fighter. Two judges agreed, but one inexplicably scored it 78-73 for Pearson, giving him the split decision win. At 23, Pearson is young enough to learn from this experience. If he doesn’t, he will find himself on the mat a lot more often as the competition improves.
ESPN’s Boxcino Tournament continued with the middleweights from Hammond, Ind. on Friday night. The single elimination tournament featured four six-round opening bouts, followed by two eight-round semifinals and a 10-round final spread over the spring. Last week the lightweights produced some unexpected results; this week was not quite as exciting, but there was still enough intrigue to keep us watching.
It took four rounds and one perfect check hook to the face for Daniel Edouard to realize that coming back from a three-year retirement to fight the unbeaten Brandon Adams was not a good idea. Edouard had some success early, but the 24-year-old’s youth and energy were too much as the fight continued. Edouard walked into a perfect left hook from Adams and went tumbling in the 4th. After surviving the round, he wisely told his corner he didn’t want any more and quit on his stool. We wish him well in retirement. Adams advances to the semifinals.
He will face Ray Gatica of Texas, who scored a sloppy stoppage of unbeaten Ghanian Sena Agbeko. Agbeko came into the fight sporting a perfect record of 15-0 (15 KOs), which shows how little such records mean. Agbeko turned out to be a crude fighter who tends to slap with his left hook. Gatica kept up the pressure and eventually overwhelmed him with wide shots. He should challenge Adams, but we expect the Los Angeles native to stay unbeaten.
The favorite so far has to be Ukranian middleweight Vitaliy Kopylenko, who dispatched Chicago native Cerresso Fort with ease in the second round. Kopylenko is easily the most polished boxer in the tournament, and appeared to hurt Fort several times with a stiff jab. He used that punch to floor Fort at the start of the 2nd round, and finished him soon after. We expect the Ukrainian to make the finals, and possibly emerge from the tournament as a genuine contender.
To do so, Kopylenko must first deal with Willie Monroe Jr. of Upstate New York. Monroe’s father Willie Sr. was a professional fighter, and his uncle Willie beat Marvelous Marvin Hagler in the first of three bouts. Willie Jr. only has one loss on his record, a split decision against gatekeeper extraordinaire Darnell Boone. He had the toughest assignment of the first round, Lithuania slugger Donatas Bondorovas. After six rounds, there wasn’t much to choose between them.
Whoever wins on April 18 between Monroe and Kopylenko will have the inside track at the tournament title, and should be a player in the deep and marketable middleweight division. The action shifts to Turning Stone for the semifinals, check back next month for full coverage.