By Craig Page: Montana Love and his opponent Steve Spark both weighed in at 140 lbs on Friday for their 12 round headliner in the light welterweight division for this Saturday, November 12th, live on DAZN at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. The action kicks off at 9:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Matchroom Boxing recently signed the unbeaten 27-year-old Love (18-0-1, 9 KOs), hoping they could turn him into a world champion. However, how Love looked in his last two fights against Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela and Carlos Diaz showed that he’s probably not going to ever win a world title.
The decision to match Love against Spark (15-2,14 KOs) suggests there’s some worry about whether he will pan out.
“Montana Love is back on Saturday, headlining a show in Cleveland against Steve Spark. Love is 2-0 since signing with Matchroom last year, but his recent fights have been a little bit shaky,” said Chris Mannix to DAZN’s JABS.
Weights:
Montana Love 140 vs. Steve Spark 140
Richardson Hitchins 140 vs. Yomar Alamo 138.5
Raymond Ford 126 vs. Sakaria Lukas 128
Christian Tapia 129.5 vs. Thomas Mattice 129.5
Raynell Williams 130.5 vs. Ryizeemmion Ford 131
Nikoloz Sekhniashvili 153.5 vs. David Rodriguez 155
Khalil Coe 174 vs. Bradley Olmeda 175.5
Beatriz Ferreira 130.5 vs. Taynna Cardoso 131
“He came in at 144 lbs for his fight against Carlos Diaz and was knocked down in his decision win over Gabriel Valenzuela. Matchroom had high hopes for Love after he signed after his knockout win over Ivan Baranchyk. Right now, is Love a contender or a pretender?”
“He’s definitely not a pretender. Montana Love has all tools to be the next star. He has the charisma, the flare. He has the power and the excitement,” said Sergio Mora.
“Everyone was talking about him after the Baranchyk knockout. Now after two lackluster performances. You don’t forget about him. You’ve got to get the W first and look good later.
“The kid looks good when he looks good. So I think Montana Love is a fringe contender. Top 15, top 16, but not a top 10 yet. I give him a lot of credit for the type of opponents he’s been facing recently.
“His last five opponents have a combined record of 88 wins and 5 losses. That’s good for an up-and-comer. If he has one more good win under his belt, it doesn’t even have to be a knockout but a top fighter; I think he cracks the top 10,” said Mora.
“I don’t know if I necessarily agree that he’s stepping up the competition necessarily,” said Mannix about Love. “In his last two fights, he had Diaz and Valenzuela. They were fine veterans, journeymen, but they weren’t on the elite level at 140 lbs.
“I was disappointed that Love came in four lbs heavy against Diaz, and I was shocked that he went down in the second round against Valenzuela.”
