J'LEON LOVE TALKS ABOUT SPARRING WITH FLOYD MAYWEATHER
By Rob Soucy

Boxingtalk: Tell us about your fight on April 20th in Biloxi, Mississippi, a third-round KO of Ibaheim King.

J'Leon Love: We fought on the Jermain Taylor undercard. It was my first eight-round bout.  Ibahiem King was a pretty solid and durable guy with a lot of experience, I think he had a total of like 16 or 17 fights. Training camp for that fight was here at Mayweather’s gym [in Las Vegas] and I’ve been getting sparring with Floyd, Ishe Smith, Luis Aries and I can keep going down the list, Badou Jack too. My preparation and conditioning for the fight was so great that I dominated, took three rounds and finished him. I hit him with a straight right hand down the middle and put him to sleep.


BT: You have been training here at Floyd Mayweather’s gym in Las Vegas, how has that experience been?

JL: This is the best work I’ve ever had in my life. Floyd is the best fighter in the world, hands down. It doesn’t’ get any better than that. Just to be able to share the ring with such a great fighter is a dream come true especially for an up-and-coming young fighter like myself who wants to be a big name someday like Floyd Mayweather.


BT: You are a Michigan native like Mayweather. Does that  make this whole experience even more special? 

JL: Coming from Michigan and being invited to be a part of his camp is great. Floyd is from Grand Rapids, I’m from Detroit, Michigan.
 

BT: How did you first become associated with the Mayweather Team?  

JL: I was in camp with Antonio Margarito helping him get ready for his fight with Miguel Cotto. So you know, in boxing, your name gets thrown around out there and when it comes to sparring these guys knew I was in Las Vegas and I’ve been training with Floyd ever since.
 

BT: How many rounds have you sparred with Mayweather? 
 
JL: Oh man, I’ve sparred so many rounds that I can’t even give you an exact number. You can’t even add them up correctly because Floyd spars six- or seven-minute rounds so it’s definitely crazy. But you know what, I don’t think I’ll ever spar another three-minute round. There is no reason to!


BT: What’s next for you?

JL: We fight on June 23rd in LA at the Staples Center on the undercard of Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto II. It’s another eight-round bout for me and we are definitely going to take care of business. I’ve been training hard and working my butt off. I’m doing what I have to do to show the world that I’m a big factor in the boxing game.


BT: Is there an opponent in line for June 23rd?
 
JL: No, not as of yet.
 

BT: You have relocated to Las Vegas from Detroit, will you continue to train at the Mayweather Boxing club?

JL:Yeah most definitely, we are going to train here at Mayweather’s gym from now on. There is some of the best work in the world down here. We call it the doghouse. If you can survive in the doghouse, you can survive anywhere. You never know who is going to pop in for sparring. I plan to train here until my next fight and possibly every other fight.
 

BT: Give me a prediction for Saturday when Mayweather faces Miguel Cotto.

JL: It’s going to be an exciting fight, you hear [Floyd's trainer]Roger Mayweather say that Floyd has the best sparring that he’s had in a long time. That’s the truth, we have all given Floyd great work: myself, Omar Henry, Luis Aries, Ishe Smith. Floyd’s been here too many times, I think he is going to stop Cotto in the later rounds.

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