This was an excellent way to kick off the Floyd Mayweather vs. Robert Guerrero undercard. In a close and entertaining contest, J'Leon Love won a controversial split decision over Gabriel "King" Rosado. One judge had the fight scored 97-92 for Love, which was ridiculous.
Here are the official scores: Herb Santos 97-92—Dave Moretti 95-94—Glenn Trowbridge 94-95
Love was down in the sixth round, but he did represent himself well against a quality fighter. The two showed excellent sportsmanship after a heated pre-fight exchange and a tough decision.
Here's how this great fight transpired.
Round 1
This was a mildly entertaining opening round. Both men tried to establish their jabs, but Love seemed to get a little respect with a solid combination midway through the round.
No major advantage was gained for either man, but I scored the round for Love.
Round 2
Business started to pick up in the second round. Love seemed to gain confidence. He started to land the lead right hand with regularity, but Rosado apparently stunned him at the end of the round.
Love immediately clinched until the bell sounded. It wasn't enough to take the round from him, but it got his attention.
Round 3
The King seemed to gain confidence from the shot he landed at the end of the second round. He landed two more nice right hands to score big.
He started to close the distance on Love in this round. This should have been his approach from the beginning of the fight.
This was Rosado's round.
Round 4
This was an excellent three minutes of action. Both men had their moments as Rosado seemed to rule the first two minutes, but Love had a solid final minute.
Both men landed strong power shots. They showed solid chins, but Love is playing with fire keeping his chin so high during exchanges. He didn't do enough to steal the round, but he served notice he wouldn't fade.
I had the fight even at this point, but the Showtime crew of Al Bernstein, Paulie Malignaggi and Steve Farhood had Love up.
Round 5
Love regained control in the fifth round. He used his jab to disturb Rosado's rhythm and eluded the lead right hands.
Perhaps the two men took a break from the punch-filled fourth round. In what was a quiet section of the fight, Love did the best work.
Round 6
Love was coasting in the sixth round, but remember when I said he was holding his head too high...he got burned.
With about 10 seconds left, Rosado landed a hard right hand that dropped Love. It ruined what was a good round for him otherwise.
Rosado snatched control on my scorecard with a 10-8 round. I had it 57-56 for Rosado at this point.
Round 7
Looking to make amends for being dropped in the sixth, Love came out trying to take control. He was more active and controlled the round for the most part, but Rosado still landed more hard right hands.
It was a difficult round to score, so I called it even.
Round 8
This was an even better round than the fourth. It is possible that fatigue began to set in, because the two men fought the entire round in a phone booth.
Love was able to stay away from the long lead right by staying close to Rosado. He whacked shots to the head and body. At the end of the round, he seemed to stun Rosado and pulled out the 10-9 advantage from my vantage point.
Round 9
These two guys demonstrated how much they wanted this fight in this round. It was another three minutes where both men had their moments. But Rosado's hard right hands stood out a little more.
Love's chin was impressive, but Rosado's nasty uppercut was the signature punch of the round.
He nearly dropped his opponent again but still deserved to come out on top heading into the final round.
Round 10
With more powerful right hands, Rosado did enough to shine in this round. Love may have run out of gas as this was just his second time going 10 rounds.
Rosado took the final round and deserved to win the fight.
I scored it 96-94, but obviously, the only cards that matter are the three in MGM Grand.
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