By Jake Donovan
Later this evening, Olusegun Ajose faces Lucas Matthysse in a vacant 140 lb title fight. The bout serves as the headliner for a six-fight card at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the SHOWTIME-televised co-feature, J’Leon Love was awarded an 8th round disqualification win over Ramon Valenzuela Jr.
Love was in control for the entire fight over Valenzuela, a career six-round fighter who had never fought beyond six rounds prior to this bout. The disparity in skill was evident early on and over the course of the fight. Valenzuela had his moments, but were few and far between.
The fight gained major separation in the second half, with Love pouring on the punishment and appearing to be on a way to a stoppage. Valenzuela took note of this and began searching for an exit. The 21-year old wisely clinched his way out of trouble towards the end of the 7th round, but went too far in lifting Love off of the ground. The sequence earned him a one-point deduction, though a moot point as he was already on the wrong end of a shutout and no threat to turn things around.
Love sought to close the show in the 8th, only for Valenzuela to employ the very same tactic. This time, referee Jay Nady skipped past the warnings and deductions, instead calling for a disqualification.
The official time was 0:37 of round eight.
Love improves to 13-0 (7KO) with the win; Valenzuela is now 7-2 (1KO), having now lost two straight.
The bout was upgraded to the SHOWTIME portion of the card after the original main event - Randall Bailey versus Devon Alexander - fell through due to injury.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
