It’s hard to tell if Montana Love is having a bad day or not. The 28-year-old, who’s normally accompanied by his pet dog, smiles everywhere he goes. Once the lights turn on and the bell rings, however, he often gives his opponents nothing to be happy about.
This Saturday night, it was all about redemption for the super lightweight contender. Roughly one year prior, Love was handed the first loss of his career, a sixth-round disqualification against Steve Spark. This time around, Love promised to get back on track and take his frustrations out on Liam Paro. That, of course, didn’t happen.
From the beginning, Love was in trouble. Paro tagged his man with rights and lefts whenever he wanted, and showed no mercy as the rounds slowly ticked by. Already in complete control at the halfway point, Paro pressed his foot on the gas, dropping Love on consecutive occasions in the fifth round within seconds.
Although he crawled to his feet and continued to fight, referee Thomas Taylor had seen enough. Now, having popped in the tape to see where he went wrong, Love realizes that Paro wasn’t necessarily the better fighter, he simply made a gigantic mistake.
“I’m pissed,” wrote Love on his social media account. “I walked right into the shot.”
His mental lapse in that fifth frame may have been his own fault, but Love believes Taylor should have checked his track record. Against Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela, Love was dropped in the second round but still went on to win a close decision. Against Spark, he was also dropped in the second round before getting disqualified in the sixth.
Spending time whining and pointing a blaming finger in the referee’s direction won’t get him anywhere. Nevertheless, Love does believe that he should have been given at least one more chance at pulling himself out of that bad situation.
“I felt like it shouldn’t have got stopped that quick but chin up, chest out. It is what it is. I will be back.”