Good Life Campaign: May 2012

What's up GoodLife fam?? You know what it is out this way, just trying to live this GoodLife the best way we know possible. Our most recent journey on our Campaign sh*t lead us to Las Vegas, Cinco De Mayo weekend. This was also the same weekend of the Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto fight, so the atmosphere was crazy. If you don't listen to anything else I recommend, make sure you put watching a major world title fight in Vegas on your bucket list. Whether you are a boxing fan or not, there isn't a much better vacation.

While in Vegas, we were given the opportunity to sit down with a guy that has been referred to as the future of boxing. J'Leon Love is a 24 year old middleweight prospect from Detroit, Michigan that proudly holds down the state wherever he is. Love was the chief sparring partner for Floyd Mayweather for the Cotto fight, all while preparing for his own fight which took place a few weeks before, ending in a third round KO to remain undefeated. J'Leon not only has started making a name for himself as a boxer, but he is also make a few waves in the modeling field. I'd say being the feature male model alongside Kate Moss is a pretty big deal. He is showing everything so far in his young career that could potentially make him a huge crossover star in the world of boxing. Hard worker, Heavy Handed, Charismatic, and a great smile to pull in the female crowd.

We sat down with J'Leon just a few hours before the big fight between Floyd and Miguel Cotto. Here's what he had to say!!

GLC: What's your definition of the GoodLife??

J'Leon Love: Staying blessed, staying positive, moving forward toward every dream and aspiration that you have. We could touch on so many different things, but basically keeping God first and following any dream you may have.

GLC: What brought J'Leon Love to the sport of boxing?

J'Leon Love: Growing up in Detroit, it's rough. Everybody knows how to fight in Detroit. Whether it's fighting to feed their families, fighting for work, or doing whatever they need to. Fighting was something that came very natural to me. I saw boxing on the television, it was actually the Navy and the Army fight in the amateur tournament, and I fell in love with it. I just thought "I can handle that, I can do that", and it took off from there.

GLC: Were there any other sports that you participated in outside of boxing? You hoop at all?

J'Leon Love: I played basketball. I played football. I even played soccer and tried out hockey for a bit. I'm an athlete, and when I was young I basically tried everything I saw. Skateboarding, whatever was going on I wanted to experience it. But boxing man, it was something different. When I actually laced up the gloves, and saw that "one on one", its just me and one other person, I was like "yeah this is it!!" I really felt in my heart that I could be really good at this.

GLC: It's truly a fact that the majority of people really don't understand about the sport of boxing. So what are a few things that you can reveal to casual fans to help expand their knowledge on the "sweet science"?

J'Leon Love: That it really is a science. It's an art. A lot of people think that we all come from bad backgrounds and bad neighborhoods. But you have a lot of fighters that come from blue collar backgrounds, great parents, great neighborhoods, and they are some of the best fighters in the world. I hate when people try to put ALL fighters into the same box. The want to associate us all as to having anger issues or some type of problems. Truth is while I grew up in a pretty tough neighborhood, I had GREAT parenting. I have a GREAT family. The art of boxing just happened to be an incredible gift that God has given me.

GLC: You have just started your professional career so to speak, currently 11-0 with 7 knockouts, so it's safe to say things are starting in an incredible fashion! In this short period of time, who are some people that you've had a chance to work with in your career thus far?

J'Leon Love: I've had the opportunity to be around Tommy Hearns as he was moving around the gym. Milton McCrory, and all the other greats from Detroit that helped pave the way for guys like me. Just being in that atmosphere you come across so many great fighters. Antonio Margarito, now Floyd Mayweather, even Miguel Cotto. So many different fighters, there are so many I could name.

GLC: As you were growing up and learning the sport of boxing, who was a fighter that you chose to emulate or look up to?

J'Leon Love: My favorite fighter was Marvin Hagler. "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler was straight up dynamite! He would fight you in your backyard, in a phone booth, anywhere, it really didn't matter. That was why he was one of my favorite fighters. He really didn't care about all the details. He just loved the sport and wanted to give the fans what they came to see. A great show.

GLC: Here at the GoodLifeCampaign, we try to touch on everything that has to do with living good, but we certainly tend to focus a lot on music. Who are some artists that you listen to in your spare time or in a training camp?

J'Leon Love: The Whole MMG crew is hot!! You got the YMCMB crew that's really doin their thing too. There is a lot of artists I enjoy hearing. I really like my man Meek Mills though. I've been watching him grind for a minute now with the YouTube videos and such. I feel like he is bringing that fresh, hungry sound back that Hip Hop needs. I love it all though. I'm very versatile musically. Hip Hop, R&B, everything. Being out here in Vegas, I've even ran into some of that fist pumping music that I can get into sometimes. Any type of music that can get me hype I'll listen to.

GLC: So, J'Leon, you have $20 and you need to get something to eat, drink, and something to listen to. What would it be??

J'Leon Love: (Laughing) Man, Always, Always... Now this is a Michigan thing that a lot of people here out west know about. Always a Faygo!! The Faygo pop with the Better Made chips to go with it!! The album would be the Jay-Z Blueprint Album. That album was raw!! That was one of my joints right there man!!

GLC: What year did you start your pro career?

J'Leon Love: 2010 was the year of my pro debut.

GLC: With that being said, where do you see your career headed in say the next 3-5 years??

J'Leon Love: Man, I feel like me and my team will be running the sport of boxing by then. I feel like me being around Floyd Mayweather, one of the best in the game, learning and watching everything he's doing has been tremendous. This guy is a great fighter and a great guy outside of the ring. A lot of people take the image they see on TV and go off of that, but he is truly a great guy. In God's plan, in the next 3-5 years I 'm definitely gonna be running the game! The best Pound for Pound Middleweight Champion of the World!! A household name reppin Detroit, Michigan to the fullest!! A lot of people say the city of Detroit is doing bad, but there is a lot of talent still there, ready to bring the city back up. My goal is to expose that.

GLC: So what you are saying is J'Leon Love is ready to put the city of Detroit, the State of Michigan on his back huh?!

J'Leon Love: Most definitely!! I Love Detroit!! Every city!! Inkster, Romulus, all that!! I'm gonna hold it down!!

I wanna take this time to thank J'Leon again for the interview, and to thank all of you that continue to support those following their dreams. I plan on being ringside to watch J'Leon capture the world middleweight title in the near future. I hope a few more of you will be joining me on that trip!!