Super lightweight Steve Spark (16-2, 14 KOs) got the biggest win of his career, but probably not in the manner he wanted or dreamed of.
The two-loss fighter, Spark, who traveled from Australia to Cleveland, Ohio, to face hometown fighter Montana Love, who signed with Matchroom Boxing, last fall, dropped Love in the second round.
The fight was seemingly all Spark as the fifth round was one of his best, yet. The sixth round saw an early head clash cause a cut over Montana Love’s eye. The interaction with the doctor was strange, and the result after the fight resumed, was stranger.
Love clinched and pushed Spark to the ropes and Spark flipped out of the ring. The result caused a DQ, and a lot of chaos. The time of the stoppage was 25 seconds into round six.
“Thank you to Cleveland for the hospitality,” said Spark. “My job is to fight, and this has changed my life. I’m devastated how it ended. I got the early knockdown and I was fighting with my whole heart, it was growing into a great fight, but we didn’t want it to end this way.”
“He was using dirty rough house tactics all night and I pushed him off me, I didn’t lift him up or throw him out of the ring,” said Love. “We wanted him to tire out and catch him later on, and that’s where it was going. I want to do it again, he can’t outbox me or outfight me, let’s do it again.”
Meanwhile, promoter Eddie Hearn, who signed Montana Love a year prior was not happy.
“It was a bad decision,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. “Montana was rough but he didn’t intentionally throw him out of the ring, and Steve got back into the ring and wanted to keep fighting. Referees have a tough job but that was a poor decision and one made too quickly.
“It was turning into a great fight, the commission will review, I would love to do it again.”
