Boxing: J’Leon Love to Duel Jason Escalera on Sunday at MGM Grand

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Super middleweight contender J’Leon Love already bounced back from a crushing knockout loss with a win in March. Now, he’s looking to keep things rolling along in an effort to return to his spot in the rankings before he was stopped by Rogelio Medina last August. He’ll get his chance this Sunday when he squares off against Jason Escalera in MGM Grand Garden Arena.

As the main undercard bout on the Premier Boxing Champions’ Father’s Day afternoon card on CBS, Love-Escalera is the perfect lead-in to the Rances Barthelemy versus Antonio DeMarco headliner. It’s the ultimate crossroads-type of battle because Love is looking to return to his previously unbeaten form as a top contender while Escalera is hoping to get back in the win column.

Love (19-1, 10 KOs) was once one of the hottest young contenders in and around the super middleweight division. But when he was flattened by Medina, most of the boxing world cast him off as another could’ve-been. But the Michigander already has bounced back with a win over Scott Sigmon and has been installed as the betting favorite entering Sunday’s contest.

In Escalera, the hard-hitting New Jersey native has been struggling as of late, having dropped three of his last five fights. He’s desperate to get things back on course, back to the fighter he was when he started off his career with 13 consecutive wins. Escalera hasn’t fought since last August, where he dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to eventual WBC super middleweight champ Badou Jack.

Rounding out the undercard bout is a junior welterweight showdown between unbeaten Lydell Rhodes (23-0, 11 KOs) and Jared Robinson (15-2, seven KOs); a cruiserweight encounter pitting Andrew Tabiti (9-0, nine KOs) against Thomas Hanshaw (6-5, four KOs); Ronald Gavril (12-1, nine KOs) taking on Jessie Nicklow (24-6-3, eight KOs) in a super middleweight bout; and Lanell Bellows (12-1-1m seven KOs) locking horns with Marcus Upshaw (16-13-4, seven KOs) at 168 pounds.

The PBC on CBS card will air live at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. The doors to the MGM Grand Garden open at 11:30 a.m. PT. Tickets to the event are still available and range in price from $25-100.