"It is a lot of speculation about this kid J'Leon Love. The internet is talking and all that and all I gotta say about that fight is, people here in Philly wanna see me fight him, but the significance to that fight, it doesn't mean nothing anymore because he's been knocked out...He needs me; I don't need him. I don't need that kid. I don't need him, at the end of the day...Whoever they put in front of me on May 2nd is going to feel this wrath. I'm not worrying about no names of these guys. I want to give the people what they want to see," stated super middleweight contender Jesse Hart, who ripped fellow super middleweight contender J'Leon Love while talking about his return to the ring on the May 2 undercard of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Check it out!
PC: May 2nd, you will be back in the ring on the Mayweather-Pacquiao card. How does that feel to be a part of the biggest fight of the century?
JH: I'm blessed to have an opportunity to fight on a major major card. It is a lot of speculation about this kid J'Leon Love. The internet is talking and all that and all I gotta say about that fight is, people here in Philly wanna see me fight him, but the significance to that fight, it doesn't mean nothing anymore because he's been knocked out. It doesn't mean nothing. If I beat him, they gonna say he knocked out somebody that just got knocked out. If he beat me, his career is back on, so who needs who? He needs me; I don't need him. I don't need that kid. I don't need him, at the end of the day. It was like what Floyd said about Pacquiao after he got knocked out by Marquez. He don't need him; Pacquiao has to build himself back up. So J need to do the same because I don't need this kid. When you're in a higher position and you got the upper hand, you don't need certain things. He can get this work, I don't duck or dodge nobody, but after he got knocked out, the fight lost it's significance. I wanna smack somebody else. That's my mentality. I wanna smack somebody else.
PC: I gotta ask you because people will say even after Badou Jack got knocked out, you were still willing to fight him.
JH: The thing with Badou Jack was personal because I didn't like the way he got involved in the Gabe Rosado and J'Leon Love beef. He's not even from this country. He's from Sweden or somewhere. He's not even from America, so how you come over here and talk this and that? With him, it got real personal. That's why even after he got knocked out, I still wanted to do him. But at the end of the day, when you got a kid like J'Leon Love, he's trying to imitate somebody who he's not. I been knowing J'Leon Love since the amateurs. He was always respectful and always humble. We had several conversations. I can bring him back to Michigan when we was in the National Golden Gloves when he fought at 178 and he lost to the kid from Florida. I go back that far with that bol. He know who I am. He was wearing creases in his jeans. He know where I come from; he know what I do. It was embedded in him. He know me. It's not like he don't know who Jesse Hart is. The kid knows me from the amateurs. I been wrecking shit. This ain't something new, this ain't something that just started, he's known me from the amateurs. Like I said, I can go back to Grand Rapids, Michigan when we both fought in the National Golden Gloves. He fought at 178 and I fought at 155 and he was talking shit and I told him, "You can come back to 155 and get this work!" The kid was wearing creases in his jeans and he told me his whole story. He said, "I'm really not from Detroit. I'm from the outskirts of Detroit." You running around here repping Detroit like you from Detroit.
PC: So you are very familiar with him.
JH: Yeah, I know these bols. These bols know me. We only having this conversation because they with The Money Team or whatever they are, but at the end of the day, I don't need him. That's what I want the fans to know. I'm just blessed to be fighting on the card, I never said I wanted to fight him. People from Philly want me to fight J'Leon Love. My hometown want me to fight him. They just want me to fight someone from The Money Team.
PC: Let me ask you, you don't think this is the only opportunity you will have to fight someone from TMT do you, or are you hoping this opens up the door to fight guys from that stable?
JH: I hope it opens up doors for us to do business in the long run. I'm hoping this brings longevity to fighting guys from TMT. My promoter, who I think is the best promoter in the world, Bob Arum, to me he is, that's my opinion. Everybody got an opinion and that's my opinion. He is the best promoter in the world. But I've done all of the calling out. Guys know I can fight, they know that I can knock people out, people know these things. Now I'm in a position where they need me to relaunch their careers. I ain't get knocked out yet by a guy I was supposed to beat. That didn't happen to me. That happened to them guys, so at the end of the day, they have to recognize these things. I don't need these guys. I never said I wanna fight J'Leon Love. But I never said that I didn't because there is not a fight out there that I don't want to fight. I want to fight whoever. Whoever they put in front of me on May 2nd is going to feel this wrath. I'm not worrying about no names of these guys. I want to give the people what they want to see. If it makes sense, let's make it happen, but if we not gonna make it happen, I don't even wanna talk about these dudes. Everybody says it's a good title, Hart vs. Love, and it is a good name title and all of that and it all sounds good. He's with The Money Team and I'm with Top Rank, but he's not relevant anymore. He has to become relevant again. Nobody is throwing his name in the pot. He gotta put his name in the pot again.
PC: Will you do anything differently to prepare for this big stage or is it business as usual for you?
JH: This is business as usual for me, man. We not doing nothing different. We starting earlier than usual, I can say that. We was in the gym like 2 weeks ago. When we got the call from the greatest promoter in the world, which is Bob Arum, he said, "How about May 2nd?" I was originally supposed to fight before then and he called me asking about May 2nd, and I only knew of one card going down that night, so I was like, "You gotta be kidding me." My smile went from ear to ear. I kind of got in a daze when he told me that.
PC: So you don't have any preference on an opponent for that date?
JH: I just want the world to know who I am. Like I been said, it's not about who I fight; it's about who wants to fight me. I'm always ready and I'm willing to fight anybody. I see the comments in what people say and I'm not an arrogant dude. I'm confident in what I do. I don't want to be taken for a joke. I'm not to be played with. I'm dangerous. I know J'Leon Love. We talked often when we was in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I know this kid. He not even from Detroit. He is from the outskirts. He told me that himself. So when you got a guy like that claiming he from the hood and he really not from the hood, then you gotta look at, is he trying to be something he's not? Is he trying to impress somebody or what is he trying to do? You gotta watch every move he make. Those are the guys you can't trust. Those are the guys you gotta keep your eye on because in the street, you're either the fox or the hound. You can't be both.
PC: Congratulations on landing on the big card my man. Best of luck and we will definitely be getting camp updates. Anything you wanna say before I let you go?
JH: I wanna thank FightHype, the greatest boxing website in the world! Y'all always show me love. May 2nd, tune in to the preliminary bouts on ShoExtreme and HBO. Tune in to the entire card and watch me work, man. I'm coming. Jesse Hart! Hard work, let's go!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]