September 14th features one of the biggest bouts of the boxing year when the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr 44-0, 26 wins by KO takes on twenty three year old Saul Canelo Alvarez 42-0-1. I'll have more information on the main event later but below is an event preview looking at the rest of the pay per view card.
Ashley Theophane 31-5-1 10 KOs vs Pablo Cesar Cano 26-3-1 20 KOs Welterweights
This bout is set to open up the PPV broadcast, and features two men who've been in with numerous world champions. Theophane has fought WBO 140lb champ DeMarcus Corley, current WBC/WBA 140 lb unified titlist Danny Garcia as well as two time Welterweight title challenger Delvin Rodriguez. Cano’s also fought known names and World Champions having been in with Shane Mosley, Erik Morales (in a bout for the vacant WBC 140lb title) and Paulie Malignaggi. Theophane’s biggest career win is a close/debatable ten round majority decision at 150lbs vs Delvin Rodriguez (who was ranked #3 by the IBF at Welterweight when they fought).
After watching Theophane-Rodriguez I came away more impressed with Ashley’s performance particularly his ability to stay in the pocket and his stamina/endurance. However I still struggle to see how Theophane clearly won six rounds. For what it’s worth Teddy Atlas gave Theophane rounds 7, 8 and 10. Maybe the bias commentary didn’t give Theophane due credit during the earlier rounds (you could make a case Ashley took round two or four additionally) but even adding those two rounds, where’s the sixth to give Theophane a tally of 96? That aside, hats off to Ashley, he fought well, and deserves a bit more credit (Tessatore noted that Delvin “dominated the jabs” but despite Delvin’s 260 more jabs throw, it was Ashley with a one jab landed edge 68 to 67.Versus Danny Garcia, Theophane fought at a much more controlled pace, particularly defensively and by fights end wound up the loser by split decision. Ashley lost the fight in the mid rounds, particularly 4-7, which were all scored unofficially for Garcia. Theophane does have a habit of throwing too many looping punches, allowing him to be countered easier (something Garcia took advantage of).
Now for his opponent, Cano is also no stranger to close decisions, as he comes into this fight on a two fight skid. Losing a clear 115-113 decision to Mosley in his last fight, and before that was on the losing end of a split decision to former WBA champ Paulie Malignaggi. He’s still young at 23 years old, but a third straight loss might leave his career stuck in limbo.
Final Thoughts: This is a crossroads fight, with Cano looking to stop a losing streak, while an impressive performance by Theophane could set the stage for a bigger fight down the line. The Mosley loss I find very concerning for Cano given how poor Mosley looked in his previous bouts. Particularly versus Alvarez in May of this year, where Mosley announced his retirement a couple months after the fight. Prediction: I give a 60-40 edge to Theophane, who has recently been training at Mayweather's gym which looks to have re-energized his career. I'm looking for Ashley to come out being the more assertive fighter and fight his way to a hard fought decision or late stoppage.
next bout I preview is the IBF Title Clash between Ishe Smith and Carlos Molina.
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