Opening up “The One” pay-per-view this Saturday, September 14 is a solid little tussle between two fighters still looking to perfect their respective styles and claim a spot among the sport’s elite.
Mexico’s Pablo Cesar Cano (26-3-1, 20 KOs) will take on the UK’s Ashley Theophane (33-5-1, 10 KOs) in a scheduled ten round welterweight bout that will place the winner on the fringes of title contention.
The 23-year-old Cano has been Golden Boy’s full-time fall guy recently, farmed out to lose against the company’s older talents like Erik Morales, Paulie Malignaggi, and Shane Mosley. And despite losing to all three, he gave each veteran fighter a close, competitive challenge (Many feel he actually did enough to beat Malignaggi).
As a fighter, it’s obvious that Cano is looking to perfect the classic Mexican, come forward style. However, despite some progress in his development, he still struggles with some of the basics such as cutting off the ring and employing diversity to his offensive game. At 23, though, there’s plenty of time to learn as long as he continues to avoid absorbing major punishment. Given the seasoning he has received so far in his career, Cano may actually develop into a world class fighter at some point.
Recent Mayweather Promotions signee, Theophane aspires to perfect the slick American style of a boxer-puncher and has shown flashes of true talent throughout his ten-year career. Unfortunately, those flashes of talent have been surrounded by bouts where he has lacked focus and has given in to incoming pressure.
The 33-year-old Theophane has had some solid showings, such as a majority decision win over Delvin Rodriguez in 2010 and a razor-thin split decision loss to Danny Garcia that same year. Other than that, the London native has hovered around the regional champ level, performing inconsistently at times.
The clock is ticking on Theophane and his ability to become the fighter he’d like to be. As part of The Money Team, he’s in the right place to learn enough for that next step up in class, but talent has never been the Brit’s issue; Execution has.
Cano-Theophane should be an interesting bout between two incomplete fighters aspiring to almost polar opposite styles. Mental toughness is always the key factor in bouts like this and, from what both career resumes say, it looks as though Cano may have enough of an edge to take a tight, but unanimous decision.
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