Ashley Theophane excited to begin fighting for Mayweather Promotions

ashley theopane

If making ones Las Vegas fight debut at the storied MGM Grand isn’t enough of a pressure builder for a fighter, try making your debut for the ever-successful Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s promotional company, Mayweather Promotions on the same night.

This is what English welterweight contender, Ashley Theophane (33-5, 10 KOs) will do on Sept. 14 when he fights Pablo Cesar Cano (26-3-1, 20 KOs) on the undercard of “The One” pay-per-view event headlined by Mayweather vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

Although the pressure might get to most fighters put into this situation, Theophane insists that he is just a small part of a large PPV event and won’t feel the pressure that Saturday night.

“To tell you the truth I’m not even thinking about the event. For me it’s Floyd Mayweather’s show because everyone is there to watch Floyd. So I’m just really focused on my fight and getting my win, because that’s what matters,” Theophane said.

Theophane signed with Mayweather Promotions in early August and he feels that joining Mayweather’s stable of fighters will do nothing but good things for his career going forward.

“It’s great to be acknowledged by Floyd himself. Floyd himself said he was going to get me a fight and he signed me. So I’ve been a professional for 10 years, I’ve had 39 fights, I fought Danny Garcia, Delvin Rodriguez, DeMarcus Corley and I’ve done all of that as the opponent. This is the first time that I actually have a promoter backing me and believing in me and he’s given me a tough opponent and I’m excited, I’m looking forward to it.”

Being under Mayweather’s wing not only brings a fighter recognition, but it also provides learning experiences for the fighters from Mayweather. Theophane has gotten some advice and has sparred with the 44-0 champ leading up to his Sept. 14 fight date.

“Floyd gives everyone advice, if you’re on the team or not. Just boxers in the gym, you know it’s all about putting that hard work in, being dedicated and being smart. He believes I can be a world champion, he sparred me himself to test me out, to see how good I am. He believes in my talent, just that alone, that he believes I can be a world champ it just helps me to work harder and believe in myself.”

Theophane is 8-2 in his last 10 bouts—losing a close split decision to Danny Garcia in 2010 and via unanimous decision to Darren Hamilton in 2012—and will be looking for his third-straight victory when he faces Cano. Theophane feels his training camp will be the deciding factor in him getting his third-straight win.

“You know I’ve been sparring with Ishe Smith and Floyd Mayweather, that’s two world champions, so this has been the best preparation I’ve had. I’ve been doing road work with them both, I have a great trainer in Nate Jones, the whole team has been great from sparring, to advice, just everyone believing in you. I feel that the 10 years of putting in work is all about now, and I’m looking forward to it as it’s my time to shine,” Theophane exclaimed.