With less than 6 weeks left to go before "The One: Mayweather vs. Canelo" event, Mayweather Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions are putting the final touches on the fights scheduled to take place on the September 14 card. Obviously, the main event will feature the jr. middleweight unfication bout between undefeated champions Floyd Mayweather and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. Also confirmed is the co-main event, a highly-anticipated showdown between undefeated unified jr. welterweight champion Danny Garcia and hard-hitting top challenger Lucas Matthysse.
Although the rest of the card has yet to be officially announced, FightHype.com was informed weeks ago that Las Vegas-born IBF jr. middleweight champion Ishe Smith will be making the first defense of his title against rough and rugged Carlos Molina, a fight that was originally scheduled to take place this past July until Smith suffered an injury that forced its postponement. Furthermore, sources close to the information also informed us that the pay-per-view portion of the televised card will start off with a welterweight clash between British native Ashely Theophane and Mexico's Pablos Cesar Cano.
Fans can also expect 2 or 3 of the preliminary undercard fights to be televised on Showtime Extreme in the hours leading up to the pay-per-view broadcast. Though we have yet to confirm exactly which fights will round out the card, one can expect to see some of the rising stars from Mayweather Promotions to be featured. Undefeated super middleweight contender Badou Jack (15-0, 10 KOs) is one of those fighters who was hoping to get the assignment, however, we're told that he will likely be facing Marco Antonio Periban on a Friday Shobox card one day prior (September 13) to the event. Instead, FightHype.com learned that there's an extremely strong possibility that three-time world champion Ana Julaton could be facing current IBF bantamweight champion Yazmin Rivas, provided she is victorious and comes out unscathed in her August 17 clash with Celina Salazar. Furthermore, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer confirmed that charismatic British middleweight Anthony Ogogo (3-0, 2 KOs) will definitely be fighting on the card. I also wouldn't be surprised to see undefeated jr. middleweight Chris Pearson (8-0, 8 KOs) as well as one of the Mayweather Promotions undefeated super middleweights, like Luis Arias (6-0, 3 KOs), Lanell Bellows (4-0-1, 4 KOs), or Ronald Gavril (5-0, 4 KOs), making their second straight appearance on a Mayweather pay-per-view undercard.
Again, although the main event and the co-main event are the only two officially confirmed bouts for the September 14 event, FightHype.com was told that the remaining bouts are indeed nearly finalized and could be officially announced as early as this weekend or some time next week. That being said, the highly-anticipated pay-per-view event could look something like this:
- Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul Alvarez
[WBC & WBA jr. middleweight titles] - Danny Garcia vs. Lucas Matthysse
[WBC & WBA jr. welterweight titles] - Ishe Smith vs. Carlos Molina
[IBF jr. middleweight title] - Ashley Theophane vs. Pablo Cesar Cano
- Yazmin Rivas vs. Ana Julaton
[IBF bantamweight title] - Chris Pearson vs. TBA
- Luis Arias vs. TBA
- Anthony Ogogo vs. TBA
"THE ONE" PAY-PER-VIEW CARD IS COMPLETE WITH A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT BETWEEN ISHE SMITH AND CARLOS MOLINA
PLUS A WELTERWEIGHT CONTEST FEATURING PABLO CESAR CANO AGAINST ASHLEY THEOPHANE
LIVE ON SHOWTIME PPV®AT 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
LOS ANGELES, (August 8, 2013) - Just when fight fans thought "THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO" couldn't get any bigger, the opening two Pay-Per-View bouts of the September 14 mega-card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas have been announced, with a third world championship bout and a meeting of two rising stars making this the must-see event of 2013.
In a 12-round battle for the IBF Junior Middleweight World Championship, Mayweather Promotions star and Las Vegas' own Ishe "Sugar Shay" Smith defends his crown for the first time against feared top contender Carlos Molina. The opening bout on the SHOWTIME PPV will be a 10-round welterweight showdown between Mexico's Pablo Cesar "El Demoledor" Cano and England's Ashley "Treasure" Theophane, the most recent fighter to sign with Mayweather Promotions.
"THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO," a 12-round fight for Canelo's WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Championships and Mayweather's WBA Super Welterweight Super World Championship taking place Saturday, Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo Promotions and sponsored by Corona, O'Reilly Auto Parts, AT&T, Valvoline, Mexico Tourism, Fred Loya Insurance and Nature Nutrition. In the 12-round co-featured attraction, WBC, WBA Super and Ring Magazine Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia and thunderous puncher WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion Lucas Matthysse square off in a fight presented in association with Swift Promotions and Arano Box Promotions. Also, Ishe Smith vs. Carlos Molina square off in a 12-round battle for Smith's IBF Junior Middleweight World Title. Smith vs. Molina is promoted in association with Warriors Boxing. The mega-event will be produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event can be heard in Spanish using secondary audio programming (SAP).
Less than 24 hours after going on sale in June, the event was sold out, but six MGM Resorts properties will host live closed circuit telecasts of "THE ONE." Properties showcasing the event include ARIA, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York. General admission tickets for the closed circuit telecasts are priced at $100, not including handling fees, and are available for purchase at each individual property's box office outlets and also are available for purchase by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711. Closed circuit ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster by calling (800) 745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
After a long career that saw him go from the world of reality television as a star on "The Contender" to a series of ups and downs at 154 and 160 pounds, Las Vegas' Ishe "Sugar Shay" Smith (25-5, 11 KO's) finally put it all together in late 2010, beginning a four fight winning streak that culminated in a 12 round decision win over Cornelius Bundrage on February 23 earning the 34-year-old the IBF Junior Middleweight World Championship. Now the reign of "Sugar Shay" begins with a hometown bout against the always-tough Molina.
Long avoided by the elite at 154 pounds, Patzcuaro, Mexico native Carlos Molina (21-5-2, 6 KO's) is finally getting his shot at championship gold on September 14 after a decade slugging it out in the ring. Now making his home in Chicago, the 30-year-old Molina began making noise with his disputed draw against Erislandy Lara in 2011, and he has since won four of five bouts, defeating former world champions Kermit Cintron and Cory Spinks, with his only loss coming via controversial DQ against James Kirkland in March of 2012.
Mexico's Pablo Cesar "El Demoledor" Cano (26-3-1, 20 KO's), like countryman and headliner Canelo Alvarez, will have a nation in his corner when he steps between the ropes on September 14. Given the controversial nature of his recent decision losses to Paulie Malignaggi and Shane Mosley, the 23-year-old plans on giving the judges the night off by scoring a defining knockout of Theophane. A pro since 2006, Cano can do it all in the ring, and in his first Las Vegas fight since his classic 2011 battle with the legendary Erik Morales, he vows to put on a show.
A proud native of London, England, 32-year-old Ashley "Treasure" Theophane (33-5-1, 10 KO's) is a graduate of the School of Hard Knocks in the ring and is finally getting his chance to shine on the world stage. A former British junior welterweight champion, the talented Theophane owns victories over Delvin Rodriguez and DeMarcus Corley, and he gave current world champion Danny Garcia one of his toughest fights in 2010 before losing a split decision. Winner of two straight, Theophane is looking to prove that he was made for the bright lights of Las Vegas.
For more information, visit www.floydmayweather.com, www.mayweatherpromotions.com, www.goldenboypromotions.com,
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