Ishe Smith vs. Cecil McCalla: It just wouldn't be a true Floyd Mayweather weekend if a few of his Mayweather Promotions fighters didn't also step into the squared circle. This Thursday on ESPN2 will be a special edition of Friday Night Fights. The main event of that card will feature the Mayweather promoted Ishe Smith (26-7, 12 KO) and Cecil McCalla (20-1, 7 KO) who are scheduled to go 10 rounds in the middleweight division. Smith is coming off of a loss to Erislandy Lara and will be moving up in weight for this fight. Smith is probably best known for always losing his step up fights to the likes of Lara, Carlos Molina, Fernando Guerrero, and Daniel Jacobs. However, McCalla has never even faced anyone nearly as good as those fighters just mentioned. Smith is an aggressive orthodox fighter who likes to pump the jab. Smith's best attribute is probably his dedication to pounding the body and he has a nice left hook downstairs. While Smith will also throw right hands they aren't very accurate, however, when they land they are heavy enough to do a little damage. This could be an interesting fight should it go deep since McCalla has only ever gone 10 rounds once in his career and that fight accounted for his only loss. McCalla has faced some very poor opposition, so even though Smith isn't elite, he is a step up for Mcalla. McCalla is an orthodox fighter with fast hands who loves to stick his jab to the body. The problem for McCalla is that even with his fast hands he seems unwilling to punch at times and can go entire rounds only throwing a few jabs. This may not be the prettiest fight by the output of punches by Smith should be enough to get the unanimous decision victory against McCalla.
Ashley Theophane vs. Mahonri Montes: The co-feature of Thursday's ESPN2 card will feature yet another fighter signed to Mayweather Promotions, Ashley Theophane (37-6-1, 11 KO). The 34-year-old Theophane will be in the ring against Mahonri Montes (30-4-1, 21 KO) a fighter nine years his junior. The two pugilists are scheduled to go 10 rounds in the welterweight division and it will be a battle of boxer vs. puncher. Theophane is mostly a stick and move type fighter who has a very quick jab and likes to throw a lot of one-two combinations. Theophane, who is an orthodox fighter is also very good defensively, evident by his never being knocked out. Unfortunately for Theophane his crooked punches don't have much on them and his penchant for letting his opponent lead often doesn't win him many rounds in the eyes of the judges. The 25-year-old Montes is also an orthodox fighter and h, like Theophane, has a quality jab. The younger fighter also brings heavier hands and a solid left hook to the body into the ring, but he may have a hard time catching Theophane. Montes will often follow opponents around the ring without cutting it off so if Theophane can stick and move and keep most of the action in the center of the ring he should win the fight by the way of split decision.
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