Having made his professional debut at the York Hall in London on 3rd June 2003, defeating Lee Bedell by way of TKO in the 4th round, Ashley Theophane went on to win the British light welterweight title with a comfortable unanimous points decision, against Lenny Daws in February 2011. Born in London on 30th August 1980 and with a record of 34 wins (10 KO) 6 defeats and 1 draw, Ashley has come a long way in his career, from his humble beginnings in Paddington London, to the vibrant lights of Las Vegas, Nevada where he has moved on to follow his dream of lifting a world title. With a fight scheduled for May and an opponent soon to be announced by Mayweather Promotions, Ashley has given a little of his time to speak to Ringnews24.com
I asked Ashley how he got into boxing and at what age he started going to the gym, he replied “I started watching boxing with my father at the age of five years old; he was a Mike Tyson fan and he allowed me to watch Mike on the TV when he was fighting. I then went to the All Stars boxing club in 1988 when I was seven years old and the rest is history. As an amateur I had around 50 fights and although I never won any tournaments to get me to the London finals, I got to the NW Division finals three times. At the time there were very talented fighters in Lenny Daws, Lee Beavis and Michael Grant around, who were all with the England team – they achieved more in the amateur ranks than me but I’ve gone on to better things in the professional game”.
Every fighter has someone that they look up to in the sport as they are growing up, I wondered who it was for Ashley and if he still watched boxing when he was relaxing at home on his down time, he said “Mike Tyson, Pernell Whitaker, Roy Jones Junior and Marvin Hagler were my biggest influences when I was growing up; they really inspired me. Floyd Mayweather is my boss but I not only admire his achievements, I admire his hard work and skill set. Jean Pascal, Carl Froch, Miguel Cotto and David Haye are all also very good fighters.” He continued ‘I got into the sport as a boxing fan, but now a lot of the elite boxers are my friends and associates, so I usually only watch any fighter who is at the top level or who is in my weight division. I also watch most of the big fights when I can, but other than that I don’t really watch a lot of boxing.”
Ashley has been involved in a number of tough fights during his career with some notable wins along the way, but having signed to Mayweather Promotions his journey is far from being over; he said “Ali Oubaali and Pablo Cesar Cano are the hardest fights I’ve had in my boxing career, both fights where extremely hard but very close. But I have also had big wins against Demarcus Corley and Delvin Rodriguez. Corley had only just lost to Devin Alexander for the number one spot and Delvin was due to fight Saul Alvarez in September 2010 and I was supposed to be the warm-up fight for him; he was ranked number three in the world at the time but I won a majority decision and that got me ranked up to number four in the world.” On future fights he said “I will be fighting in seven weeks in Las Vegas. Mayweather Promotions will announce my opponent soon.”
Making weight has never been an issue and he spoke about his defeats and his training regime; “I’ve fought at 140, 147 and 154lb disciplines, so working hard in the gym and eating healthy is how you make weight. I’m a talented fighter and I can compete in any of those three weight divisions and win comfortably. I’ve lost six times in a 41 fight career spanning 11 years, but the three losses in the UK were robberies and the three in America were close decisions that could of have gone either way. But hard work always pays off and I have worked with many coaches that I have learned a lot off. Boxing is not rocket science; you do running, strength work and boxing drills and I get to watch the king of boxing on a daily basis. Floyd is super talented but works extremely hard, so it’s all about hard work and being smart in the ring.”
11 years into his professional career and there are no signs that Theophane’s ambitions have waned and he still hopes to reach the goals he has set himself, but he is also wisely looking toward developing his career after his time in the ring is over; “I want to achieve 50 wins, make enough money to be comfortable and continue to fight the world’s best and hopefully win a world title, but I will retire by the age of 40. Floyd is 37, Bernard Hopkins is 49, so I am still young enough and I have over six years left to achieve my goals. I am in a great place in my career right now but by 2020 I will retire and go into management. I have connections all over the world in boxing and I am a qualified strength conditioner and personal fitness trainer. I will also be doing motivational talks all over the world like my adviser Rene Carayol; boxing is just one part of my life and I know my life after boxing will be just as fabulous.”
Away from the ring Ashley is unlike many of his counterparts; he has an appreciation of many things other than boxing, but is also realistic of the dangers of the sport; “I am a defensive boxer, so I don’t take a lot of flush punches to my head” adding lightheartedly: “I look better than I did before boxing.” But I believe he is clearly conscious of the potential dangers involved in the sport as he continued; “Leaving boxing with my brain intact is very important as I have a life after I retire, so hopefully I will leave with my health intact. But I also have other interest; I like to read novels and The Economist magazine. I enjoy yoga, eating at restaurants and when I have time I like going to the theatre and watching musicals.” He added further: “I also have great fans that I would like to thank for their support for all these years and all the new fans who have shown me love since joining Mayweather promotions, their support is much appreciated.”
There is no doubting that Ashley’s enthusiasm and commitment for the sport are as strong as ever, so I have no doubt that he will push himself to fulfil all of his ambitions. On behalf of all at Ringnews24.com I would like to wish him a most successful year.