Pablo Cesar Cano has shown poise beyond his years in compiling 33 wins with 23 KOs since his professional boxing debut in 2006.
A stellar contender out of Tlalnepantla who has drawn raves as one of Mexico’s best hopes for future world title honors. At 30 years of age, Pablo Cesar Cano has shown poise beyond his years in compiling 33 wins with 23 KOs. Add a devastating right hand to the mix, and it would be wise to remember this young man’s name.
Like many Mexican greats of the past, Cano entered the professional ring early, making his debut at the age of 16 with a first-round knockout of Miguel Angel Merino in March of 2006. By the time the year was out, Cano was 5-0-1, with the only blemish a four-round draw in his third fight against Israel “El Gallo” Ramirez.
In 2007, Cano kept up his solid pace, going 4-0 with all wins coming by knockout. In fact, Cano only fought a combined six rounds that year. 2008 was just as impressive as he put together another perfect year of four wins, four knockouts, and no losses.
In January 2009, Cano took a step up in class against 7-1-1 fellow prospect Luis Rey Campoa, but the result was the same – Cano winning big, this time by first round knockout. Cano stayed busy throughout the year since his biggest win, decisioning Ernesto “Toto” Gonzalez in February (his first time going the eight-round distance), stopping 36 fight veteran Jorge Luis “Diablo” Lopez in four rounds in April, and decisioning unbeaten Fabian Marimon on June 20.
In December 2009, Cano returned to the ring with a first round knockout of Tomas “Fantasma” Sierra, and on February 20, 2010, he was back in action, knocking out Marcos “Chiquis” Valdez in just 49 seconds.
Cano headlined the next edition of HBO Plus’ “Next Boxing Generation” against veteran Oscar “El Artista” Leon on June 25 and he delivered another impressive performance, gutting out a hard-fought 10-round split decision win over Leon that earned him the NABF junior welterweight title. He went on to stop Jorge “Koky” Romero in four rounds in February 2011, and he repeated that outcome in seven rounds against Pablo Lugo in June of that year.
Three months later, Cano received the offer of a lifetime, when he was asked to replace the ill Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse in a WBC Super Lightweight Championship bout against the legendary Erik “El Terrible” Morales on September 17, 2011 in Las Vegas. Cano eagerly accepted and despite being stopped in the 10th round, his courageous effort earned him rave reviews from fight fans and the media.
Undeterred by the setback, Cano returned to the ring in early 2012 and ran off three consecutive wins, defeating Francisco Contreras (TKO6), Fidel Munoz (KO9), and Johan “El Terrible” Perez (WTD7). The victory over Perez earned Cano the interim WBA junior welterweight title, but on October 20, he sought a bigger game, as he moved up to 147 pounds to face Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi for the WBA welterweight crown. However, despite flooring Malignaggi in the 11th round, Cano wound up on the short end of a 12-round split decision.
Another close decision loss followed in May 2013 against future Hall of Famer Sugar Shane Mosley, but he got back in the win column in a big way on September 14 when he scored an exciting 10-round split decision victory over England’s Ashley “Treasure” Theophane on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez undercard in Las Vegas.
2014 was a rough year for Cano, who only fought once, getting stopped via cuts by Fernando “La Fiera” Angulo on March 1.
Getting back on track in 2015, Cano scored two victories over Jorge “Pantera” Silva and Silverio “Chamaco III” Ortiz, and while he lost a controversial split decision to Alan Sanchez in May of 2016, he defeated Mauricio Herrera in his second bout of this year on November 18.
2017 proved to be a tough year for Cano as he lost a fight against Fidel Maldonado Jr. in June and had a TKO loss against Marcelino Nicolas Lopez in October.
In 2018, however, Cano went on to win the vacant WBC International Silver Super Lightweight Title in a 10-round fight against Ruslan Madiev in Las Vegas.
Cano defended that title in a January 2019 matchup against Jorge Linares at Madison Square Garden. He came out strong and demolished the former lightweight champion by a first-round knockout.
Cano finished the year off by exchanging knockdowns in a second-round TKO win against Roberto “Massa” Ortiz, and he is ready and willing to challenge any world champion at 140 pounds as soon as the opportunity arises.
