DAZN will host a Most Valuable Prospects card live from the Caribe Royale Casino in Orlando, FL on Friday night. Lightweight prospect Ashton ‘H20’ Sylve (11-0, 10 KOs) will put his undefeated record on the line against Estivan Falcao (13-2, 7 KOs) for the WBC Youth title. The card is part of a series that Most Valuable Promotions (Jake Paul & Nakisa Bidarian) signed with DAZN last year. Sylve, their sole prospect, is part of the main event and the future of the young promotional company.
Sylve just celebrated his twentieth birthday on Sunday (Jan 28) but is mature for his age. When you speak to him, you get the impression of a quiet but composed fighter who knows precisely what he wants out of life and his career. He’s only been a pro for a little over three years, but he is a thinker and has taken some notes about the two fights he had last year.
“The first one: definitely recovery. I wish I would’ve taken care of my body more. That kind of played a part in that fight. In the second fight, I was overanxious at times, and I got hit with a few dumb shots. The takeaway from that fight is that I have to make sure my defense is always on point.”
9,000 tickets sold already, no opponent for Wanna and I. Tell me who else has the drawing power Amanda Serrano has? https://t.co/WobCYoqHGw
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) January 6, 2024
Although Sylve fought only twice last year, he knows that activity matters. He also doesn’t want to overdo it. Sylve told ProBoxTV: “For the career I want, I definitely want to have three or four fights a year at most. I don’t want to fight a crazy number of fights a year because I’m big on recovery. I definitely like how my career has been going, especially with the type of fights I’ve been having.”
While Sylve is barely twenty, things are moving quickly for him. Not only will he be the main event on Friday, but he will also be fighting his first ten-round bout. Most fans may think that with Falcao known to go the distance, there may be a temptation to “go rounds” and gain the experience of a ten-round fight. Sylve doesn’t want to do that, and if there is an opportunity for a knockout, he will take it. Sylve recalls a fight where he felt he could have gotten his opponent out of there, but his dad told him to get some rounds in, leading to the opponent using that to survive. “I don’t want to do that anymore,” said Sylve about going rounds with a fighter. “If there is an opportunity to take my opponent out, I will.”
It's been just under two years since Sylve signed to MVP, and in that time he has seen what Jake Paul has done with Amanda Serrano. It’s something that has opened his eyes, as it seems the possibilities for him are endless if he continues to impress his promoter and the fight fans. Although he is currently competing at lightweight, Sylve is not oblivious to the fact that he is still growing and that his title opportunities in the future could be at a different weight class.
“I think there are a lot of big fights to be made at 135. I want to be down at this weight for a good while. I’ve been noticing my body growing since I first started. I thought I was going to be at 126 or 130 for a long time. I grew out of that so quickly.”
For now, the focus is Falcao on Friday night, and the fans will be in for a treat, according to Sylve. “Fans should expect a good fight. My opponent is not a pushover and wants to win. We are both going to give it our all at the end of the day. I tell everybody that H2O is going to do the same thing as always and give a great show. Hopefully, come out with a big bang as usual.”
Not looking too far into the future, which fighter does Sylve think he matches best stylistically? When asked, Sylve said Vasiliy Lomachenko. “He has a great style,” he added. “It’s similar to mine, but he moves a lot more.”
Sylve has talent and will continue to develop appropriately if he is matched well and kept active. Is he the next young talent to break out and become a star? That is still to be determined, but for now, tune into DAZN on Friday to see this young prospect get the opportunity to capture the imagination of fans.
