Sanchez brothers motivated
Jason, José Luís fighting for family as they pursue pro careers
Jason and José Luís Sanchez don’t know a lot about the opponents they’re fighting against Saturday at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
Veterans of a combined 200 fights or so, amateur and professional, they’re not afraid of the unknown.
The Sanchez brothers, though, know intimately what they’re fighting for.
They’re fighting for Jason’s 2-year-old daughter, Zalyn, and the baby boy he and his girlfriend, Marlina Lucero, are expecting. The due date is a month from today.
They’re fighting for their father and trainer, José “Pepe” Sanchez, who has guided them throughout their lives and careers.
They’re fighting for each other, as they pursue pro careers they hope and believe will lead to great things.
They’re fighting for Legacy Promotions, a New Mexico enterprise that’s giving them regular work for the first time in those pro careers.
Above all, they’re fighting for their elder brother, Alan, who was killed in a car crash last year.
Alan Sanchez was a professional fighter with a 3-2 record when he died early on the morning of April 23, 2015 — 16 days before the three brothers were to have fought on the same card for the first time at Camel Rock Casino.
“It’s tough,” said José Luís, 23, a junior middleweight with a 4-1 record (two knockouts). “It’s really hard. (Alan) was my brother and my best friend . ... But we’re still training, and we’re doing it for him now.”
Jason, 21, an undefeated (6-0, three KOs) featherweight, said he misses Alan’s counsel.
“I had over 100 amateur fights, and (Alan) was always there in my corner with my dad,” Jason said. “He would always tell me what to throw and when to move. It helped me a lot.
“Now that he’s not here, it’s a little harder.”
Pepe Sanchez, who had boxed as a youth in his native Mexico, got his sons started in the sport almost a decade ago. Alan turned pro in 2008, but Jason and José Luís campaigned as amateurs until 2012. Both won state amateur titles that year and represented New Mexico at USA Boxing nationals, José Luís reaching the quarterfinals.
José Luís made his pro debut in June 2012, Jason that December.
Since those debuts, the two brothers combined have fought only nine times in almost four years.
In March 2013, José Luís — with only two professional bouts to his credit — stepped into the ring with fellow Albuquerquean Josh Torres, at the time a veteran of 13 pro fights. Sanchez acquitted himself well, but the more experienced fighter prevailed via a seventh-round TKO.
José Luís did not fight again for more than two years.
Jason, meanwhile, was experiencing a similar drought. The younger brother defeated Davis Muñoz in El Paso on Aug. 3, 2013, then was out of action for some 21 months. The hiatus was not a matter of choice. “It was the promoters that didn’t give us a chance to fight,” José Luís said. “I was always training, but I just didn’t have the opportunity.”
Opportunity knocked, finally, in the form of Legacy Promotions. Eric Martinez and brothers Aaron and Jordan Perez began promoting last year, with the card at Camel Rock that was to have featured all three Sanchez brothers.
Jason has fought on all three of Legacy’s cards thus far, José Luís on two.
“This is the first time we’ve had a promoter that gave us an opportunity, José Luís said. Saturday’s card is a Legacy Promotion. Oh, about those Saturday opponents: Jason is scheduled to face Raymond Chacón of Los Angeles. Chacón’s 6-19 pro record is deceiving, in that his 19 defeats have come against opponents with a combined record of 134-24. He has never been knocked out.
In February, on a Legacy card at Camel Rock, Chacón defeated Española’s Tony Valdez by eight-round split decision.
Jason, who defeated Roswell’s John Herrera by first-round TKO that night, said he saw a couple of rounds of the Chacón-Valdez fight.
“What I remember is, he’s kind of fast and moves a lot,” Jason said. “But that’s about it.”
José Luís is matched against Zamir Young, a Cortez, Colo., fighter with a 1-41 record. Young fought to a four-round draw with Albuquerque’s Henry Anaya III in January 2013 at Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colo.
He knows nothing about Young, José Luís said, but that doesn’t concern him.
“I’ve been training and boxing for a lot of years, so I’m used to it,” he said.
José Luís’ bout is scheduled for four rounds. Jason’s six-rounder against Chacón is listed as Saturday’s main event. An eight-round welterweight bout between Albuquerque veteran Hector Muñoz (23-18-1, 15 KOs) and Hector Garza (3-17) of Harlingen, Texas, is the semimain event.