South Valley boxers ready for debut
Familiar foes Sanchez, Benavidez to face each other in first pro fight
They train at different gyms with different coaches. Their physical dimensions are strikingly different, as are their boxing backgrounds.
Jesus Sanchez and Lorenzo Benavidez, however, have three things in common in that they’re South Valley guys, they fought each other twice as amateurs and each young boxer is hoping to jump-start his career with a victory in his professional debut.
Only one of them, though, can do so.
Benavidez, trained by Steve Garcia, and Sanchez, trained by Richard Mirabal, are scheduled to face each other on Saturday in a four-round bout at Buffalo Thunder Casino & Resort in Pojoaque.
The seven-bout card, promoted by Santa Fe’s Pat Holmes, features Española lightweight Antonio “Tone” Martinez (9-4-4, five knockouts) vs. Luís Gerardo Avila (6-12-13) of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, in the main event.
Unbeaten Albuquerque flyweight Matthew Griego (8-0, seven KOs) is matched against Atlanta’s Rondarius Hunter (2-3-1, two KOs) in a semi-main event.
Benavidez, who turned 21 on Tuesday, is a veteran of the New Mexico amateur boxing scene with more than 50 fights. He’s a state Golden Gloves and Junior Olympics champion.
Sanchez, 23, has had only eight amateur fights. Two of those were losses to Benavidez, the first by split decision, the second by unanimous verdict.
“I felt like I won (the first bout),” Sanchez said. “The second time, he did take it.”
Benavidez disagrees, feeling both of his victories were clear-cut — though agreeing that the first fight was closer than the second.
Sanchez believes his punching power will be decisive Saturday. Again, Benavidez disagrees — citing his experience and savvy.
That, though, was as close to trash talk in separate interviews that either boxer, or for that matter either coach, cared to get.
There’s no animosity here.
Sanchez, at 6-foot-3 and some 245 pounds, appears to have an imposing physical advantage. Benavidez stands 5-6 (maybe) and weighs about 215.
Benavidez, though, has been dealing with such disparities his whole career.
“I’ve never fought anyone even close to as short as me,” the Rio Grande graduate said. “I rely a lot on my head movement. The jab is a big key for me to get inside and work on the inside as much as I can.”
Sanchez believes his advantage Saturday will be not so much height, reach and poundage as raw power. The less-padded gloves used in the pros as opposed to those used in the amateurs, he believes, will work in his favor.
The huge favor Sanchez has done for himself is to change his body.
Not that long ago, the Volcano Vista graduate tipped the scales at some 400 pounds. He began training as a boxer, he said, mostly to lose weight. But he’d been interested in the sport all his life and also wanted the chance to compete.
He credits Victor Guerrero, his friend and Mirabal Boxing teammate, with the encouragement he needed to trim down and actually get in the ring.
“He’s the one that actually first believed in me, (saying), ‘Yeah, you can do it, man, you can do it.’
“He’s honestly the one who really pushed me to start boxing.”
For Benavidez, it was his father, Lawrence, who lit the fire.
“I was a basketball player in elementary and middle school,” Benavidez said. “(His dad) kind of pushed me into boxing. I didn’t like it so much at first, but after a while I started sparring and stuff and I grew to love it.”
Benavidez decided to turn pro, in part, because amateur bouts had become hard to come by in the heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions.
“I kind of took a break from boxing for a while for that reason,” he said. “… When I came back, I felt it was time to go pro.”
For Sanchez, the decision to turn pro after just eight amateur fights was made with the approval of Mirabal, his coach.
“He’s a good coach,” he said. “If he feels I’m ready, I’m ready.”