In just over six months since joining the paid ranks, light heavyweight prospect Rocky Sanchez has kept a busy pace and goes for his fifth professional victory this Saturday night, taking on late replacement Idrees Wasi in a four-round special attraction at the Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville, Oregon as part of “Clash at the Casino II.”
Originally from Sacramento, California, but residing in Monmouth, Oregon and training out of Young Guns Boxing in Vancouver, Washington, Sanchez (4-0, 2 KOs) originally had different squared circle dreams as a youngster.
“When I was younger, about four or five, I told my dad I was going to be WWE champion,” recalls Sanchez. “He told me, ‘Why would you do that if you could become a boxer?’ He ended up showing me a bunch of videos of Mike Tyson and ever since then I fell in love with boxing. I kept bugging him to get into it and, finally, when I was eleven-years-old, I got into it and I have been in love with it ever since.”
Unfortunately, Sanchez’s father passed away before he could see his son’s greatest amateur achievement: a silver medal at last year’s National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions in Detroit, Michigan. Sanchez, who moved to Oregon at the age of 15 to live with his mom after his father’s passing, moved up in weight class and scored decisions on three consecutive days before falling in the finals on a split verdict against a very experienced Isaiah Olugbemi.
“I was going to fight at 189 that year, but they did not have that weight class in the Golden Gloves, so I went up to heavyweight,” explains Sanchez. “Once I got to the nationals, I was the smallest heavyweight, out of 26 of them.”
Despite the size disadvantage, Sanchez thought he deserved the nod in the final round. Even without the gold medal finish, the national tournament experience was a positive one for the aspiring fighter, giving Sanchez confidence as he looked toward the pro game.
“I thought I won the fight, honestly, but it ended up being a split decision loss,” recalls Sanchez of the final round bout. “It was the most challenging, toughest experience I ever had. The mindset of going to the nationals and fighting day-after-day, I still have had nothing else like that. Honestly, I feel like it helped me get ready for the pros.”
Sanchez had one last goal as an amateur and that was to meet Olugbemi in a rematch and even up the score. Tragically, Isaiah Olugbemi was shot and killed by his own neighbor in Odenton, Maryland just a month after the National Golden Gloves.
“I was going to go to the Summer Fest,” recalls Sanchez, referring to the national event held in Kansas last June. “I wanted to run it back with him, but I ended up finding out later that after he got home, he got murdered. So it cut that off. I ended up not going to the Summer Fest and decided I would be going pro.”
Sanchez prepared for the National Golden Gloves by training himself out of his home gym. Once he made it be known he would be turning professional, several gyms and managers made overtures about working with the young prospect. During a sparring event in Washington, Sanchez met former fighter Jason Davis of Young Guns Boxing in Vancouver, who offered his services and the two quickly hit it off.
“I went to an event for sparring and we started talking,” recalls Sanchez of meeting Davis, who once went the distance with Joel Casamayor. “Once I met him, he said if I ever needed help, I could reach out to him. He’s a real cool dude and I feel like he’s real. We ended up clicking and been with each other ever since.”
With his team assembled, Sanchez turned professional this past February with a first-round stoppage of Joshua Brice in Salem, Oregon.
“During the weigh-in, he was smiling at me or laughing at me and it ticked me off,” remembers Sanchez of Brice. “The next day, when we were getting ready, he was laughing again, and I told my corner, ‘I am going to hurt this motherfucker.’ It felt good. I never realized how small the gloves are until I was in the ring. We ended up just going at it and I got the knockout.”
Two months later, Sanchez was back in action, taking on Thomas Turner in Clackamas, Oregon.
“We had a pretty good fight, but what happened was that he broke his hand in the fight,” explains Sanchez. “After the third round, he told me, ‘I’m going to quit. We are going to have to run it back.’ I had never had anyone hug me during a fight before. I went back to my corner and they told me to stay focused, because he could just be playing around. But the ref ended up waving it off, saying that he did quit. When we had our talk with the doctors, he kept talking to me, saying we needed to run it back and he didn’t get his fair shot. I told him we could run it back at any time, I don’t care.”
After two unanimous decision wins in May and July, the plan was to give Turner that second opportunity this Saturday in Canyonville. However, on Tuesday word came down that Turner’s hand was not cleared and would require surgery.
“I think he was coming into this fight unprepared and I am in the best shape I have ever been in my life,” says Sanchez of Turner, who had already requested a higher contracted weight. “If anything, I wanted to stop him in this fight, just to prove that the first fight wasn’t a fluke.”
Putting the definitive stamp on the Turner victory will have to wait until another day. Luckily for Sanchez, a new opponent was signed quickly, as Idrees Wasi (1-4, 1 KO) of Sacramento has stepped-in. The larger Wasi, who has additional experience in kickboxing and Muay Thai, will likely present a much different challenge than Turner.
“I don’t know anything about him,” admits Sanchez. “ I haven’t seen any video of him yet, but I am pretty sure he is going to come awkward. It was a last minute replacement. I told them I could go up in weight, or whatever we needed to do [to keep the date.] So we are going to cruiserweight for this fight. I feel like everything happens for a reason. I am just trying to fight anybody I can right now.”
Sanchez, who has been campaigning at light heavyweight, will not add any additional weight to prepare for his new heavier opponent and has designs on moving down to the 168-pound super middleweight division.
“I plan on coming in at the same weight [as I planned originally,] because I want to feel sharp, I want to feel strong,” explains Sanchez. “I feel good at this weight right now. We wanted to see how I felt during the weight cut, but the plan, since I feel great, is to shoot down to 168, most likely after this fight.”
In addition to possibly moving down in weight, Sanchez’s other goal is to remain active to close out the year, with a move up to the six-round distance in the offing.
“I am just trying to stay as active as I can this year,” says Sanchez. “It is getting hard to find opponents over here, so after this next fight, we are probably going to start travelling to get the fights.”
With eyes on the road, Saturday night’s bout in Southern Oregon presents a great opportunity for Sanchez’s following from both the Northwest and Northern California to see the young prospect in action before he starts logging airline miles.
“It is going to be big,” says Sanchez. “I have a lot of people coming out, so it is going to be wild. I am coming aggressive. I am looking to hurt him. I want to put him away.”
Tickets for the event, promoted by WhiteDelight Promotions, are available online at sevenfeathers.com
Photos by Josi Welter/Josi Welter Photography
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com
