Sanchez vs Paredes, Ringside at Delmar Boxing Series saves the best for last

Welterweight contender Alan Sanchez can attest, when you’re at the Marron Boxing Camp in Lakeside, CA, there’s no partying, no none stop TV watching, only serious fighters working hard to master their craft. Photo: J. Wyatt

On June 4, 2009, an 18 year-old youngster by the name of Alan Sanchez of Fairfield, CA. made his professional boxing debut at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in San Diego. On December 4, 2014, Alan Sanchez, the five year veteran returns to San Diego to fight in the Main Event of Golden Boy Live! to be aired on Fox Sports.

Local fight fans recognize this event at the Del Mar Fairgrounds as the final offering of the year in the popular Ringside at Delmar Boxing Series presented by Golden Boy Promotions and co-promoted by A & T Promotions, Paco Presents, and Marron Productions.

After looking over Sanchez’s record of (14-3-1, 7 KOs), you discover five of his matches were fought in Fairfield, CA, his hometown and Thursday evening’s fight at the Del Mar Fairgrounds will be his fifth fight in San Diego, which he considers his second home.

Sanchez’s opponent on Thursday evening will be Ed “The Lion” Paredes from Lawrence, Massachusetts and now fighting out of Miami, Florida. Even though the 29 year-old Paredes’ record is 35-4-1 with 23 KOs and he’s faced stronger opposition, gents like Carlos Molina, Antwone Smith, Joey Hernandez, boxing insiders believe the 23 year-old Sanchez is the “hotter” prospect and most assuredly will be the fan favorite in this classic matchup.

Thursday’s opponent, the very tough Ed “The Lion” Paredes.

In Paredes’ last assignment, on July 9, 2014, he faced Alfonso Gomez, the former WBC Super Welterweight title challenger and “The Contender” star who was returning to the ring after a two year absence. Gomez managed to outbox Paredes to win an unanimous decision. Judges saw the fight 99-92, 98-92 and 96-93 in Gomez’s favor despite Paredes being awarded two questionable knockdowns.

Still, the Sanchez backers can not discount the fact Paredes is in his prime, slick defensively, has lightning fast hands (hands that surprised those 23 knockout victims) and by the close of 2012, he was ranked as high as #11 in the U. S. 

The star power doesn’t end there. In the show’s co-main event, they have undefeated super bantamweight Manuel Avila of Fairfield, CA (16-0) taking on Jose Luis Araiza of Tecate, Mex. (31-9-1, 22 KOs). There’s also a wealth of local talent Ulises Sierra (7-0 with 5 KOs) of San Diego, Adrian Vargas (11-0-1 with 7 KOs) of National City, the human dynamo Johnathan “Johnny Boy” Quiroz (5-2-0, 1 KO) and his brother Bryan Nevarez both of the Rhino’s Boxing Gym, Vista, CA plus Jorge “Tito” Ruiz (6-2-0, 2 KOs) of Chula Vista.

After his unexpected loss to Walter Melchor Santibanes in his last fight, Jorge “Tito” Ruiz (r) switched trainers. He now works with Jose Cital (l) shown here working the mitts at The Arena. The benefits are said to be multifaceted since Cital works closely with his wife Brandy Augustine, who happens to be a nutrition expert.

It’s an accepted truth: an active fighter is a serious fighter. Johnny Boy Quiroz will be taking on Daniel Covielles in a rematch of a fight won by Covielles which took place on February 21st. Since that time, Quiroz has been inactive while Covielles has fought twice, going 1-1.

They also have Elias Espadas (6-1, 3 KOs) coming north from Yucatan, Merida, Mexico for his sixth straight appearance in San Diego. Since his last fight, the rumor mill (more like celebrity gossip) has insinuated that Espadas hasn’t been training. Perhaps the following photos can shed some light on this matter.

It’s coming up on 6 months since Elias Espadas last fought and they say we are judged by the company we keep. Espadas and his crew were recently spotted at the airport with Angelique Boyer and Sebastián Rulli, the well known actors who played Montserrat and Alejandro in the popular primetime novela Lo Que La Vida Me Robo. Espadas and his girlfriend were also seen hanging out with the Simpson family.

Turning our spotlight back on Mr. Sanchez, Thursday’s headliner, Alan, along with his family, arrived in the U. S. from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico back in 2005 and soon settled in Fairfield, CA, a city generally considered the midway point between San Francisco and Sacramento, approximately 36 miles from the city center of both. It’s the home of the Travis Air Force Base and headquarters for the jelly bean maker, Jelly Belly Candy.

Aside from the numerous NFL and Major League Baseball players like pitcher C. C. Sabathia of the Yankees and NFL cornerback Jason Verrett of the San Diego Chargers, the city can also boast that Pat Morita aka Mr. Miyagi from the movie The Karate Kid was a long time resident.

(bottom, right) Alan Sanchez, on his bike, stands next to his proud parents. Alan received lots of encouragement from his father who was quite an athlete himself.

Since Alan’s father used to be a competitive long distance runner and boxer in Guadalajara, it was natural for his sons to develop more than a passing interest in these sports. Soon after their arrival in the U. S., the 14 year-old and his brother Luis visited the nearby JT Boxing Club in Fairfield where they were mentored by the highly respected Coach Jessie Lopez.

Over the past four years, Alan has become friends with the likes of MMA stars Nate and Nick Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, Jack Shields, kick-boxer Joe Schilling and boxing notables Amir Khan, Ivan Morales, Melissa McMorrow, Danny Garcia, Levan “The Wolf” Ghvamichava and trainer Virgil Hunter.

(starting top, left) Test yourself – how many of these celebrities can you name? From Levan “The Wolf” Ghvamichava and trainer Virgil Hunter all the way down to matchmaker Jorge Marron (bottom, right).

Amusing tale involving Nick Diaz, the nonconformist:

Sanchez, who runs early in the morning with his dad or girlfriend Jessica Koehne, also enjoys the challenge of competing in Half Marathons and Triathlons. Not long ago, Nick Diaz and Alan decided to compete in the same Triathlon. Side by side, the gents began with the mile swim. Since this is not one of Alan’s strengths, Diaz left him far, far behind as they say in his wake. After the swim, competitors went right to the 30 mile bike ride. Being a frontrunner and feeling a bit cocky, Diaz started looking over his shoulder for Sanchez. There was no sign of Sanchez. At the start of his final leg, the 10 mile run, Diaz was certain he had left Sanchez in his dust. 

As Diaz approached the finish line, there was Sanchez standing there. In shock, Diaz did this double take. Sanchez had finished first in his 18-24 year-old age group while Diaz finished second in his age group, the 25 thru 30 year-olds. His bud, Alan, was able to make up the distance and then some in the bicycling and running portion. On Sunday, we learned Alan has plans to compete in our local Rock’n Roll marathon.

After competing in the Triathlon, Nick Diaz (l) and Alan Sanchez posed for photos.

When in San Diego, Sanchez trains at the Marron Boxing Camp in Lakeside where he’s developed friendships with the likes of Antonio DeMarco, Santos Valdez, James Taylor, Pablo Cupul, Manuel Ceballos, Aluche Jimenez, Elias Espadas, Flavio Martinez, Guy Robb, Oscar Godoy and Mercito Gesta.       

For a professional athlete to be away from those he loves, it is quite a sacrifice. (photo, right) Even though Alan is known for keeping things down-low, low-key, he couldn’t help but impress his girlfriend Jessica Koehne when landing the flashy double axel.

The four celebrities with whom he would enjoy sharing a meal? Boxers Rafael Marquez, Julio Cesar Chavez, Erik Morales and Mixed Martial Artist Nick Diaz.

A particular food he likes to eat before a race or before a fight? Sweet potatoes.

What it takes to become a serious athlete

While working full time at a small restaurant, Sanchez used to wake up at 5:40 a.m. to begin his daily grind with a long run. He’d then work from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. before returning to the gym for an evening workout.

At this stage, he gets up at 5 a.m. for a cup of coffee followed by a seven mile run, breakfast follows, then it’s two hours in the gym followed by two additional hours of cardio. When in training camp for a big fight, this same schedule is often repeated in what they call two-a-days.

How he maintains his zero body fat? Boxing provides a total-body workout involving the recruitment of both the slow and fast-twitch muscle fibers—slow-twitch for the constant motion of his feet and hands and fast-twitch for the quicker movements of punching and slipping punches. Since the fast-twitch muscle fibers have the greatest potential for growth, he notices a marked increase in his overall lean muscle, which in turn helps him burn even more body fat.

Amongst the stretching, calisthenics, lunges, shadow boxing, hitting of the heavy bag, working the mitts, an occasional massage and sparring, Sanchez will often do a hill climb.

Running up Marron Mountain separates the men from the boys. Photos: J. Wyatt

The impressive Marron Ranch where everyone is welcome.

The Marron ranch features a variety of fruit trees, tropical birds, well water, oddball mascots and classic automobiles like this 1948 Oldsmobile 4 Door Sedan.

His three regrettable losses came to: Luis Collazo (September 2, 2013), Artemio Reyes (which was later avenged) and Ricky Duenas (a mixed decision loss in his 5th fight). Duenas wants no part of a rematch.

(top, l to r) Three most memorable fights – the step-up fight with Luis Collazo, the draw with Luis Grajeda and successful rematch versus Artemio Reyes.

Only one other weight division, the Lightweights, comes even close to matching the number of competitors in Boxing’s Welterweight division. With it’s cast of characters weighing between 140 and 147 pounds, this division has had more clout, more notoriety, more everything thanks to people like Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy “Hitman” Hearns, Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Henry Armstrong, Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, etc.

Since he’s not your typical Rocky loving “Eye of the Tiger” anthem lover, Alan prefers to listen to different genres of music. If possible on Thursday night he’d prefer the DJ play “Take you higher” by Goodwill & Hook N’ Sling for his ring entrance. We’ll be there to see if that happens. In the mean time, have a listen.