You have to hand it to Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Jason Sanchez. In a day and age when fighters are more interested in their Instagram profiles than taking on the toughest road to contention, Sanchez reminds boxing fans what it was like when fighters, well, fought. And he brings his all-action style of boxing to El Paso, Texas on Saturday night when he takes on a scrappy prospect named Yeyery Castillo (14-1, 11 KOs) from the Dominican Republic in a King’s Promotion event at the County Coliseum.
For Sanchez (17-6, 9 KOs), it’s a continuation of a trend that has defined his entire career. Sanchez was never handed anything in the sport of boxing. He simply went wherever the big fights were and proceeded to battle with anyone and everyone. Early on, he found a way to upend the apple cart and punch his way into contention with a win over a highly regarded undefeated prospect named Jean Carlos Rivera back in 2018 in Panama City, Panama.
The win over Rivera opened doors for the then-undefeated Sanchez. He signed with Top Rank and fought on the undercard of the ESPN-televised Sergey Kovalev–Eleider Alvarez fight the following year before battling Oscar Valdez for the WBO featherweight title in only his 14th professional fight. Unfortunately for fans of the New Mexican, Sanchez came up short in a gritty but lopsided decision loss to Valdez. But Sanchez refused to take a backward step and continued to battle some of the better featherweights in the world…