Outside of the shores of Bencia shoreline that merits the east bay from the valley, a mere hop and a skip away is the town of Fairfield, Ca. A town you may have heard of recently for the local fires that overtook the city for hours mid-week, but after Monday night – Alan Sanchez (12-2 6KOs) hopes for his name to also be put in the same sentence. Long since the days of the Federation singing the song “Hyphy” that started a mid-2000s drug influenced bay area rap movement, Fairfield has been hit with foreclosures and a healthy bit of economic confusion. Sanchez stands to potentially not just win, but also to be symbol of hope for his city.
Sanchez, a 22 year old fighter who fights beyond his age and at 6’1” is a very tall welterweight making him a problem for nearly anyone he encounters. Over the past three years, Sanchez has been in a zone that is hard to break as he has focused. The Don Chargin Promotions fighter who has frequented many PacoPresentsBoxing.com shows especially in his hometown, has won his past four fights via stoppage. Out of all of the fights Sanchez’s destruction of top rated prospect Artemio Reyes whom he stopped in the first round on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. Sanchez is truly is the type of prospect that you began to get giddy at the hopes and desires of someone from your neighboring area making it big and then there is his foe.
Luis Collazo is the guy no one wants to face and that is not so much that he is a world beater as in that he will give you a tough fight, has a good chance of beating you and may not provide the fireworks that will appease the network elite. Collazo on many people’s cards beat at the time HBO’s golden child Andre Berto on to lose on the cards. Collazo is essentially the classic case of fighter who has a name due to his previous fights with Ricky Hatton and “Sugar” Shane Mosley, but lacks the marquee win to be promoted as an A-side fighter. In essence Collazo is what the Fox Sports 1 Monday night boxing affairs could be on its sunniest day as a tough B-side facing a prospect looking to take the step up.
Essentially, this is what Alan Sanchez fans have wanted a fair shake. Collazo is tough, but a bout against Collazo is not necessarily being lead to the slaughter, but at the same time will bring the network TV and more eyes to the fight. The big question now will be at fourteen fights how seasoned is Alan Sanchez and will the man who once worked as a cook and dishwasher at nearby Travis Air Force Base make the next step up in Welterweight. Fox Sports 1 the newly founded network that wishes to rival ESPN and not be mentioned in the same sentence as CBS Sports Network or NBC Sports, is looking for a few boxers to focus on as the network seemingly is the Triple A of Golden Boy roster. Think of it as a step above a ShoExtreme undercard promotion and potentially slightly above a ShoBox headliner. With Danny Jacobs scoring a highlight reel knockout that wowed on lookers it appears that Sanchez could look to capitalize on such on opportunity on the new network, the problem is that Collazo is a true professional and is the measure stick of tough for anyone who wishes to stick their feet into the deep end at welterweight.
