Augustine Anthony Sanchez (born November 17, 1977 in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

) is an American

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

trainer and retired

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...

boxer. As an

amateur boxer Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

, he was the US featherweight champion, known for being the last American to defeat Floyd Mayweather Jr. as an amateur (before losing to Mayweather twice). As a

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

, Sanchez had some success up until his KO loss to

Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.. Retrieved 25 February 2016. He held multiple featherweight world championships, including the WBO ti ...

, after which Sanchez retired following several fights. He later became a boxing trainer.

Amateur career

Augie Sanchez was a stellar amateur boxer, highlighted by his winning the 1996 United States Amateur Featherweight title. He defeated

Floyd Mayweather Floyd may refer to: As a name * Floyd (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Floyd (surname), a list of people and fictional characters Places in the United States * Floyd, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Floyd, I ...

in the Olympic Trials in one of their three amateur bouts. He lost a chance to represent the United States.

Professional career

Known as "Kid Vegas", Sanchez turned professional in 1996. As a professional Sanchez was able to achieve some success, but was hampered by a questionable chin, which resulted in three brutal knockout losses. He was considered a very hard puncher, which was highlighted in his high-profile fight with

. He knocked Hamed down (although the referee did not rule it an official knockdown), and landed some hard bombs that shook Naseem. Sanchez in return suffered a brutal KO loss at the hands of Hamed, which resulted in him leaving the ring on a stretcher. He did return, beating a shot

Luisito Espinosa Luisito Pio Espinosa (born June 26, 1967) is a Filipino former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2005. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBA bantamweight title from 1989 to 1991 and the WBC featherweight ...

, but losing by a 30-second KO to

John Michael Johnson John Michael Johnson (born June 23, 1968, in San Antonio, Texas, USA) is a retired American bantamweight boxer He made his professional debut in 1986 and was a WBA bantamweight world champion Professional career Known as "Bam Bam," Johnson turn ...

in 2001. Following this loss the

Nevada State Athletic Commission The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxers ...

denied the renewal of Sanchez's boxing license. Sanchez has attempted to regain his boxing license once with Nevada, but was denied, due to the brutality of his knockout losses. In 2009, Sanchez reapplied for his license and, after passing all required medical tests, he was granted a license to fight again. Sanchez chose not to return to the ring stating that he reapplied for his license because he wanted the decision to retire to be his decision, not anyone else's.

Boxing trainer

Sanchez currently works as a boxing trainer, and trains Michael Hunter Jr., son of former boxer Mike Hunter. In 2016, after an intensive selection process USA Boxing selected Coach Augie Sanchez as a Coach for the US Olympic Team. He went on to become the National Junior and Youth Head Coach for USA Boxing, where he took teams to compete around the world; in 2018 he was awarded the Best Coach award, out of over 60 coaches from around the world, at the Youth World Championships in Russia. Augie is now training his own stable of boxers in Las Vegas Nevada. He trains his fighters at Barrys Boxing Center in

. He is married to the daughter of the owners Pat and Dawn Barry.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Augie 1977 births Living people American male boxers American boxing trainers Boxers from Nevada Featherweight boxers Sportspeople from Las Vegas