Augustine Anthony Sanchez (born November 17, 1977, in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

) is an American

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

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, ...

boxer. As an

amateur boxer An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

, he was the US featherweight champion, known for being the last American to defeat

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (né Sinclair; born February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed between 1996 and 2017. He list of undefeated boxing world champions, retired with an undefeated record a ...

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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

, Sanchez had some success up until his KO loss to

Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (Arabic: نسيم حميد; born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.Davies, Gareth A (8 June 2015)"Prince Naseem Hamed: 'I always thought they w ...

, 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 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 actor and former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2005. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight title from 198 ...

, but losing by a 30-second KO to John Michael Johnson 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, kickboxer ...

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 Martial artists from Las Vegas