Fairfield's Sanchez shocks Reyes with first-round TKO

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In an absolute shocker, Fairfields Alan Sanchez delivered a first-round technical knockout of former conqueror Artemio Reyes at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas Friday night.

After a cautious opening minute, a thudding right uppercut from Sanchez (10-2-1, 4 KOs) suddenly had Reyes (15-2, 12 KOs) backpedaling into the ropes.

The Bay Area fighter subsequently took advantage of his foes waning condition, throwing a relentless series of right hands upstairs that would eventually floor a vulnerable Reyes and prompt referee Joe Cortez to stop the fight.

The official time was 2:08.

REWIND: Big bout for blue-collar Sanchez

He was using his jab pretty good, so I thought about moving at first, Sanchez told CSNBayArea.com via telephone after the victory. Then I threw my uppercut really hard, and when I saw he was hurt, I just jumped on him and went for it.

Fridays abrupt ending sharply contrasted their first meeting in June of 2010, a blistering six-round war in Southern California that ended in a split decision victory for Reyes. Sanchez and his team were determined to avenge the defeat.

The plan was to stay on the outside and then go for the knockout in the later rounds, trainer Jesse Lopez Sr. said, but Alan had the opportunity to knock him out right there and he did it.

Reyes, who entered the rematch with a heavy heart having buried his father last week following complications stemming from a car accident, saw a 14-bout winning streak snapped.

The 21-year-old Sanchez handlers, Don Chargin and Jorge Marron, will now try to capitalize on this newfound momentum.

I'm going to talk to Golden Boy Promotions as far as getting him a TV date in Fairfield in June, Chargin said via telephone. As far as a venue, we're looking at either the Fairfield Sports Center or a converted Wal-Mart that can hold more than 1,000 seats.

Since Chargin and Marron took over Sanchez promotional reins, the Fairfield High alum has gone 5-0 and will now probably earn a top 15-20 welterweight (147 lbs.) ranking with one of the main alphabet sanctioning bodies.
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You can imagine the people that watched him at home in the Bay Area are proud of what he just did, Chargin added. Were all proud of him.

Sanchez, who works six days a week in a local chicken restaurant as both a cook and a dishwasher, might have to explore fighting full-time following this momentous win.

Im thankful to have a job, but this win was big for my career, Sanchez said. Maybe now I can start training in the gym 100 percent.
CSNBayArea.com Boxing Insider Ryan Maquiana is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazines Ratings Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.

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