Extra Points: Sanchez III finds comfort in the ring

By DAVID WEINBERG

PLEASANTVILLE – It was a Friday afternoon and the boxing gym at the Pleasantville Rec Center was packed.

Young fighters smacked the heavy bags beneath pictures of late trainer Mike Hall, former Pleasantville middleweight Kevin “Killer” Watts and other members of the gym’s “Wall of Fame.”

A half dozen others were shadow-boxing inside the ring, firing punches against invisible foes while sweat glistened on their faces.

“When I first came back here a few years ago, we had one fighter,” boxing program director Julio Sanchez Jr. said. “We’ve come a long way.”

Sanchez, 46, has gained a reputation as one of the sport’s up-and-coming trainers. Most recently, he has guided Smithville heavyweight Bruce Seldon Jr. to a 4-0 record.

Sanchez’s next assignment is much more personal. On March 22, he’ll be in the corner as his son, Julio Sanchez III makes his professional debut at Tropicana Atlantic City.

The 23-year-old former standout basketball player will face Washington, D.C.’s Douglas Leon Diggs (0-3) in a four-round, super-lightweight bout as part of a Boxing Insider Promotions card.

"I treat all the fighters in here like my kids," Sanchez Jr. said. "The trainer/fighter relationship is very similar to that of father/son. But this one is definitely special."

The gym on Brighton Avenue is not far from Sanchez III’s home, but his journey has encompassed hundreds of miles and has been filled with countless challenges.

Along the way, he’s encountered loneliness, frustration and pain.

There was a time when he thought his athletic future was in basketball. He played point guard at Atlantic City and Pleasantville High Schools, graduating from Pleasantville in 2020.

Three months later, on September 1, 2020, his best friend, Byron Jones, was shot and killed. Jones was 18 and the father of an infant daughter.

“It hit me extremely hard,” Sanchez said. “We grew up together, played junior football for the Pleasantville Jokers together.”

Basketball became Sanchez’s therapy. He spent a year at a nearby prep school, then enrolled at West Hills Community College in Coalinga, California.

The school is located about 50 miles from Fresno, in the San Joaquin Valley.

“It’s in the middle of nowhere with nothing around it,” Sanchez III said with a smile. “I pretty much lived on McDonald’s and KFC.”

He got off to an encouraging start as the Falcons’ point guard, appearing in 13 games. But his career abruptly ended when he came home for Christmas vacation.

He never went back.

“Looking back, it was good for me to get away and be on my own,” he said. “But I wasn’t happy. It was just too far away.”

Coming back to Pleasantville, however, didn’t help.

When his basketball plans didn’t work out, he drifted toward the streets. He soon found himself hanging with a rougher crowd, which led to legal troubles.

“I was lost, to be honest,” he said.

He found his way at the Rec Center.

Sanchez first started showing about a year ago, just to work out and get in shape. Six months ago, he entered the ring for the first time.

“This was definitely his idea to pursue a boxing career,” Sanchez Jr. said. “He’s always wanted to box and I was always against it. I told him if he really wanted to do this, he had to be totally committed to it and he’s done that. I’m very proud of him.”

His son won his only amateur fight by knockout at the Tropicana last November – he wore the same trunks his father wore when he fought at the Trop in 2003 - and sought to turn pro.

Sanchez Jr. sought to get him on the April 12 card slated for Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. Dad made his pro debut in that same ring on June 6, 2003, gaining a first-round TKO win.

“That would have been monumental, but it didn’t work out,” Sanchez Jr. said. “But he’s very excited to be fighting this weekend.”

Sanchez III has yet to throw his first uppercut as a pro, but already has experience in getting off life’s canvas.

In boxing, as in life, it’s all about how you handle the punches.

“I just want to be the best me I can be,” he said. “Anything else that comes out of it will be a cherry on top.”

Locals fill March 22 card

Sanchez III is among three local fighters scheduled for the March 22 card, which is the fourth show staged at the Trop by Margate promoter Larry Goldberg.

Atlantic City super welterweight Justin Figueroa (11-0, 9 KOs), a Holy Spirit High School graduate, will take on Argentina’s Mario Gaston Rios (10-3-1, 7 KOs) in a scheduled six-rounder.

Seldon Jr. (4-0, 3 KOs), an Absegami High School grad, will face Woburn, Massachusetts heavyweight Gabriel Costa (4-7-1, 2 KOs) in a four-rounder.

Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.com.