Not only is Angelo Sanchez taking the bold move of getting into the boxing ring Saturday at the age of 41 when “The Return” fight card hits the Ohkay Casino Resort, he’s embodying the whole career renewal with his first fight in nine years.
But the San Ildefonso native and longtime mixed martial arts fighter, who has limited boxing experience, is anxious to see how he stacks up after nearly a decade away from the ring.
“I’m definitely pretty excited and interested,” he said. “Stepping in there around this age, tell you the truth, man, I never thought I’d fight again, right? When I walked away from fighting, I was pretty much done with it. And lo and behold, here I am, 41 and you can call it a midlife crisis if you want. I call it a test of myself, yeah. But definitely, I’m excited. It’s kind of like rejuvenating me and giving me some focus in life.”
That’s not to say that he doesn’t have plenty of focus in his life already, as he’s a full-time trainer at Anytime Fitness in Española and also has been busy raising two children, while doing youth programs at the Pueblo of Pojoaque.
“I stopped teaching about three years ago, I totally walked away from martial arts and I got involved in a different career field,” Sanchez said. “And, yeah, I don’t know, it all just went full circle, and an opportunity came up for me to teach again. And it just so happened that it was with kids helping out.”
And that’s something that now means a lot to Sanchez, who had a rough upbringing as a child.
“I’m a huge believer in, I guess listening to the universe or listening to opportunities, and it kind of started pushing me toward kids,” he said. “And, yeah, I kind of have just been embracing that and I (have) just been making more connections with people and it seems like it’s growing, and I’m getting a lot out of working with the youth. And so, I don’t know how that transition happened. It kind of just, I kind of just let things go. And for some reason I ended up here where I did not think I’d be right now.”
And now he’s heading back to another place he never thought he’d be: back in the boxing ring, which is something of a new challenge for Sanchez, as he’s only had two boxing matches over his long career, going 1-1. But in 2008, he won the King of the Cage Bantamweight championship and defended it twice and held the title until 2010, with an overall record in the cage of 12-6.
But his last bout, an MMA match nine years ago, did not go well.
“It was kind of one of those situations to where I needed money, so I fought,” Sanchez recalled. “That’s kind of where that one was, right? And then after that I was like, ‘Oh, well,’ I’m done with fighting. And I kind of walked away from it.”
Things are certainly a little different now.
“I was a different type of person and in a different place back then, versus where I’m at now,” he said. “I’m fighting now, not because I’m gonna have to, but because I want to. I want to for myself. I want you for my students, for the family, for all my fans and supporters. So it’s cool to be in a place where I can fight for fun versus fighting for survival.”
Sanchez will meet newcomer Rony Liranzo out of the Dominican Republic, who has lost his only previous pro fight.
Whether this is a one-time thing, or full-fledged comeback remains to be seen, but Sanchez said he’s welcoming the opportunity and showing local youth what it can mean for them in their futures.
“The reason is I ended up boxing again and working with kids in boxing,” he said. “I think it’s just such a good foundation for kids, especially where we grew up here. I grew up in Northern New Mexico, born and raised on the reservation family. So being able to work with that youth and it’s really inspired me to, kind of like, test myself and, yeah, just put myself out there.”