Albuquerque’s Donald Sanchez sticking to his plan: He's retired
Win or lose, Albuquerque’s Donald Sanchez had said, Friday’s bare-knuckle fight in Hollywood, Florida was to be his last. A loss by split decision to Jeremy Smith on a BKFC card, an outcome that easily could have been reversed, has not changed his mind. “I’ve got a brain to maintain and kids of the future to guide and help,” Sanchez wrote on social media.
“I’ve got too many people that look up to me that I can now focus on fully. ” According to statistics available on bkfc. com , Sanchez landed more punches than Smith in each of the fight’s five rounds.
Smith, however, was slightly more active and threw more blows. Sanchez, who compiled a 30-20 record as an MMA fighter, is 5-3 in BKFC competition. He’d hoped to avenge his loss by unanimous decision to Smith (4-5) in Sanchez’s first bare-knuckle fight in August 2022.
PEREZ STOPPED: On Friday’s card, Belen’s Derek Perez lost by first-round TKO to Bryan Duran in just 19 seconds of the first round. Perez drops to 4-5 in BKFC competition. Duran is 9-1-1.
GOLDEN GLOVES: Las Cruces’ Joscelyn Olayo-Muñoz, a 16-time national amateur champion and an international champion, is among 10 New Mexico boxers eligible to compete at Colorado-New Mexico Golden Gloves regionals April 18 in Loveland, Colorado. The New Mexico Golden Gloves tournament was held over the weekend in Roswell. Winners at regionals qualify for Golden Gloves nationals, scheduled for May 11-16 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.