Sanchez Replaces Mendez on Dec. 16 Solo Boxeo Card

By Ryan Maquiñana

A eight-round welterweight clash between prospects Alan Sanchez and Keandre Gibson will replace middleweight Paul Mendez’s bout as the Dec. 16 TeleFutura Solo Boxeo Tecate main event in Woodland, Calif., according to co-promoter Rafael “Paco” Damian of Paco Presents.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find Paul an opponent in time,” said Damian, who is promoting the Sacramento-area card with Golden Boy, Don Chargin, and Jorge Marron.  “Alan Sanchez will now fight Gibson, and we’re expecting a good fight from him.”

The venue for the bout, the Woodland Community Senior Center, remains the same.

Sanchez (8-2-1, 3 KOs) will be making his third appearance on the network this year.  The 20-year-old native of nearby Fairfield is on a three-bout winning streak that includes clear decisions over trial horse Cristian Favela and unbeaten John Ryan Grimaldo, and a seventh-round stoppage of tough warrior Clint Coronel.

Since that period, Sanchez made a name for himself as the chief sparring partner for Antonio DeMarco, who scored an exciting late-round stoppage of Jorge Linares for the WBC lightweight title in October.

Gibson (5-0-1, 2 KOs), a 21-year-old from St. Louis, will fight for the sixth time in 2011, and his presence on the card comes with questions since he had reportedly signed with Golden Boy rival Top Rank in October.  He brings some impressive amateur credentials with him to Northern California, namely a gold medal at the 2005 National Junior Golden Gloves and a bronze medal at the 2006 Junior Olympic National Championships.

In the six-round co-main, junior lightweight Guy Robb (6-0, 2 KOs) of Sacramento will hope to add to his building reputation as a crowd-pleaser in a six-rounder against Hugo Ramos (3-10-2, 1 KO), who will be making the trip north from Palm Springs, Calif.  Ramos has taken current prospects Randy Caballero and Jonathan Arrellano the distance.

Four-round bouts flank the rest of the show.  San Francisco junior welterweight Jonathan Chicas (3-0, 2 KOs) takes on Sacramento-based former amateur standout Paul Cano (debut), while former Sacramento gymmates and now rivals Nicolas Balestra (1-1) and Will Walters (0-2) mix it up in a welterweight scrap.  Rounding out the card, welterweight Oscar Godoy (3-1, 1 KO) of Watsonville, Calif., meets another Fairfield fighter, Luis Sanchez (1-6).  Junior middleweight Michael Ortega (2-0, 1 KO) is still in search of an opponent.

Ryan Maquiñana is the boxing correspondent at Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Advisory Panel.  E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at www.maqdown.com or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.