Upset? A fight-by-fight look at Rashad Shahid’s previously unbeaten record might suggest otherwise.
Yet, Jose Luis Sanchez’s decisive victory over Shahid Saturday night in Odessa, Texas, was no less meaningful.
After defeating Shahid, Albuquerque’s Sanchez (13-3-1, four KOs) had a North American Boxing Federation title belt wrapped around his waist. That title, and the recognition that comes with it, might well result in more and greater opportunities for the 30-year-old nicknamed “Guero.”
Sanchez was confident entering the eight-round bout, despite Shahid’s unblemished record, and with good reason. While Sanchez was fighting rising contenders like Xander Zayas and Jahi Tucker — those fighters responsible for two of Sanchez’s three career losses — Shahid was building his record (10-0, seven KOs) against the likes of Adam Young (0-8 entering his bout with Shahid), Jaime Meza (0-3) and Daniel Perales Osorio (12-22-2).
Shahid’s first-round knockout in December of Mario Ezequiel Sayal Lozano (18-9-1) becomes less impressive when it’s noted that Lozano had lost his previous eight bouts.
Sanchez, though, didn’t just beat Shahid; he did so in dominant fashion. Though no detailed report on the bout was available as of this writing, the scores — 79-71, 77-73, 76-74 — suggest that Sanchez knocked Shahid down at least once and perhaps twice.
The NABF title at stake was the previously vacant junior welterweight (140-pound) belt, and Saturday’s bout was fought at welterweight (147). Hmmm. But, hey, there the belt was, securely around Sanchez’s waist.
For Sanchez and his boxing family, then — father and trainer Pepe, younger brother Jason and late and never-to-be-forgotten big brother Alan — Guero’s victory was a big one indeed.
