Albuquerque's Sanchez, unfazed by Griffin’s KO stats, ready to rock

Avious Griffin has been knocking out his opponents as fast as promoters can line them up: 16 wins, no losses, 15 of those wins by KO or TKO.

Griffin, though, has yet to face anyone with the credentials of Albuquerque’s Jose Luis Sanchez.

Never knocked out, knocked down only once in 19 professional bouts — that in a fight he came back to win by TKO — “Guero,” as he’s known throughout the New Mexico boxing community, is not intimidated by Griffin’s impressive résumé.

On Thursday in New York City, the two men will square off in a scheduled 10-round bout with the vacant WBC USA welterweight title belt at stake.

For Sanchez (14-4-1, four KOs), Griffin is the fourth consecutive unbeaten fighter he’ll face. Two of the previous three — Rashad Shahid and Eric Tudor — had their “O’s” go when Sanchez defeated them by unanimous decision.

Then in March 2024, Santiago Dominguez, 26-0 at the time, escaped with a victory over Sanchez by split decision.

In an interview on Wednesday in his family’s gym on Old Coors SW, Sanchez said he’s seen Griffin on video and respects his power. But, he added, “There’s nothing that I haven’t seen (before). I’m gonna go in there and just be aware the first two or three rounds, and if I feel his power and I can take it pretty good, just keep putting on the pressure.

“If he’s really strong, just move around, box around. We have a good game plan, so we’re gonna go in there and get that win.”

Sanchez’s October 2023 victory over Tudor and his solid performance 11 months ago in the loss to Dominguez both took place on cards staged by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Sanchez has one fight left on a three-fight contract he signed with Golden Boy, but fight No. 3 has not materialized.

“After (the Dominguez bout) we didn’t hear from them, and they were taking forever,” Sanchez said. … “So my dad (Pepe, his son’s manager and trainer) went ahead and took another fight.”

Thursday’s bout is being promoted by Boxing Insider Promotions, in the person of veteran promoter Larry Goldberg. The Sanchez-Griffin bout is the main event of a card scheduled to be streamed on DAZN.

The stage that DAZN provides, Sanchez hopes, will give his career the boost he’d hoped to get from Golden Boy.

“It means everything,” he said. “What they’re trying to do is get (Griffin) ranked. So I’ll be taking his spot once I beat him and then look for a big fight once I get ranked.

“Getting that (title) belt and just looking for bigger fights, and hopefully a world title this year or next year.”

Griffin, a 31-year-old from Chattanooga, Tennessee, has a compelling backstory.

According to his bio, he was wrongfully convicted of murder four fights into his pro career and was incarcerated for 11 months before being exonerated.

Manager Brandon Stump has brought Griffin along skillfully, gradually raising the skill level of his opponents. Griffin’s most recent two KO victims had a combined record of 27-6-3.

But a closer inspection of those two boxers’ records show they’d fought nowhere near the quality of opposition Sanchez has faced. The Albuquerque fighter’s four losses have come against opponents with a cumulative record of 52-2-1 entering those bouts.

“The guys he’s fought aren’t like the guys I’ve fought,” Sanchez said. “Pretty much my whole boxing career, I’ve fought tough people. It’s nothing new to me, being the underdog. … I had a really great weight cut, a great camp. … I’m ready to go out there and bring that belt home.”

GINITHAN WEIGH-IN: In Jamestown, California, Las Cruces’ Samantha Ginithan (1-0, one KO) weighed in at 140.2 pounds on Tuesday for her four-round bout on Wednesday against Jenna Creason (2-0, no KOs) of Visalia, California.

Creason weighed in at 139 pounds.

The bout is part of a card scheduled to be streamed on ProBoxTV.