By Ken Hissner: It was April 6, 1995, at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, when Floyd Mayweather, Jr. defeated Augie “Kid Vegas” Sanchez in the USA National Championships semi-final bout 18-16.
Almost a year to the day on April 5, 1996, when Sanchez defeated Mayweather at the US Olympic Trials final 12-11 at the Kaiser Convention Center, Oakland, California. Two weeks later, at the Olympics Box-offs, Mayweather got his revenge defeating Sanchez 12-8. On the next day, he was again defeated in their fourth meeting, 20-10.
On May 17th, at a USA vs. Germany Dual Match, Mayweather defeated Michael Hammer 19-1 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. One month later, he defeated Vyacheslav Smirnov in a USA vs. Russia Dual Match at Coconut Grove, Florida.
On July 22nd at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia, in the first round of the 1996 Olympics, Mayweather defeated Kazakhstan’s Bakhtiyar Tyleganov in two rounds. Five days later, in the second round, he defeated Artur Gevorgyan of Armenia 16-3.
Four days later Mayweather in the quarter-final, Mayweather defeated Cuba’s Lorenzo Aragon, 12-11. Two days later, in the semi-final, he lost a disputed decision to Bulgaria’s Serafim Todorov, 10-9, who was the last to defeat Mayweather.
In June of 1996, Sanchez turned professional after losing to Mayweather he lost for the first time in his seventeenth fight to Edgar Garcia, 7-8-1, in the first round by TKO. Then go on to win ten straight before being stopped by WBO world featherweight champion “Prince” Naseem Hamed, 34-0, in four rounds, at Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket, Connecticut on August 19, 2000.
Sanchez came back in January 1997. He posted his biggest win-stopping Filipino Luisito “Golden Boy” Espinosa, 45-9, in four rounds at the Texas Station Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. In March, he stopped Daniel “La Cobra” Jimenez, 29-10-1, of Puerto Rico, at Feather Falls Casino, Oroville, California.
In his next and career-ending bout, he was stopped by former WBA Featherweight champion John Michael Jackson, 29-7, for the vacant International Boxing Association featherweight title. He was carried out on a stretcher after both bouts and had his license revoked. His final record was 28-3, with 25 stoppages, at age 24.
In October of 1996, Mayweather turned professional and went on to win 50 straight times, retiring after coming out of retirement in August of 2017, stopping in 10 rounds MMA and UFC champion Conor McGregor of Ireland in his first professional bout.
