By: Sean Crose
It’s long been seen as one of boxing’s true glamor divisions – and with good reason. For Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Marlon Starling and seemingly countless other greats have risen to master the welterweight realm. Now 31 year old Tennessee native Avious Griffin is looking to make his mark at welterweight. He’ll be highlighting Boxing Insider’s February 20th card at Manhattan’s Sony Hall by taking on Jose Luis Sanchez for the WBC USA welterweight title. The battle between the 16-0 Griffin and the 14-4-1 Sanchez will be scheduled for 10 rounds.
Sanchez will definitely have his work cut out for him if he wants to score the upset win in Times Square just over a week from now. For starters, Griffin will enter the ring with at least a four inch height advantage. And then there’s the matter of Griffin’s perfect record. All but one of Griffin’s fights have ended within the distance. Sanchez has only been stopped within the distance once, but he doesn’t seem to have much punching power of his own. Indeed, only 4 of Sanchez’ 14 victories have come before the final bell had been sounded.
There’s a reason Griffin is seen as a potential rising star. Not only does he possess fight ending power, Griffin also has a colorful, tragic backstory. He did time for a crime he didn’t commit, after all. He also lost his father, who died while his son tried rushing him to the hospital. Even though he lost his freedom as well as his inspiration, Griffin decided he wasn’t going to be swallowed alive by events beyond his control. Hence Griffin’s nickname: “The Underdog.” Should he continue along his current career trajectory, though, he won’t be seen as an underdog much longer.
With all that being said, it’s more than likely that Albuquerque native Sanchez isn’t making the trip to New York City in the dead of winter simply to collect a paycheck. This is a huge opportunity for the 32 year old to turn his career around. Indeed his last fight saw Sanchez lose to Santiago Dominguez back in March. A win over a red hot Griffin would raise a lot of eyebrows in all the right ways for Sanchez. Again, though, besting Griffin will be no easy task. All Griffin has to do is land and land hard. A daunting challenge if ever there was one.
