Naseem Hamed vs Augie Sanchez

Naseem Hamed retained his World Boxing Organisation featherweight championship by stopping Augie Sanchez after two minutes 34 seconds of the fourth round at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, on August 19, 2000. The contest was one of the most hazardous of Hamed’s championship reign. Sanchez repeatedly caught him with right hands and sent him to the canvas in the second round, although referee Mike Ortega ruled each fall a slip. Hamed recovered to overwhelm the challenger with a final combination which left Sanchez requiring medical attention and removal from the ring on a stretcher.

Hamed entered with an unbeaten record of 34 victories, 30 inside the distance, and was making the fifteenth defence of the WBO title he had held since defeating Steve Robinson in 1995. His previous appearance had produced a fourth-round stoppage of former IBF super-bantamweight champion Vuyani Bungu in London. Sanchez, a 22-year-old Las Vegas puncher, had won 26 of his 27 professional contests, 23 by knockout, and was ranked seventh by the WBO. He had also defeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. during the 1996 United States Olympic trials before losing their subsequent meetings. Both men weighed 126 pounds. The contest was televised in the United States by HBO and in Britain by Sky Box Office.

The presentation before the fight was as elaborate as the champion had made customary. Hamed entered through a display of fire, lasers and Arabic chanting before vaulting over the ropes. Sanchez, known as “Kid Vegas,” arrived to “Viva Las Vegas” accompanied by four Elvis Presley impersonators. Once the ceremony ended, the first round was comparatively restrained. Hamed adopted his usual southpaw stance, hands low, leaning away from punches and looking to counter with the left. Sanchez stayed compact and cautious, trying to measure the champion with his lead hand before throwing the right. All three judges awarded the opening round to Hamed.

The character of the contest changed sharply in the second. Sanchez began committing himself to the right hand and found Hamed’s exposed chin while the champion was leaning backwards. One clean right sent Hamed to the canvas, but Ortega ruled that he had slipped. The decision was fortunate for the champion, who had plainly been struck and appeared hurt. The crowd responded by chanting for Sanchez, and the challenger pressed forward with greater confidence. Hamed went down again during the confused exchanges, but none was recorded as a knockdown.

Sanchez nearly floored the champion again near the end of the round with a two-punch combination. Hamed’s balance deserted him, but he remained upright and answered with a left which drove Sanchez towards the ropes. They traded until the bell, neither showing much concern for defence. Hamed had been caught more cleanly than at any previous point in the contest and could no longer treat the challenger as merely an ambitious prospect. Judges William Hutt, Clark Sammartino and Luis Pabon all scored the second for Sanchez, leaving the fight level after six minutes.

Sanchez resumed his attack in the third and landed two hard right hands which brought blood from Hamed’s face. The champion briefly used the ropes to steady himself but continued to invite exchanges, often pulling his head back rather than moving his feet or raising his guard. His reactions remained quick, but the risks inherent in his style were becoming increasingly plain. Sanchez possessed the power to punish a mistake, although his own defence was beginning to deteriorate as he expended energy trying to finish the champion.

Hamed gradually found the range for his left hand. A left hook sent Sanchez to his knees, but Ortega again called a slip. The referee’s treatment of the falls was at least consistent, though not always convincing. When Sanchez rose, Hamed increased his attack, landing heavily from awkward angles and opening a cut around the challenger’s eye. Sanchez’s right eye began to swell, and his earlier sharpness diminished as Hamed struck him with a succession of power punches late in the round. All three judges gave the third to Hamed, making their scores 29–28 for the champion.

Early in the fourth, Hamed landed a left which caused Sanchez to stumble into him and fall. While Sanchez was on the floor, Hamed struck him in the body. Ortega treated the original fall as a slip and deducted one point from Hamed for hitting a grounded opponent. The ruling removed any possible advantage the champion might have received from the incident, but it did not change the direction of the action. Sanchez was tiring, his eye was damaged, and his defence had become increasingly porous.

With approximately 40 seconds remaining, Hamed found the decisive opening. He drove Sanchez backwards with a rapid combination, the final punches landing cleanly around the head. Sanchez staggered and collapsed heavily near the ropes. He attempted to rise but fell back, and Ortega stopped the contest without completing a count. The official result was a technical knockout at 2:34 of the fourth round.

Sanchez remained on the canvas for several minutes while doctors attended him. He was described as lethargic, slow to respond and suffering from slurred speech and sluggish pupils. He was placed on a stretcher and taken to the trauma centre at Backus Hospital in Norwich, where a concussion was suspected. The crowd was later told he was conscious and that his removal was precautionary.

Hamed improved his record to 35–0, but the victory exposed flaws which the force of his finishing punches could not entirely conceal. He had been hurt repeatedly by Sanchez’s right hand, lost his balance under pressure and relied upon reflexes rather than sound defensive position. His recovery and power were nevertheless decisive. Despite the point deduction and the damage he had absorbed, he found the punches required to bring a dangerous contest to an abrupt conclusion. It proved to be his final defence of the WBO championship. Hamed later relinquished the belt and next fought Marco Antonio Barrera in April 2001, when the defensive weaknesses evident against Sanchez were punished over the full distance.

This fight should have been named “The beginning of the end” as it showed everything brilliant and dangerous about Naseem Hamed. His reflexes, timing and punching power were exceptional, but his defence was becoming lazy. Augie Sanchez caught him repeatedly with the right hand and clearly dropped him in the second, whatever referee Mike Ortega called it.

Sanchez was no mug. He could punch, had beaten Floyd Mayweather in the amateurs and entered with 23 knockouts from 26 wins. But once Hamed found his range, the difference in finishing ability was brutal. Sanchez’s eye swelled, his resistance weakened, and Naz ended matters with a frightening combination in the fourth.

I admired Hamed’s recovery, but the warning signs were obvious. Pulling straight back with your hands down works until you meet somebody disciplined enough to keep punishing it. Sanchez hurt him; Marco Antonio Barrera later exposed him. This was a thrilling victory, but it also showed that Hamed’s talent was covering technical faults which had stopped being corrected.