Saul Sanchez faces Arthur Villanueva in overtime tonight in Atlanta

Saul Sanchez continues to move forward despite a setback in his last fight.

Sanchez returns to action tonight, as he takes on Arthur Villanueva at OTE Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The eight-round bout will precede the main event between undefeated junior lightweight Haven Brady and Jesus Vasquez, Jr.

Both fights will be streamed live on DAZN (7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT).

At Thursday’s weigh-in, Sanchez weighed 118 pounds, while Villanueva weighed 119 pounds.

Sanchez (20-3, 15 KOs), who resides in the Los Angeles suburb of North Hollywood, faced then-WBO bantamweight world titleholder Jason Moloney in his last fight on Jan. 13, losing a close decision in one of the best action fights of the year.

In his previous fight on October 12, Sanchez defeated undefeated prospect RV Deniega by unanimous decision. Prior to his loss to Moloney, Sanchez had won his previous two fights after losing by split decision to Eros Correa in June 2022.

Oshae Jones – Photo courtesy of OTX

The 27-year-old has appeared on a handful of televised shows on ShoBox, most notably in September 2021 when he scored a vicious one-punch knockout victory over Ja’Rico O’Quinn.

Sanchez, who has also fought on a few Boxeo Telemundo shows, has spent most of his professional career under the Thompson Boxing Promotions banner. He is trained by Manny Robles.

Villanueva (35-5-1, 20 KOs), who resides in Bacolod City, Philippines, last fought on March 29, losing by fourth-round knockout to junior featherweight contender Elijah Pierce. The loss to Pierce snapped a three-fight winning streak.

The 35-year-old has lost to the likes of Luis Nery and Zolani Tete. In July 2015, Villanueva fought for the vacant IBF junior bantamweight world title, losing by technical decision to McJoe Arroyo.

Brady (12-0, 5 KOs), who resides in Albany, also fought on March 29, stopping Waldemar Carril Areizaga in the sixth round in a clash of two undefeated prospects. In his previous fight on Nov. 10, the 22-year-old defeated Deivi Julio by decision.

Vasquez (11-2, 3 KOs), who resides in Englewood, Colorado, stopped Jaime Garzon after the third round of his last fight on March 22.

The 33-year-old faced undefeated Charlie Sheehy on November 4, losing by unanimous decision.

Francisco A. Salazar has been writing for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be contacted at: (protected email)

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