Good Sports: Golden Boy's Evan Sanchez to represent Parlier at Honda Center

Evan Sanchez is an up-and-coming boxer from the Valley. The first time he stepped in the ring, he was just 8 years old.

"When I went in the ring and fought for the first time, I did amazingly. I stopped the kid in the second round and I fell in love with the sport after that," says Sanchez.

Since then he's dedicated his life to training, waking up at 4 a.m., working out and then boxing with his dad in the evening.

"I loved his work ethic, a kid that's driven to really overcome, a unique story to be where he's at. Nothing has been given to him," says his trainer.

Sanchez's success in the boxing world didn't come easy.

He struggled to find fights until he caught the eye of someone very important at Golden Boy Promotions.

"My first two years were really hard. It was just me and my dad. We didn't have anyone helping us, just boxing in our garage. We gave each other two years to see where we ended up, those two years went by, nothing happened so I was going to give up."

But then everything changed.

Professional boxer Oscar de la Hoya's brother, Joel, was at a gym in Los Angeles looking at a boxer. Sanchez and his dad just so happened to be there.

"In the sparring session, I was like, 'Woah! Who is this kid?'" said Joel de la Hoya.

Sanchez signed with Golden Boy on the first of the year, becoming the first boxer from the Valley to ever sign with the promotion company.

"Everything blew up, my Instagram, Twitter, it just feels nice that people notice me now," said Sanchez.

The 21-year-old from Parlier has looked up to boxers like Canelo and Fresno's Jose Ramirez.

His debut with Golden Boy will be on February 14th at the Honda Center in Anaheim and he'll go in with Oscar's words on his mind.

"He told me that I'm a great fighter, and told me that I could improve more and told me that I have a great smile," he said. "It means a big deal that I'm bringing a little town up. Everyone there knows that it doesn't matter how big or little the town is, you can make it anywhere."