Born in Havana, Cuba, bantamweight Leonardo Sanchez’ (1-0) dreams of becoming a professional boxer would have never been realized if his family did not hit the lottery. 

At the start of the Cuban Revolution in 1953 Fidel Castro and his communist regime abolished all professional sports in Cuba which meant that all leagues and teams would be considered amateur. 

Many athletes were forced to defect Cuba by either fleeing the island or leaving their team when traveling abroad to turn professional. Current professional boxing standouts to defect from Cuba include featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa, light middleweight Erislandy Lara and super bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux, who possibly had the greatest amateur career of all time.

But Sanchez’ story is a little different. 

In 1993, when Sanchez was just a year old his family applied for the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, a lottery that gives immigrants a United States Permanent Resident Card. The worldwide program annually grants 55,000 individuals and their immediate family permanent resident status in the U.S. The drawing is conducted at random. 

It took the Sanchez family 11 years to finally be chosen. They first moved to Miami, Florida in 2004 where the state provided them with financial assistance. They then temporarily moved back and forth between Albuquerque and Miami. For the past five years they have called “The Duke City” home. 

His interest in boxing originated with his father, who participated in unsanctioned fights in Cuba. His father’s close friend Maikro Romero, was a gold medalist in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and a bronze medalist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. 

“I was always around [boxing]. I fought unsanctioned fights, a few of them in Cuba. Then I came [to the US] and I wasn’t really focusing on boxing,” says Sanchez. 

It was a street fight that ended up getting Sanchez back into the gym. While attending Van Buren Middle School, located in a rough part of southeast Albuquerque, an officer saw Sanchez fighting with another student. Instead of reprimanding him the officer talked Sanchez into joining a boxing program that helped keep kids off the streets. 

Ever since then he has not left the gym. In April, Sanchez made his professional debut against Michael Herrera (1-1), a fighter trained by Fidel Maldonado Sr., father and trainer of current WBC Youth World Lightweight champion Fidel Maldonado Jr (12-0, 10KOs). 

Sanchez came away with a majority decision that night and grabbed the attention of several boxing promoters and managers. 

On December 2nd, at Route 66 Casino, Sanchez will be taking on Devon Simmons, another boxer from the Maldonado stable who will be making his professional debut. The contest is schedule for four rounds in the bantamweight division.

“I’m looking forward to this next fight. I love fighting especially professional. I never liked amateur because of the headgear. I can’t really see that much. In pro it’s like a whole different level, a whole different adrenaline, I love it so far,” says Sanchez.

If it were not for his family’s luck this opportunity may have never have come.

The fight is to take place during the second half of the Holly Holm (30-1-3, 9KOs) vs. Anne Sophie Mathis (25-1, 21KOs) “World Dominance” super-fight card.