Perez brothers: Inseparable, but with a difference

Oct. 31—As brothers go, Aaron Angel Perez and younger brother Abraham are closer than most.

Only some 18 months — Aaron Angel is 25, Abraham 24 — separate them in age.

Most days, the two professional boxers meet for conditioning — running or swimming — at 7 a.m. From there they go to work at their family's South Valley auto repair business. Starting at 6 p.m. or so, they train together (most nights) at the Huning Highlands District gym run by their father and trainer, Aaron Perez.

"We're together all the time," Abraham said.

"Every day, all day," Aaron Angel said.

Any sibling rivalry seems to have vanished like teenage acne.

"We used to get into it a little bit here and there, give each other hell," Aaron Angel said in a recent interview at the Perez gym. "But, no, man, we're just really close now these last, maybe, 10 years."

And Saturday night, they'll be together again — fighting on the same Legacy Promotions card at Tingley Coliseum.

There is, however, a major difference. Abraham (8-0, four knockouts) will be fighting for a world title.

Aaron Angel (10-1-1, six KOs) will be fighting for the first time in two years.

"It feels good to have him back," Abraham said.

On Oct. 16, 2021, at the Kiva Auditorium, Abraham Perez — a national amateur flyweight champion — made his professional debut with a victory by first-round TKO over Matthew Melton.

In that evening's main event, Aaron Angel lost for the first time as a pro. Diego Elizondo, a lanky lightweight from Carson City, Nevada, defeated him by close (96-94 on all three scorecards) decision over 10 rounds.

Since then, Abraham has reeled off seven more victories, won an IBA Intercontinental flyweight title and is scheduled to fight for that organization's vacant world title on Saturday.

Aaron Angel hasn't fought since.

The loss to Elizondo, Aaron Angel said, was part but not all of the reason why.

"There's a life outside of boxing as well," he said, "and I was kind of in that stage that I just had to take a step back, handle a few things, get my mind refreshed and come back with a fresh mentality."

The Elizondo fight, he said, did play a significant role. Though many people afterward told him they believed he should have gotten the decision, he wasn't one of those people.

"He got the better of me that night," Aaron Angel said. "Not by much, but my physics weren't there and I just didn't do enough, in my opinion."

Afterward, the older brother decided to take a break from boxing after some 16 years in the sport as a amateur and a pro.

"I'd just been active for so long," he said. "Sometimes, (the desire) just dies out and you've got to get it back."

He believes he has. Ring rust, he said, will not be a problem on Saturday.

"It's kind of like riding a bike for me," he said. "I get in there (in training), and I just feel fluent. ... I don't feel tense or gun-shy or anything like that. I've been doing this for a long time."

Aaron Angel's scheduled opponent, Clovis' Rafael Reyes, has lost his last three fights but has 16 knockouts among his 20 career victories as opposed to 16 defeats.

The six-round bout, Aaron Angel said, will serve as a litmus test of where he is as a fighter after two years off and for how soon (and against whom) to get him in the ring again.

His father and Gabriel Carlin, a partner in Legacy Promotions, will be watching closely.

"There's fights out there for me, a lot of opportunities for me," he said. "They just want to see where I'm at, basically."

For younger brother Abraham, where he's at is on the cusp of realizing a lifelong dream.

The IBA is not among boxing's four universally recognized sanctioning bodies. Should he win on Saturday — as of Tuesday, he has no opponent listed on boxrec.com — will he join Bob Foster, Johnny Tapia, Danny Romero, Holly Holm, Austin Trout and Angelo Leo as New Mexico's world champions?

In his mind, there's no doubt.

"I see myself as a world champion already," he said. "I just have to prove it to everybody come fight night."

LEO MAKES WEIGHT: In Plant City, Florida, Albuquerque native Angelo Leo weighed in at 125.4 pounds on Tuesday for his 10-round featherweight bout against Nicolas Polanco, who also weight 125.4.

The bout is part of a card that will be streamed on proboxtv.com, starting at 6 p.m. Wednesday

NEXT FOR SANCHEZ: Albuquerque featherweight Jason Sanchez (16-4, nine KOs) is scheduled to face unbeaten prospect Bruce Carrington (9-0, five KOs) on a Top Rank, Inc., card on Dec.9 in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

NEAR-FATAL CRASH: Elizondo, the boxer who defeated Aaron Angel Perez in 2021, suffered severe head injuries in a February 2022 car crash.

Elizondo was is in a coma for five weeks. He eventually recovered but has not fought again.