“This is like my first pro fight,” said Charlie Sheehy after training for countless hours during a California rainstorm, that had raindrops as big as green beans pelting cars outside of his blue-collar boxing gym in Brisbane, California. “I get to show my skill, a game plan, and strategy in this fight.”

For Sheehy, his story is already one of triumphant, while pros Joe Gumina and Laron Mitchell would be working the heavy bags in Jimmy Ford‘s Fire in the Ring Boxing Gym, Sheehy was busy working with head trainer Miguel Rios, watching the professional boxers like a hawk. Sheehy has been the pride and joy of the boxing scene for over a decade, and like most things, the world is just coming around to him -and Sheehy looks to make his mark on the sport in 2023, as his March 25th fight against Angel Rebollar is the first test of his young career. This will be his second year as a professional fighter, and a little over a year with an industry-leader in the boxing space, Top Rank Inc.

Sheehy was a world-class amateur, who trained with Team USA during the COVID-19 pandemic, at one point, Sheehy was Team USA’s Olympic nominee until it was found out that the Olympians would be picked off the previous year, 2019 world rankings. That allowed Keyshawn Davis the ability to compete at the Olympics and win a silver medal. Yet, Sheehy never gets talked about as one of the best amateurs of his era, and even when he stops all, but one of his opponents, Sheehy seems to fly under the radar.

In this fight, Sheehy will be higher on the card, as Karlos Balderas and Richard Torrez Jr., both had to withdraw from the bout due to injury, Sheehy might just get to be in front of more eyes, despite Top Rank’s fight going against a very exciting pay-per-view main event of David Benavidez versus Caleb Plant. This is a big moment for Sheehy as this could be the start of his emergence to obtaining his dream of becoming a world champion, and being immortalized in Northern California.

Yet, one man stands in his way, Angel Rebollar.

Rebollar is a very good amateur, and a one-loss pro, who lost to the very talented Abdullah Mason in his lone blemish to his pro record. Rebollar would rebound and get a win over Justin Cardona in a fight that seemingly exists nowhere on the internet, and now is trying to win two fights against credible Northern California fighters in back-to-back fights.

The big thing for this fight was the motivation Sheehy found in training side-by-side with young fighters, who don’t see Sheehy as a fighter, but rather a superhero. Sheehy is a modern marvel to the, someone who trains in the gym weekly but gets to fight on television on certain weekends. For adults, that sounds like a job, but for a young child that seems far-fetched and unbelievable. As he trains with Miguel Rios, does his strength training with Mike Bazzel, and works on complicated mitt combinations with Mario Lopez, a famed San Francisco fighter in his own right, Sheehy is the fighting pride of San Francisco at the current moment.

Once a child training at Fire in the Ring with Andre Conway who was his peer in the amateurs, now Sheehy has become the golden hope for the Bay Area. The fighter everyone can’t help, but cheer for, because everyone has seen his grind, has seen his glory, and now has seen him transform into a leader and a role model for the same community that birthed him in boxing. Those same fighters he once looked up to, now he is in their shoes as when he walks into the gym people move, and all the young fighters watch how he trains – whether he knows it or not. Sheehy has become the people he looked up to, and is showing the young fighters in the gym positive work ethic, and conducts himself like a professional every step of the way.

Sheehy fights this March 25th, at the SaveMart Center in Fresno, California, with his fight being featured as part of the ESPN+ portion of the undercard, with Jose Ramirez vs. Richard Commey being the main attraction.

Sheehy’s fight week will be featured on our OF.TV channel in April in a short documentary feature.