PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
WINS BY KNOCKOUT … Wauseon native Sean Waugh recorded his second career professional boxing victory on Saturday, May 2 with a second-round knockout of Jordan Palacios in a 12-bout card held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pictured with Waugh (middle) are Albert Bell (left) and Andrew Bell (right) of the Central City Boxing Club of Toledo.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
It was just a couple of weeks before when Sean “The King” Waugh found out that he was going to Las Vegas, and the Wauseon native knew it was an important step in his professional boxing career when he entered the ring on Saturday, May 2.
Waugh, who was competing in his second ever professional welterweight division fight, made the most of the opportunity with a second-round knockout of Jordan Palacios in one of the 12 bouts on a card at the T-Mobile Arena which featured a cruiserweight world championship main event bout between David Benavidez and Zurdo Ramirez.
Once he found out that he was going to Las Vegas, Waugh admitted that he had to cut some weight despite weighing in at 160 pounds.
He went through intense workouts in getting his weight down to 139.7 pounds at the official weigh-in on Friday, May 1.
“That was a big expressional moment because I was able to just lock right in and say, ‘hey this is big’ and I handled business and get this taken care of,” said Waugh.
“It was like all in right there because we’re going to Las Vegas and we’re going to make things happen.”
The boxing card was promoted in part by Golden Boy Promotions, whose promoters include legendary boxer Oscar De La Hoya. Waugh — along with his coaches Andrew Bell and Albert Bell of the Central City Boxing Club in Toledo, where the Wauseon native has trained for several years — would eventually make the trip to Las Vegas.
Competing in one of the most storied boxing venues in the world, Waugh sensed his own excitement and readiness for the golden opportunity to display his boxing abilities to a crowd which included several legendary boxers including Mike Tyson and De La Hoya who were in attendance.
Waugh’s preparation for the upcoming fight began during the winter months when he put together a workout regimen that included running through the freezing cold temperatures and being in the gym nearly every day despite not having any scheduled fights.
It was over a year ago, April 12, 2025, when Waugh had last fought, and in his professional debut, he scored a knockout over Victor Greutman in the third round at the Huntington Center in Toledo.
Prior to his latest professional boxing triumph, Waugh had a couple of scheduled fights canceled, including one against Tavaris Smith on August 30, 2025.
“We had sparred the week before, and he (Smith) called me out to fight him,” said Waugh. “He came to the weigh-ins, did the warmups the next day, got his hands wrapped and signed by the officials.
He gloved up and was warming up in the dressing room. Right before they were calling us out, he (Smith) took off and left his stuff behind and just disappeared so nobody could find him. He (Smith) got suspended indefinitely from Ohio.”
After another fight cancellation involving Waugh against Devin Carter scheduled for February 14, 2026, it would be almost three months for him to climb back into the boxing ring.
Waugh took a flight to Las Vegas on Thursday, April 30 and was amazed by what he had seen following his arrival.
He knew that it was going to be a big moment when he arrived at the T-Mobile Arena on Friday, May 1 for the official weigh-ins.
“That was exciting because you just entered the T-Mobile Arena, you’re just knowing this is about to be a big moment,” said Waugh.
“This is like the fight capital of the United States and the world. You’re just like ‘wow this is really where you make your dreams happen.’”
On the day of his bout, Waugh and his coaches arrived at T-Mobile Arena and were escorted to the dressing room.
Every boxer had their own agent who was responsible for making sure nobody was getting away with anything illegal.
Following his arrival, Waugh had on a prayer shawl given to him by a member of the River of God International Church in Toledo.
He said that the prayer shawl served as a barrier between himself and everything that was going on.
His bout against Palacios was supposed to be one of the first fights of the night, but he was already warmed up for that moment and was later told his fight was pushed back.
“We kind of waited a little bit and started to get warmed up again,” said Waugh. “Then they said, your fight is going to be the last one of the night and they had us after the main event.”
Entering the T-Mobile Arena with his prayer shawl on and his entrance music, “Now or Never,” performed by Kendrick Lamar, Waugh then walked towards the boxing ring, ready to get it started against Palacios.
“It was a big moment, you got to come out to your song and you’re in a big venue and know like you could have potentially the whole world watching,” admitted Waugh.
“Oscar De La Hoya, Ryan Garcia, and Mike Tyson were all watching it, and I was aware they were there before.”
His supporters from the Wauseon area were eager to watch his fight with Palacios through TGB Promotions, which handled the pay-per-view broadcast. Unfortunately, the bout wasn’t televised because it took place after the main event bout.
Waugh wasn’t sure if anyone had a recording of his recent knockout victory. He had people back in Wauseon who had paid for the pay-per-view, but nobody got to watch him fight. He is trying to get a hold of the video of his bout.
His strategy against Palacios was trying to get him out with the first punch at the very beginning of the fight. He went across the middle and faked him with his right hand and then hit him as hard as he could.
“I see that his (Palacios) eyes got big and kind of was surprised by it,” said Waugh. “I thought he was about to go, and I hit him with a bunch of punches, but he was able to maneuver a little bit because he was still fresh and strong.
“I worked him in the first round, and I hit him with a few good shots. I remember specifically I switched and hit him with a left hook. By the end of the night, my coach said you almost did get him in the first round.”
In the second round, Waugh came out and hit him (Palacios) with a right hook and that’s when he went down the first time.
“As soon the referee called us to box, I came right after he got done standing up and just hit him as hard as I could again and he went right down,” said Waugh after his second-round knockout punch. “That’s when I turned around and I hopped on the little corner of the ring and raised my hand because I knew he (Palacios) wasn’t getting up from that.”
Waugh said that it was a big moment for him because he knew it was going to be a tooth-and-nail bout all the way to the end.
“My coaches were expressive as just being so thankful to God up above and they were just happy that we were able to come all that way and get our victory like we needed and the knockout with it,” said Waugh.
“It was such a big event, such a big night and just nothing could have been better and more perfect than what we did. I just think that it’s like a hometown heart, big city dreams and we got to do things with it.
“So, when you going to big venues and stuff like that, you got to understand that this is the important moments in your career and that you have to keep training, keep striving to be better.”
