Essential Support Staff of Santos Saul "Canelo"Alvarez Barragan Receives O-2 Visa

We are elated to report yet another successful O-2 petition. The petitioner wishes to extend O-2 Status upon the beneficiary Luz Del Carmen Martinez Torres, who serves as essential support staff for the most popular boxer in the world - Santos Saul Alvarez Barragan. The beneficiary will also accompany the fighter in training, related publicity events, and recovery from the competition.

Luz Del Carmen Martinez Torres is the personal cook of Mr. Barragan, who has the O-1A Status with the SDS Sports Agency. Ms. Torres's example clearly demonstrates the benefits of applying for the O-2 essential support staff Visa. Thanks to Mr. Seward's efforts, she was able to get a Visa for three years!

Managing Member of the firm, Sherrod Seward successfully presented the petition proving eligibility for the O-2 Visa as an Essential Support Staff to USCIS. He provided as many documents as possible for each of the criteria satisfied by the beneficiaries. 

The O-2 Beneficiary of SDS Sports Agency

The beneficiary, Ms. Torres has been an essential staff person to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez for the past 4 years and has served as executive assistant, cook and training camp coordinator for the beneficiary for the past four years. She has been essential to the seamliness of his day-to-day activities and competition success who is one of the best in the world in the sport of boxing. She is a professionally and culturally trained Jalisco style cook. She has been essential to his preparation for fights which he often does overseas but changes in travel circumstances make it critical that the beneficiary now be admitted into the United States as essential support staff.

The Petitioner

SDS Sports Agency was founded by Sherrod Seward, an award-winning international businessman, sports attorney, and industry professional, in North Carolina in 2020. SDS Sports Agency is a talent management company that focuses on the needs of niche sports and entertainment professionals. SDS Sports Agency helps maximize the branding potential of its clients in the United States by providing access. SDS Sports Agency works with international talent agents and entertainment related companies to market athletes and sports professionals that are renowned internationally. SDS Sports Agency clients routinely have their competitions and engagements viewed all over the world through well-established media networks. SDS Sports Agency prides itself on facilitating to clients the opportunity to be successful in the United States and looks forward to continuing to grow while serving the needs of the world’s best talent. 

Sherrod Seward, the founder of SDS Sports Agency, has a vast history in international sports business and marketing. Sherrod learned the sports management/marketing business through mixed martial arts. His international management career began through independent research with one of the best sports law attorneys in the nation and co-managing/consulting with the area’s best fighters such as Brian Rogers (Bellator Middleweight), Jessica Eye (#2 Flyweight in the world), Stipe Miocic (former UFC World Champion), and many others. Sherrod has also served as a liaison between mixed martial arts and corporate America as the Corporate Partnership Director for North American Allied Fight Series and a business consultant for many promotions all across the nation. In his role as Corporate Partnerships Director, he facilitated sponsorship activations in new markets, VIP experiences at events, negotiated broadcast agreements, and much more. 

List of Internationally known Talent Sherrod has associated with includes: 

Beneficiary 

Meena Kumari (Amateur Combat Sports World Champion)

Jackson Alves De Souza - Muay Thai Fighter

Rory Young Professional Poker Player

Suzanne Brooks Professional Barrel Racer

Daren Millard - World Renowned Sports Broadcaster

Albert Mensah - Africa Boxing Champion

The O-2 Petition for the Essential Support Staff

The O-2 petition was supported by sample evidence that the beneficiaries meet the criteria required for the visa. 

The Principal visa applicant is a world class combat sports athlete in the world and can only fight dangerous people of the same skill set and size. To protect his life, he needs his coaching to stay safe and win during these bouts. He also needs support staff to be optimal for bouts including nutritionist / chef.  We have included information about deaths in combat sports with this petition to underline the danger.

We proved that the beneficiary has been essential to the seamlessness of Mr. Alvarez’s rise to prominence in Mixed Martial Arts and all over the world, and thereby coveted for her contributions to Mr. Alvarez’s team. We provided sufficient evidence to establish that the beneficiary is highly skilled and uniquely calibrated to the physical, psychological, and logistic needs of this world class mixed martial artist.

We proved that the beneficiary is a highly skilled person who is integral to the performance of the O-1 non-immigrant. We provided evidence of the following: 

1. Years of Experience in boxing cooking for Training, conditioning, competition, and logistical preparation

2. Letter of support of the petitioner’s experience in cooking and working with the beneficiary in world class obligations

3. Evidence of the O-2 beneficiary assisting the athlete in independent media confirmation

We explained why these services cannot be completed by a team in the United States: 

1. Jalisco Style Cooking and Familiarity - Years of Experience in with day-to-day facilitation of cooking specifically for Canelo’s Combat Sports Training, conditioning, Jalisco style cooking, competition, and logistical preparation. Years of rapport with the team cannot be easily replaced. 

2. The O-2 beneficiary has developed a program that cannot be replicated by anyone else. 

3. Language Barrier - The beneficiary has developed a proven communication style with the beneficiary that is effective and contributes to winning championships. Canelo’s language is Spanish and Jalisco Dialects which is shared with the Beneficiary. 

4. Jalisco Traditional Cuisine - Nutrition is extremely important in combat sports because of the intensity of competitions and training that occurs, especially at the World Championship levels. Jalisco style cuisine is the fuel that helped build the physique of Canelo before he was fighting and living as up and coming boxer in Guadalajara. Canelo's physical prowess is one of his main tools and advantages over every other boxer in the world. Typically, he spends non-competition time overseas to build his energy, strength, and power back while rebuilding on Jalisco style cuisine made by the beneficiary which include indigenous food with tremendous health benefits but very difficult to cook. The O-2 beneficiary has developed a nutrition program for Canelo which cannot be replicated by anyone else due to the unique Jalisco based aspect of the program.

5. Logistical Support. The O-2 beneficiary is the logistical support for the training camp. Boxers often have several coaches that all provide important aspects to training for competition. The beneficiary is not only the executive assistant and Jalisco style cultural cook but also serves as the logistic liaison between working with all of the specialty coaches and coordinating travel in and out of competitions which occur all over the world. 

We offered statements and independent confirmation for the contributions of the beneficiary to the performance of the principal athlete. We provided a statement from the Principal athlete that explained how and why the contributions are essential. We also provided a letter from the beneficiary’s management team to confirm and corroborate the essential skills and integral role the O-2 beneficiary plays for the principal beneficiary. 

Thus, we successfully established that the beneficiary deserves the O-2 visa. 

For more information on how we help support professional athletes and coaches with O-1 and P-1 visas, please contact our offices at 310-209-8545.