What can you tell me about Vicente Saldivar?

[PhillyPhan69]

I remember very little about him, and just got a few of his fights on dvd (hopefully to watch tonight!!!) and was wondering what anyone could tell me about him, to excpect or look for...any interesting stories or tidbits welcomed as well! Thanks in advance

[TheGreatA]

I'm sure there are others who can tell you more about him but based on what I've seen he was a very patient pressure fighter who was adept at breaking down opponents over the 15 round distance. He had one of the best straight left hands on a southpaw and was a good combination puncher also. The beating he handed out to Sugar Ramos may have been his best or atleast his most active performance.

[PhillyPhan69]

I'm sure there are others who can tell you more about him but based on what I've seen he was a very patient pressure fighter who was adept at breaking down opponents over the 15 round distance. He had one of the best straight left hands on a southpaw and was a good combination puncher also. The beating he handed out to Sugar Ramos may have been his best or atleast his most active performance.

Thanks I hear very little mention of him on here for the most part he seems to be one of the forgotten champs of the past! I am really interested to see his win over Laguna (one of my favs!) tonight!

[lora]

More or less what A said.

I'd just add he was more or less a complete boxer-puncher, one that generally wasted very little motion until it was time to really open up with his punches on a hurt opponent.

Some really talented fighters like Ramos, Winstone and Famechon were unlucky to be around at the same time as him.

[PhillyPhan69]

I have a book on the history of boxing, where he is depicted as a durable but limited slugger, does that fall in line with viewpoints on him. In discussing his trilogy with Winstone, the article calls him less skilled than the welshman but more durable and that allowed him to eke out those wins??? Any truth there? Like I said I have read a little about him, but don't have a very vivid memory of him in action and looking to learn a little more! again thanks

[lora]

Nah, no durable but limited slugger would have defeated fighters like Ramos and Winstone.Probably a biased Brit, or vulgar simpleton with no appreciation of the lighter weights or technical aspects of boxing that wrote it.Or PowerPuncher.;)


I'd think of Saldivar in the same broad category of well-schooled mexican boxer-punchers like Zarate, Barrera, Pintor, Chavez etc...

[TheGreatA]

I have a book on the history of boxing, where he is depicted as a durable but limited slugger, does that fall in line with viewpoints on him. In discussing his trilogy with Winstone, the article calls him less skilled than the welshman but more durable and that allowed him to eke out those wins??? Any truth there? Like I said I have read a little about him, but don't have a very vivid memory of him in action and looking to learn a little more! again thanks

I think one could easily mistake him for a limited slugger when first taking a look at him. I can't say I agree with this view at all but Saldivar is not the easiest fighter to get into. It's much like when some young fans think that Duran was nothing but a face first brawler.

Saldivar was patient and he put on pressure at all times although he was not as aggressive as someone like Henry Armstrong or Joe Frazier, far from it. He would take his time and more often than not got to his opponents before 15 rounds had passed.

[Jorodz]

I think one could easily mistake him for a limited slugger when first taking a look at him. I can't say I agree with this view at all but Saldivar is not the easiest fighter to get into. It's much like when some young fans think that Duran was nothing but a face first brawler.

Saldivar was patient and he put on pressure at all times although he was not as aggressive as someone like Henry Armstrong or Joe Frazier, far from it. He would take his time and more often than not got to his opponents before 15 rounds had passed.

he's been described as a mirco version of rocky marciano. is this an accurate depiction? Like the TS i have very limited info on him and have seen very little footage

[TheGreatA]

he's been described as a mirco version of rocky marciano. is this an accurate depiction? Like the TS i have very limited info on him and have seen very little footage

I wouldn't say he had too many similarities with Marciano.

Here's some footage of him:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]


[Only registered and activated users can see links]

[Jorodz]

I wouldn't say he had too many similarities with Marciano.

Here's some footage of him:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]


[Only registered and activated users can see links]

:goodthanks

[lora]

It's true that saldivar isn't a flashy fighter(nor was winstone incidentally), nor necessarily someone who is going to be instantly impressive for everybody, but i thinkmost will start to appreciate the precision and power of his style after a few fights.

[GPater11093]

Hes just a patient boxer-puncher who exerts alot of pressure of the distance of a fight. The last 5 rounds of a fight was where Saldivar came alive as his early body work and accurate precise punching begins to take its toll as he upped his pace.

Absoloute fantastic fighter.

[My2Sense]

I remember very little about him, and just got a few of his fights on dvd (hopefully to watch tonight!!!) and was wondering what anyone could tell me about him, to excpect or look for...any interesting stories or tidbits welcomed as well! Thanks in advance

He was the best FW of the '60s, which on the whole is a very underrated era. Perhaps no single one of his opponents was a spectacular ATG FW, but the era was one of the most consistently solid and deep in the history of that weight class. From the early/mid '60s until the end of his career in the early '70s, virtually every fighter Saldivar fought was a noteworthy contender or titleholder of some kind.

As has been said, he was a tough and skilled southpaw technician, adept at picking off punches and countering with his straight left. For the most part, his performances were rather moderate-paced and methodical, but as TheGreatA said the fight with Ramos showed he could really step it up when needed.

A brief synopsis of his career:
Saldivar came out of semi-obscurity in Mexico in the early '60s and upset the well regarded #1 FW contender Ismael Laguna, who went on to upset Carlos Ortiz for the LW title a year or so later. That earned Saldivar a shot at the very highly regarded, hard-hitting FW champ Sugar Ramos (a HOFer). Ramos was one of the biggest-looking, strongest, and most powerful FWs ever, and he came out unloading bombs on Saldivar in his customary manner. Saldivar never wavered however, and kept picking off Ramos' big punches and countering with short, straight left hands to Ramos' face again and again. Finally, by the late rounds, Saldivar's strategy had begun to pay off, as Ramos' face was a mass of blood and swelling. Around the 12th round, Saldivar backed him into a corner and wailed away at him, and his corner stopped the fight between rounds.

Saldivar made several successful defenses of in first title reign, including a noteworthy trilogy vs. future champ Howard Winstone (all won by Saldivar) and a 2-round blowout of Floyd Robertson, who had been considered by some as the "uncrowned champion" following a controversial decision loss to Sugar Ramos back during his reign. Saldivar somewhat surprisingly retired following his 3rd win over Winstone, saying that he felt the wars had taken a toll on himself and that there were no more challenges out there for him. A few years later, he returned to the ring seeking to regain his former title. In his very first fight back, he took on Jose Legra, who had been one of the fighters to win the FW title in his absence. Legra floored Saldivar early, but Saldivar battled back to get the decision and earn a shot at FW champ Johnny Famechon. In a competitive semi-tactical fight, Saldivar scored a knockdown and took a close, perhaps somewhat debatable decision over Famechon to regain the title. In his first defense, however, Saldivar was surprisingly stopped (for the first time in his career) by the unheralded Kuniaki Shibata. It was a competitive fight, but Shibata essentially out-Saldivar'ed Saldivar, aggressively countering him and landing quicker, sharper punches. Saldivar appeared to be showing the wear and tear of his long career and busted up, and the fight was stopped in the corner around the 13th or 14th round.

Saldivar was only semi-active for the remainder of his career. He eventually came back to score a good win over respected perennial contender Frankie Crawford, and after another year or so layoff he came back to challenge newly crowned FW champ Eder Jofre. This was a fight that was lined up to happen back in the mid '60s, when Jofre was the bantam champ, but Jofre's upset loss to Fighting Harada spoiled it. Now instead of a big megafight in their primes they met as "shot" veterans, but Jofre still proved to have too many guns for Saldivar and stopped him in just 4 rounds. Saldivar never fought again. He ultimately died from a heart attack I believe, at a surprisingly young age of around 42.

[My2Sense]

Incidentally, a sh!tload of Saldivar's fights are on YT.

-Ramos
-Winstone (all three)
-Raul Rojas
-Mitsonuri Seki (both fights)
-Famechon
-Shibata

Either the full fights or extended highlights.

[PhillyPhan69]

He was the best FW of the '60s, which on the whole is a very underrated era. Perhaps no single one of his opponents was a spectacular ATG FW, but the era was one of the most consistently solid and deep in the history of that weight class. From the early/mid '60s until the end of his career in the early '70s, virtually every fighter Saldivar fought was a noteworthy contender or titleholder of some kind.

As has been said, he was a tough and skilled southpaw technician, adept at picking off punches and countering with his straight left. For the most part, his performances were rather moderate-paced and methodical, but as TheGreatA said the fight with Ramos showed he could really step it up when needed.

A brief synopsis of his career:
Saldivar came out of semi-obscurity in Mexico in the early '60s and upset the well regarded #1 FW contender Ismael Laguna, who went on to upset Carlos Ortiz for the LW title a year or so later. That earned Saldivar a shot at the very highly regarded, hard-hitting FW champ Sugar Ramos (a HOFer). Ramos was one of the biggest-looking, strongest, and most powerful FWs ever, and he came out unloading bombs on Saldivar in his customary manner. Saldivar never wavered however, and kept picking off Ramos' big punches and countering with short, straight left hands to Ramos' face again and again. Finally, by the late rounds, Saldivar's strategy had begun to pay off, as Ramos' face was a mass of blood and swelling. Around the 12th round, Saldivar backed him into a corner and wailed away at him, and his corner stopped the fight between rounds.

Saldivar made several successful defenses of in first title reign, including a noteworthy trilogy vs. future champ Howard Winstone (all won by Saldivar) and a 2-round blowout of Floyd Robertson, who had been considered by some as the "uncrowned champion" following a controversial decision loss to Sugar Ramos back during his reign. Saldivar somewhat surprisingly retired following his 3rd win over Winstone, saying that he felt the wars had taken a toll on himself and that there were no more challenges out there for him. A few years later, he returned to the ring seeking to regain his former title. In his very first fight back, he took on Jose Legra, who had been one of the fighters to win the FW title in his absence. Legra floored Saldivar early, but Saldivar battled back to get the decision and earn a shot at FW champ Johnny Famechon. In a competitive semi-tactical fight, Saldivar scored a knockdown and took a close, perhaps somewhat debatable decision over Famechon to regain the title. In his first defense, however, Saldivar was surprisingly stopped (for the first time in his career) by the unheralded Kuniaki Shibata. It was a competitive fight, but Shibata essentially out-Saldivar'ed Saldivar, aggressively countering him and landing quicker, sharper punches. Saldivar appeared to be showing the wear and tear of his long career and busted up, and the fight was stopped in the corner around the 13th or 14th round.

Saldivar was only semi-active for the remainder of his career. He eventually came back to score a good win over respected perennial contender Frankie Crawford, and after another year or so layoff he came back to challenge newly crowned FW champ Eder Jofre. This was a fight that was lined up to happen back in the mid '60s, when Jofre was the bantam champ, but Jofre's upset loss to Fighting Harada spoiled it. Now instead of a big megafight in their primes they met as "shot" veterans, but Jofre still proved to have too many guns for Saldivar and stopped him in just 4 rounds. Jofre never fought again. He ultimately died from a heart attack I believe, at a surprisingly young age of around 42.

Thanks for the informative posts!

[teeto]

He was the best FW of the '60s, which on the whole is a very underrated era. Perhaps no single one of his opponents was a spectacular ATG FW, but the era was one of the most consistently solid and deep in the history of that weight class. From the early/mid '60s until the end of his career in the early '70s, virtually every fighter Saldivar fought was a noteworthy contender or titleholder of some kind.

As has been said, he was a tough and skilled southpaw technician, adept at picking off punches and countering with his straight left. For the most part, his performances were rather moderate-paced and methodical, but as TheGreatA said the fight with Ramos showed he could really step it up when needed.

A brief synopsis of his career:
Saldivar came out of semi-obscurity in Mexico in the early '60s and upset the well regarded #1 FW contender Ismael Laguna, who went on to upset Carlos Ortiz for the LW title a year or so later. That earned Saldivar a shot at the very highly regarded, hard-hitting FW champ Sugar Ramos (a HOFer). Ramos was one of the biggest-looking, strongest, and most powerful FWs ever, and he came out unloading bombs on Saldivar in his customary manner. Saldivar never wavered however, and kept picking off Ramos' big punches and countering with short, straight left hands to Ramos' face again and again. Finally, by the late rounds, Saldivar's strategy had begun to pay off, as Ramos' face was a mass of blood and swelling. Around the 12th round, Saldivar backed him into a corner and wailed away at him, and his corner stopped the fight between rounds.

Saldivar made several successful defenses of in first title reign, including a noteworthy trilogy vs. future champ Howard Winstone (all won by Saldivar) and a 2-round blowout of Floyd Robertson, who had been considered by some as the "uncrowned champion" following a controversial decision loss to Sugar Ramos back during his reign. Saldivar somewhat surprisingly retired following his 3rd win over Winstone, saying that he felt the wars had taken a toll on himself and that there were no more challenges out there for him. A few years later, he returned to the ring seeking to regain his former title. In his very first fight back, he took on Jose Legra, who had been one of the fighters to win the FW title in his absence. Legra floored Saldivar early, but Saldivar battled back to get the decision and earn a shot at FW champ Johnny Famechon. In a competitive semi-tactical fight, Saldivar scored a knockdown and took a close, perhaps somewhat debatable decision over Famechon to regain the title. In his first defense, however, Saldivar was surprisingly stopped (for the first time in his career) by the unheralded Kuniaki Shibata. It was a competitive fight, but Shibata essentially out-Saldivar'ed Saldivar, aggressively countering him and landing quicker, sharper punches. Saldivar appeared to be showing the wear and tear of his long career and busted up, and the fight was stopped in the corner around the 13th or 14th round.

Saldivar was only semi-active for the remainder of his career. He eventually came back to score a good win over respected perennial contender Frankie Crawford, and after another year or so layoff he came back to challenge newly crowned FW champ Eder Jofre. This was a fight that was lined up to happen back in the mid '60s, when Jofre was the bantam champ, but Jofre's upset loss to Fighting Harada spoiled it. Now instead of a big megafight in their primes they met as "shot" veterans, but Jofre still proved to have too many guns for Saldivar and stopped him in just 4 rounds. Jofre never fought again. He ultimately died from a heart attack I believe, at a surprisingly young age of around 42.
Posts like these are great, totally giving the thread starter what he needs.

I think you made a typo at the end though, just swapping Saldivar's name for Jofre.

[My2Sense]

I think you made a typo at the end though, just swapping Saldivar's name for Jofre.

Ah yes, thanks for that! :good

[teeto]

Ah yes, thanks for that! :good
No problem. Saldivar is actually one of the fighters i'm embarrassed to have not sat down and studied substantially. I've just read about him in books and seen a bit on youtube. I didn't know there was so much on there, i'm going to get round to that.

[PhillyPhan69]

from sports illustrated vault 10-23-67

If this was to be it for Terrell ([Only registered and activated users can see links]), it was even more so for the featherweights, Vicente Saldivar ([Only registered and activated users can see links]) and Howard Winstone, who were responsible for drawing most of the 90,000 cushion-tossers—boxing's fourth largest crowd ever—in the first place. Saldivar is 24 and won the title after 25 fights and 24 wins. In fact, he had fought—and beaten—the Welshman Winstone twice before. What makes him particularly exciting to the Mexicans is his style. As one Mexican sportswriter said minutes before the bout was to begin: "Saldivar must win by the 10th round because he has this tendency to stop thinking after 10. I don't know what it is, but he starts out as a picture boxer. Then the evil spirits seize him, and he becomes a sort of beast and just goes wild without stopping."
Saldivar had agreed to fight for one million pesos, a national record, and the promoters figured they had the fight of the century. Never mind the fact that featherweights weigh 126 pounds and wear lifts in their shoes. It was everything any country would want. The promoters got together early in the week at an old police headquarters in a huge, hollow building on the outskirts of town to work out the details. The meeting room smacked of countless interrogations over stolen cars. Everyone agreed that if one fighter was knocked out of the ring he would have 10 seconds to get back in. And halfway through the thing, Mexican Boxing Commissioner Luis Spota got up to open a window to let in some fresh air. The window promptly slammed shut and shattered with a hollow tinkle of glass in the courtyard below. Everyone, conscious of symbolism, figured they were in for a hell of a night at the fights.
The promoters first knocked together a ring: a few handy boards covered with shiny red oilcloth. They sprinkled sawdust and wood chips on top, stretched a canvas over that and everybody got slightly seasick looking at the result. Next they scaled the house from $40 ringside all the way back to four pesos (32�) for seats high up in the bowl, figuring—correctly—that those who would occupy the 32� seats would be so far out of town they couldn't hit anybody down front with anything.
As early as 2 o'clock last Saturday afternoon traffic began creeping into the stadium—which is also called the Coloso de Santa Ursula—and by fight time the place was full of tension. All week long, Winstone had been ready. He arrived in shape, so confident that he bought an $84 gold wristwatch that figured to weigh about 70 pounds all by itself. For balance and for his other wrist he turned up with a simple gold identification bracelet with his name spelled out on it in chip diamonds.
Saldivar, who is known as Zurdo de Oro, which translates into something like, "The Lefty of Gold," showed up wearing his customary look of absolute purity. Saldivar is darkly handsome. His hair is cut in a sort of early pompadour, and his face is no more marked than, say, the face of any average guy who has been thrown through a windshield.
The fight went almost according to the plot: Winstone, who does not believe in trancelike states, started off strong, snapping a left hand that was clearly picked up at an old Gene Fullmer ([Only registered and activated users can see links]) rummage sale, and winning points. And Saldivar, changing from handsome to savage, went into his trance three rounds early.
In round 7, while the fans howled their heads off, Saldivar began blasting in with a wild attack, hitting Winstone with flurries that nobody quite believed, fighting alternately out of a combination crouch and upright, leaping, staggering, lurching. In round 9, Saldivar leaned back and hit Winstone so hard he sent drops of his sweat into the fourth row, which is a Mexican all-conference record—and by the 11th round he had completely turned off the world and tuned in Winstone. In the 12th he knocked Winstone down. For the boxing record, the knockdown punch was at least 86 of those fast, golden left hands, and in the next instant Winstone's manager, Eddie Thomas ([Only registered and activated users can see links]), sailed a towel into the ring.
In Saldivar's dressing room afterward there was, above all, emotion. Saldivar announced he was retiring—to consider a movie offer, everyone said—and that he figured Winstone would be his successor as king of all the featherweights. "He didn't hurt me," Saldivar said, "although he opened my left cheek with a tremendous punch." He was suffering what fight people casually refer to as a four-stitcher, and the fight had left his handsome face in ruins. Well, he can always play mini-Brando roles.
When the fight ended and everybody had stood up and pitched his seat cushion into the ring, the organ suddenly burst into song. The Aztec Stadium was filled with Las Golondrinas (The Swallows), which is Mexico ([Only registered and activated users can see links])'s equivalent of Auld Lang Syne and a stunning farewell to Saldivar. A lot of people cried. It is a nice tune at that. Maybe Terrell ([Only registered and activated users can see links]) can work it into his act.

[My2Sense]

Saldivar announced he was retiring—to consider a movie offer, everyone said—and that he figured Winstone would be his successor as king of all the featherweights.

And he was right. The only problem was, the fights with Saldivar had taken too much out of him, and it turned out his reign was very brief.

[GPater11093]

was watching some Saldivar today and he has a very cunning little trick.

From his southpaw stance as he jabs he steps his right foot on the outside of his opponents left allowing his left hand and right hook to be devastating. The jab 'blinds' his opponent from the shift in his feet. Very clever.