Salvador Sanchez

[joe the great]

44-1-1 How great was this man? He lost his first title try via SD. Drew once not long after then never lost or drew since Ko'd Lopez twice. I vaguely rmember a few of his fights. The man died in a car crash not long after knocking out Azumah Nelson in was to be his last fight.

[sthomas]

Even though his career was cut short he is an ATG based on the his accomplishments from Lopez to Nelson. I watched A lot of Wilfredo Gomez fights last night and he was an incredible fighter, looked about as good as one can, pretty much had it all. Extreme power, great footwork, great reflexes, very good speed, and a very good defense. He was unbeaten and had 32 straight KO's leading up to Sanchez and defended his title many times. After watching Gomez just blast guys out of there I put on Sanchez vs. Gomez fight. It was amazing to see Sanchez handle Gomez in the fight. Although he got hit by some of the Gomez bombs Sanchez pretty much dominated the fight in each round, and ground him down into the canvas. I think it was Sanchez career best victory against an extremely talented and powerful man in Gomez. Add the rest of these victories, twice tko Lopez (another huge puncher), and tko'd Asumah, etc.

[salsanchezfan]

............Well, the title try he lost was for the Mexican bantamweight title when he was 17 or 18. Tough to hold that against the kid.

The draw by all accounts should have been a loss; Antonio Beccera dropped him and nearly stopped him late in the fight.

[Arriba]

Very very great.

My grandfather saw his last fight against Azumah, to this day still says it was one of the best fights he ever saw. His footwork and hand speed are top notch IMO.

[Ezzard]

Sanchez was possibly the greatest at changing tactics within a fight and working his opponent out. Monzon was great at this too. I'd say Mayweather also makes adjustments very well.

Sanchez would have been the best fighter of the 1980s had he not died tragically.

We could have looked forward to

Nelson II
Pedroza
Fenech
McGuigan
Lockridge
Taylor
Mitchell
Chavez

He's be favourite in all those fights except for maybe Pedroza.

[Hatesrats]

Love Salvador Sanchez.
he was way ahead of his time, His style is the proto for the
Boxer Punchers that have dominated the lighter weights
this last decade ect..

Ricardo Lopez
Juan Manuel Marquez
Marco Antonio Barrerra
Eric Morales ect..
I see Sanchez in all of them.
R.I.P.

[mcvey]

............Well, the title try he lost was for the Mexican bantamweight title when he was 17 or 18. Tough to hold that against the kid.

The draw by all accounts should have been a loss; Antonio Beccera dropped him and nearly stopped him late in the fight.
No doubt a great fighter,but do you think there is the possibility he is a little overated due to the fact he died so untimely?I would only put him about 60 /40 with Pedroza,myself ,and would not have been surprised had he lost to him.Not trying to demean him he was a fine Champion,unfortunately he and the dirty Eusebio never met.

[joe the great]

Thanks guys. I was very young when Sanchez was fighting so I don't remember much. It is nice to hear about him. I may see if I can find some clips on youtube.

[salsanchezfan]

No doubt a great fighter,but do you think there is the possibility he is a little overated due to the fact he died so untimely?I would only put him about 60 /40 with Pedroza,myself ,and would not have been surprised had he lost to him.Not trying to demean him he was a fine Champion,unfortunately he and the dirty Eusebio never met.


..............The whole James Dean thing? Sure, absolutely. I think it's a big leap of faith to call him the best featherweight ever, which I have seen people write, and I also remember him being called the second best fighter ever, pound-for-pound by Roy Jones. I think this is ridiculous, frankly, but it's nice to see him get some kudos.


That said, I also find it erroneous to dismiss outright his accomplishments as abbreviated, and therefore not worthy of consideration when one discusses the greats. I mean, if you put his body of work on a long-time veteran's resume, those same people would probably have no qualms about ranking him right up there. It seems that because he died at 23, they think that it's somehow unfair to give him full credit. We also need to remember he turned pro at 15, so it's not like he was just starting out.

[mcvey]

..............The whole James Dean thing? Sure, absolutely. I think it's a big leap of faith to call him the best featherweight ever, which I have seen people write, and I also remember him being called the second best fighter ever, pound-for-pound by Roy Jones. I think this is ridiculous, frankly, but it's nice to see him get some kudos.


That said, I also find it erroneous to dismiss outright his accomplishments as abbreviated, and therefore not worthy of consideration when one discusses the greats. I mean, if you put his body of work on a long-time veteran's resume, those same people would probably have no qualms about ranking him right up there. It seems that because he died at 23, they think that it's somehow unfair to give him full credit. We also need to remember he turned pro at 15, so it's not like he was just starting out.
Objective appraisal from a fan. Sanchez allways seemed a cerebral fighter to me ,calm and relaxed never hurried ,it was as though he was born in a ring, rather like PBF or Benitez ,different style but you know what I mean,very mature ,an old head on young shoulders.I would love to have seen him against Pedroza ,and in a rematch with Nelson.Not in my top 3 Feathers ,but certainly in the top 10.

[salsanchezfan]

Objective appraisal from a fan. Sanchez allways seemed a cerebral fighter to me ,calm and relaxed never hurried ,it was as though he was born in a ring, rather like PBF or Benitez ,different style but you know what I mean,very mature ,an old head on young shoulders.I would love to have seen him against Pedroza ,and in a rematch with Nelson.Not in my top 3 Feathers ,but certainly in the top 10.



............Drew101 and I have had an ongoing argument about this one, even had an official, judged debate about it on a now-defunct boxing site. Who would win, Sanchez or Pedroza? :lol: It was a good tussle, and he brought some good points to bear, but I still think Sanchez would win two of three. It's a terribly difficult fight for him I think though, and it wouldn't have shocked me had Pedroza won. He would have been the one guy that could have hung with Sanchez in the late rounds, when he would usually start running the tables in the championship rounds.

I think he beats Nelson easier the second time. Nelson fought beautifully in their fight, but the same powerful abandon he used to confound Sal that night is the very thing he tempered later, which actually made him a better, more complete fighter down the road. Later on, he became more of an opportunist who set traps and alternately slugged and boxed. Still a tough fight for Sanchez, but I think he takes a UD, especially since he would now know what to expect from Azumah a bit better the second time around.

[Samurai]

Yeah, that Sanchez guy was all right.

[BlackWater]

Definitely a good fighter

[Sister Sledge]

Sanchez was definately one of the top feathers ever. He's top 10 in my book. I did see him struggle against boxers, though. I would pick him to beat Pedroze, but I think Nelson would have beaten him in a rematch.

[BIG DEE]

BIG DEE HERE= Salvador Sanchez is in my expert opinion one of the truely great fighters of all-time at featherweight. In his fights with Danny Lopez
I always got the feeling that he could have Koed Danny at anytime he wanted
but liked Danny and took his time. But to someone who he didn`t like as in
Wilfredo Gomez because he constantly ran his mouth to Sanchez to get him to fight him. Wrong thing to do to Salvador Sanchez he was absolutely bent on kicking Gomez`s ass from the opening gong and did using him for fungo
practice. I have him ranked around 11 or 12 I haven`t looked at my ranking for a while so I kinda forget. At the time of the Gomez fight I was building
Guided Missile Frigate`s for the U.S.Navy in Los Angeles Ca. and the whole
yard was talking about the fight and I was asked at lunch in front of 1000
men eating lunch who was going to win. ( I WAS THE BOXING AUTHORITY OF THE YARD ) I said Sanchez KO around 8 to 10 rds and the moans began.
LOTS OF MONEY BET IN THE YARD. I wasn`t wrong as Sanchez took Gomez to school and beat him like a red-headed step-child.

[jupzrooni]

44-1-1 How great was this man? He lost his first title try via SD. Drew once not long after then never lost or drew since Ko'd Lopez twice. I vaguely rmember a few of his fights. The man died in a car crash not long after knocking out Azumah Nelson in was to be his last fight.

he's so good that when he was around 21 or 22 you can already call him a 'complete' fighter. amazing run as a featherweight, one of the best ever

[Ezzard]

The guy's record is littered with the names of top fiighters. Guys like Cowdell and Laporte were fantastic contenders. The division was deep IMO.

Pedroza was great too and also had the right style to beat Sanchez. he might have pulled it off, who knows...

The fights were there for Sanchez and he would have taken them. He had already beat more top fighters than the P4P top guys have at the time of writing (except maybe Pac).

[pmfan]

Sanchez was possibly the greatest at changing tactics within a fight and working his opponent out. Monzon was great at this too. I'd say Mayweather also makes adjustments very well.

Sanchez would have been the best fighter of the 1980s had he not died tragically.

We could have looked forward to

Nelson II
Pedroza
Fenech
McGuigan
Lockridge
Taylor
Mitchell
Chavez

He's be favourite in all those fights except for maybe Pedroza.

Sanchez was much better than Pedroza and would have been the favorite as well.

[salsanchezfan]

Sanchez was much better than Pedroza and would have been the favorite as well.


...........I would agree that his overall skills and pedigree are better, but Pedroza's style would have played hell with him.

[Ezzard]

...........I would agree that his overall skills and pedigree are better, but Pedroza's style would have played hell with him.

That's how I see it and Pedroza wasn't much below sanchez in skills. Eusebio would have been a difficult puzzle and knew how to survive and fight... Would have been a classic

[Sonny Carson]

...........I would agree that his overall skills and pedigree are better, but Pedroza's style would have played hell with him.
Sanchez is too poised to let that kind of dirty style play with him. Pedroza wasn't that great, he had a couple of controversial fight's, stayed away from puchers(cause he was stopped three times), and never beat anybody close to alot of the great fighter's Sanchez beat.

[salsanchezfan]

Sanchez is too poised to let that kind of dirty style play with him. Pedroza wasn't that great, he had a couple of controversial fight's, stayed away from puchers(cause he was stopped three times), and never beat anybody close to alot of the great fighter's Sanchez beat.



.............Ahhh, c'mon, he wasn't that bad. :lol: I wasn't referring to Pedroza's roughhouse tactics, more along the lines of his boxing skills and movement, which were very real. Boxers gave Sal issues, that's no secret.

Pedroza also didn't necessarily shun punchers. Laporte was a real banger, Lockridge had good power, etc. But that doesn't really come to bear here anyway, because Sanchez wasn't known as a puncher. This is a chess match all the way.

And yes, Sanchez has the better resume over all, but styles, styles, styles........

[Sonny Carson]

.............Ahhh, c'mon, he wasn't that bad. :lol: I wasn't referring to Pedroza's roughhouse tactics, more along the lines of his boxing skills and movement, which were very real. Boxers gave Sal issues, that's no secret.

Pedroza also didn't necessarily shun punchers. Laporte was a real banger, Lockridge had good power, etc. But that doesn't really come to bear here anyway, because Sanchez wasn't known as a puncher. This is a chess match all the way.

And yes, Sanchez has the better resume over all, but styles, styles, styles........
Sanchez may have had trouble with boxers, but he always adjusted. Pedroza had decent movement but I don't think he was great on his feet.

[Sweet Pea]

Even though his career was cut short he is an ATG based on the his accomplishments from Lopez to Nelson. I watched A lot of Wilfredo Gomez fights last night and he was an incredible fighter, looked about as good as one can, pretty much had it all. Extreme power, great footwork, great reflexes, very good speed, and a very good defense. He was unbeaten and had 32 straight KO's leading up to Sanchez and defended his title many times. After watching Gomez just blast guys out of there I put on Sanchez vs. Gomez fight. It was amazing to see Sanchez handle Gomez in the fight. Although he got hit by some of the Gomez bombs Sanchez pretty much dominated the fight in each round, and ground him down into the canvas. I think it was Sanchez career best victory against an extremely talented and powerful man in Gomez. Add the rest of these victories, twice tko Lopez (another huge puncher), and tko'd Asumah, etc.Gomez did pretty decently in the mid-rounds of that fight, in between KD's and the recovery stage. He actually had Sanchez hurt at one point. Sanchez was fantastic though, I actually thought his best was against Lopez though.

[salsanchezfan]

Gomez did pretty decently in the mid-rounds of that fight, in between KD's and the recovery stage. He actually had Sanchez hurt at one point. Sanchez was fantastic though, I actually thought his best was against Lopez though.



..............I know the punch you're speaking of; a left hook while Sanchez was against the ropes, and he was not hurt.

[salsanchezfan]

Sanchez may have had trouble with boxers, but he always adjusted. Pedroza had decent movement but I don't think he was great on his feet.


...........I agree that Sanchez would have adjusted. He certainly proved he was adept at that. That's why I would favor him against Pedroza, but it's still a tough fight.

[Robbi]

Sanchez was a machine IMO. Technically smooth, great boxing ability, solid chin, quick hands, and superhuman stamina.

[Titan1]

............Well, the title try he lost was for the Mexican bantamweight title when he was 17 or 18. Tough to hold that against the kid.

The draw by all accounts should have been a loss; Antonio Beccera dropped him and nearly stopped him late in the fight.

Juan Escobar was the one he had the draw with;amazingly, they never fought again.