Salvador Sanchez: Remembering Greatness Taken Away to Soon

 Loading ...

Hall of Fame fighter and legendary featherweight world champion Salvador Sanchez, 44-1-1, 32 KO’s, died at just 23 years of age. It is rare in the sport of boxing for one so young to have climbed so high up the echelon of great fighters. In a day and age where many fighters aren’t even turning pro until after 23 years of age, Sanchez had already locked up Hall of Fame credentials.

Sanchez turned pro shortly after his 16th birthday to help support his family. The only two blemishes on his record, a split decision loss to Antonio Becerra, and a majority draw to Juan Escobar, both happened before he was even 20 years old, at 18 and 19 respectively. Also neither of these blemishes took place at the featherweight limit, as the Becerra fight took place at Bantamweight, and the Escobar fight took place at JR. Lightweight. The blemishes on his record took place before his prime, and at the time of his death boxing pundits were wondering, while it was obvious he was coming into his own, if he had even entered his true prime. No one will ever know how good a 25-28 year old version of Salvador Sanchez would have been. What is known is that the 21-23 year old version was already one of the best featherweights to ever grace the ring.

Sanchez’ presence in the ring belied his youth, as to watch him fight you could see a certain level of maturity and patience often missing from someone so young. He appeared to be a complete fighter, able to box and move at times, but seemed to have a penchant for going to war, and he was good at it. He was a precision fighter who took risks to land his punches. When watching him you got the feeling he could have paid more attention to defensive aspects of the game if he wanted to, but preferred attack over defense. He was an adaptable fighter who could employ different styles depending on his opponent type. His opponents, particularly during his brief 2 and a half year reign, are the reason people remember Salvador Sanchez as one the best young champions ever.

Over those 2 and a half years Sanchez made 9 defense of his featherweight world championship going 10-0, 5 KO’s in world championship fights. He won the featherweight world championship from Hall of Famer Danny “Little Red” Lopez who was 42-3, 39 KO’s at the time of their fight. In a scintillating battle Sanchez ripped the championship from Lopez, stopping him in the 13th round. His first defense of his title was made against respected top contender Ruben Castillo, who sported a record of 47-1, 25 KO’s at the time, whose only loss was to the great Alexis Arguello. Castillo fought well, but Sanchez proved superior winning a competitive, but clear 15 round unanimous decision. Next Sanchez fought a rematch against Danny Lopez, and although this fight was a little close than their first fight, Lopez’ valiant effort wasn’t enough as Sanchez prevailed, stopping Lopez in the 14th round this time. After the two beatings from Sanchez, Lopez would never be the same, fighting on just one more fight. His 3rd defense came against the undefeated, 16-0, 10 KO’s, Pat Ford who was 5 foot 10 inches, very tall for featherweight. Sanchez has to adapt to Ford’s height advantage but in the end came out on top of a 15 round majority decision. Next up was the 15-1, 8 KO’s, Juan Laporte. The result was a competitive but unanimous decision for Sanchez, as the iron-chinned Laporte took all Sanchez could dish out. Laporte would years later give a prime Julio Cesar Chavez, one of his toughest fights as well, nearly upsetting him in some boxing pundits view. After Laporte, Sanchez would next defend against Roberto Casanon who was 43-1, 24 KO’s at the time. Sanchez would win yet again, this time by stoppage in the 10th round. Sanchez was building steam in his career and was looking for a big fight to take his career to the next level. He would soon get his wish.

After a tune up against a 50-3 fighter Nicky Perez, Sanchez was ready to prepare for his super fight. Hall of Fame fighter Wilfredo Gomez was 32-0-1, 32 KO’s going into the super fight with Sanchez. He had a draw in his professional debut and then rattled off 32 straight knockouts, including a win over 52-0, 51 KO’s Hall of Famer Carlos Zarate. Gomez was the JR. Featherweight champion with 13 successful defenses moving up 4 pounds to challenge Sanchez for his featherweight crown. Despite the fact that he was moving up in weight, many boxing pundits were actually favoring Gomez to defeat Sanchez. The fight itself was breath taking. Two great Hall of Fame warriors clashing to prove superiority. Also Sanchez didn’t care for Gomez, as Gomez did what he felt was a lot of disrespectful smack talking in the buildup, so he wanted to punish Gomez for his insults. Both man landed bombs in a fight I thought should have taken fight of the year honors, it was definitely a candidate. Ultimately it was Gomez who gave in under the sustained punishment, succumbing to defeat in the 8th round, broken and beaten. That is not to say Sanchez did not have to walk through his own share of bombs and punishment to secure victory. If there are readers who have not had the pleasure of watching this masterpiece, please go to YouTube and type in “Sanchez vs. Gomez” and give yourself a boxing treat, because it is fight of the year worthy, it was a super fight that lived up to the hype. Sadly, less than a year after this fight, Sanchez would lose his life in a horrific car accident. He still had one more Hall of Famer to slay however.

After the big win over Gomez, Sanchez defended and won by 15 round split decision against 19-2, 7 KO’s, Pat Cowdell. One judge had Cowdell narrowly winning while the other two had Sanchez winning wide. It is of my opinion, that Sanchez should have won unanimously, and the split decision is due to judging impairment. Still it stands as a statistical blight on Sanchez’ championship record. Next would be a defense against Rocky Garcia who was 23-2, 12 KO’s. Sanchez would win yet again, by 15 round unanimous decision. That would lead to the final bout of Sanchez’ career, against Hall of Famer Azumah Nelson who was 13-0, 10 KO’s at the time. The fight was another classic of give and take brutality along with sweet science. Sanchez prevailed by a stoppage in the 15th and last round. Sanchez would have his fatal accident in less than a month after the great win over Nelson.

So as you can see, Sanchez’ resume is undeniable. He is 4-0, 4 KO’s against Hall of Famers, undefeated as a featherweight, and 10-0, 5 KO’s in championship fights. Then when you take into account this is only a portion of what his resume would have been had he not died, it is mind boggling how great Sanchez was and could have been. There were ongoing discussions of a move to Lightweight to face the great Alexis Arguello, in what surely would have been a special clash. It just not meant to be however.

We know that Sanchez is an all-time great, but just how great was he actually? How would he have fared in head to head match ups against the best featherweights throughout history? The great Willie Pep after witnessing Sanchez’ victory over Nelson, complimented Sanchez’ greatness by saying “I’m glad Sanchez wasn’t around when I was fighting.” I personally have heard boxing pundits say flat out that Sanchez is the best featherweight ever, but I’ve also heard them say he is overrated in talks of being amongst the best ever featherweights and should be only in the top 20 ever discussion. I feel perhaps he could have been the best ever featherweight, but I choose to put him in my own personal top 5 at that weight, which is a staggering achievement in itself. Where would you readers place him? The best ever? Top 5? Top 10? Top 20?

I hope you readers have enjoyed this look back on featherweight legend Salvador Sanchez. For those that already knew about him, I hope it was a fun remembrance of a great fighter, and for those that are just now learning about him due to my article, I am proud to have presented him to you. Please go to YouTube and checkout this master of the sweet science of war.
[si-contact-form form=’2′]