The Battle of the Little Giants – When Salvador Sanchez Faced Wilfredo “Bazooka” Gomez
By Faisal “Fayz” Masood
In 1986 the Football World Cup was played in Mexico. It was the first Football World Cup I ever watched and what a great tournament it turned out to be, remembered most for the sublime skills of Diego Maradonna as he guided Argentina to victory. It was also the first I had ever heard of Mexico, just a young child I watched in awe as the Mexican Hugo Sanchez somersaulted after scoring a goal. Then there was the fabulous weather for what seemed like every game that was played, the great crowds cheering throughout the match and of course the Mexican Wave. Little did I know, the country of Mexico was also a hot bed for supreme Boxing talent….
Included amongst the great names of Mexican boxers is one man who not only would have topped them all, but one who quite possibly could have gone onto become the greatest Featherweight in Boxing history. Salvador Sanchez.
On August 21, 1981 the boxing world stood still in Las Vegas and would finally acknowledge the young Mexican as one of the best if not the best boxer in the world. Still only 22yrs old, Sanchez had already deposed of big names such as future World Champion Juan Laporte and future Hall of Famer Danny Lopez. Now Sanchez would face his sternest test in a man named Wilfredo Gomez, the 24yr old Super Bantamweight World Champion who had knocked out everyone in his path, earning the nickname “Bazooka”. Having vanquished everyone in his division and participated in fourteen title bouts, he had now set his sights on becoming a multi weight World Champion.
Wilfredo Gomez was born to fight, growing up in Puerto Rico he was often found fighting in school. Kids go to school to learn, Gomez went to school and learnt how to punch. The famous moniker of Bazooka had been chiselled in the playgrounds and streets of Las Monjas long before he was to step into the squared circle.
Wilfredo was the World Super Bantamweight Champion who was moving up in weight to challenge Sanchez. Widely considered by many as the greatest fighter to come out of Puerto Rico, Gomez had drawn his first professional bout and then reeled off an astonishing 32 straight wins, all by way of knockout and earning himself the nickname ‘Bazooka’ as he stepped up to the challenge of facing Sanchez at featherweight. Gomez was a huge name in boxing, whose fights had been attended by movie stars such as Sylvester Stallone and in 1978 was named Boxing Illustrated’s fighter of the year. Among his victories was a compatriot of Sanchez’s and fellow great Mexican boxer, Carlos Zarate. In a battle of the big punchers, Wilfredo Gomez had knocked out the 55-0, 54 KO’s Zarate in Round five.
And so on August 21, 1981 Las Vegas hosted the fight fittingly labeled as ‘The Battle of the Little Giants’. Defending his Featherweight title, the lesser known Salvador Sanchez was coming in as the underdog, with many believing the big hitting Wilfredo Gomez would score an early knock out.
The fight would go in the opposite direction, whilst there was no early knock out, there was an early knock down. Bazooka came out looking to box his naturally bigger opponent, the big punching Gomez may have chosen the wrong strategy when just 40 seconds in, Sanchez had dropped
his opponent. The tables had already been turned and Sanchez dominated the early going. Gomez was able to survive, having some moments of his own but Sanchez had laid the ground work and Gomez’s eyes began to swell.
With his eyes almost shut and Sanchez repeatedly aiming in the effected area, it was only a matter of time before Sanchez would inevitably finish his opponent off.
In round eight Sanchez got the opening he was looking for, a straight right hand staggered Gomez and as the punches continued, the referee had no choice but to step in and end the bout. Salvador Sanchez had scored an eighth round TKO win over one of the sports most feared fighters and a new superstar had been born. Gomez would suffer a fractured cheekbone as well as having his eyes swollen shut.
“Chava” was now a household name, in 1981 he shared ‘Fighter of the Year’ honours with none other than Sugar Ray Leonard, proving just how big a name The Mexican Champ had become. Sanchez’s next three fights would earn him millions of dollars and all were fought in the USA. His fight with Jorge Garcia was the first fight between two featherweights ever televised by HBO. The Boxing world was at his feet….
Less than a year later, Salvador Sanchez would tragically die when he crashed his Porsche in the early hours of August 12, 1982, robbing boxing of one of its greatest talents and cutting short a career which at 23 was still yet to peak. Just how good could have Sanchez gone onto become?
Could we be talking about “Chava”as Mexico’s greatest boxer today and not Julio Cesar Chavez, SR.? My bet is that we would be debating Sanchez as the best Featherweight in history alongside such esteemed names as Willie Pep and Henry Armstrong.
For Wilfredo Gomez, the show went on and he did realize his dream of becoming a multi weight World Champion. Winning the very title he challenged for when losing to Sanchez, he defeated one of Sanchez’s former foes, Juan Laporte to become the WBC Featherweight Champion and in 1985 Gomez went one better and became the WBA and Lineal Super Featherweight Champion by defeating Rocky Lockridge.
Salvador Sanchez was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991, Gomez would follow Sanchez into the Hall of Fame just four years later in 1995.
Fayz has also published two books available for download on Amazon and also runs his own Personal Training site and blog over at Fayz Fitness.
Check out his books on Amazon:
Strength and Conditioning for Boxing – Workout Hits to get you Fighting Fit
The Boxing Cheat Sheet – Your Ultimate Guide to Ring Survival
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