(Danny "Little Red" Lopez acknowledges Salvador Sanchez's prowess by placing his native headdress on his head after their second fight which lasted 14 rounds.)
By Lyle Fitzsimmons
BoxingScene.com
Long before there was a Canelo Alvarez, there was a Salvador Sanchez.
Sanchez was born in 1959 in Santiago Tianguistenco, a city of 60,000-plus residents in south central Mexico that sits about 325 miles from Tlajomulco de Zuniga – where Alvarez arrived in 1990.
Both men became championship-level boxers within candle-blowing distance of their 21st birthdays, with Sanchez capturing the World Boxing Council’s featherweight title exactly one week after his milestone in 1980 and Alvarez winning the organization’s super welterweight crown 135 days before his in 2011.
The similarities end, though, at age 23.
That’s when Alvarez was a party to the highest-grossing pay-per-view fight in the sport’s history, his 12-round majority decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2013.
It’s when Sanchez died.
A reigning champion with nine successful defenses, he was killed when the Porsche he was driving collided with a tractor-trailer on a highway north of Mexico City on August 12, 1982.
It was 40 years ago this past Friday.
He was three weeks past a stirring defeat of future multi-weight world champion Azumah Nelson at Madison Square Garden – boosting his record to 44-1 – and a month ahead of a scheduled Garden rematch with Juan LaPorte, and perhaps a subsequent climb to 130 pounds.
Sanchez would have been 63 this year.
He was the greatest fighter a generation never saw.
“He was so smooth, so complete,” said former Ring Magazine editor Randy Gordon. “He was tireless. Had a full arsenal and array of punches. The only thing he didn't have was a monster punch. He was still getting better and near impossible to beat when he was taken from us.
“He loved staying active. Had he survived and fought for another 10 years, I believe he would have won over 100 fights, and be talked about as a Top-10 all-time great.”
The International Boxing Hall of Fame posthumously included Sanchez as part of its second class of inductees in 1991, and Boxing.com placed him at No. 62 on its list of history’s top 100 fighters in 2013.
Had he lived even a few more years, he’d have climbed a bunch more spots.
“Who knows what we in boxing lost when we lost Sanchez?” list-maker Matt McGrain wrote.
“He consistently showed the understanding and awareness of a veteran in his early twenties, a testimony perhaps to the number of fights and defenses he crammed into his short career. As a veteran, he might have attained the rare heights of strategic genius reserved for the likes of Archie Moore and Bernard Hopkins.”
Sanchez’s title-winning fight against Sports Illustrated cover boy Danny “Little Red” Lopez – a 13th-round TKO – was broadcast on CBS, as was the rematch four months later that Sanchez captured by 14th-round stoppage. His initial bout with LaPorte and other title defenses against Patrick Ford and Ruben Castillo were shown on ABC, while ESPN carried a match with Nicky Perez.
A 15-round decision over Rocky Garcia in May 1982 was the first featherweight championship match ever broadcast on HBO, and Sanchez crossed over into closed-circuit success – the precursor to today’s pay-per-view format – with an eighth-round TKO of previously unbeaten Wilfredo Gomez that was billed as the “Battle of the Little Giants” and held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
His career earnings ultimately measured in the millions, then rare for a smaller fighter.
“Those who know him knew that he was untouched by his status as a national hero and a world champion,” said ABC’s Howard Cosell, as part of an eight-minute tribute that aired the day after Sanchez’s funeral. “The great thing about the kid was that he never forgot what he might have been had it not been for his success in boxing.
“When one is but 23 years of age and dies tragically in an accident, there is no fulfillment for the fullness of life, no opportunity to do all the things you wanted to do. In Salvador's case, his dream was to retire in another year, study and become a doctor. But no, no chance of that.”
A horrible loss for his family, obviously.
But a painful one for us, too.
Long before there was a Canelo Alvarez, there was a Salvador Sanchez.
Sanchez was born in 1959 in Santiago Tianguistenco, a city of 60,000-plus residents in south central Mexico that sits about 325 miles from Tlajomulco de Zuniga – where Alvarez arrived in 1990.
Both men became championship-level boxers within candle-blowing distance of their 21st birthdays, with Sanchez capturing the World Boxing Council’s featherweight title exactly one week after his milestone in 1980 and Alvarez winning the organization’s super welterweight crown 135 days before his in 2011.
The similarities end, though, at age 23.
That’s when Alvarez was a party to the highest-grossing pay-per-view fight in the sport’s history, his 12-round majority decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2013.
It’s when Sanchez died.
A reigning champion with nine successful defenses, he was killed when the Porsche he was driving collided with a tractor-trailer on a highway north of Mexico City on August 12, 1982.
It was 40 years ago this past Friday.
He was three weeks past a stirring defeat of future multi-weight world champion Azumah Nelson at Madison Square Garden – boosting his record to 44-1 – and a month ahead of a scheduled Garden rematch with Juan LaPorte, and perhaps a subsequent climb to 130 pounds.
Sanchez would have been 63 this year.
He was the greatest fighter a generation never saw.
“He was so smooth, so complete,” said former Ring Magazine editor Randy Gordon. “He was tireless. Had a full arsenal and array of punches. The only thing he didn't have was a monster punch. He was still getting better and near impossible to beat when he was taken from us.
“He loved staying active. Had he survived and fought for another 10 years, I believe he would have won over 100 fights, and be talked about as a Top-10 all-time great.”
The International Boxing Hall of Fame posthumously included Sanchez as part of its second class of inductees in 1991, and Boxing.com placed him at No. 62 on its list of history’s top 100 fighters in 2013.
Had he lived even a few more years, he’d have climbed a bunch more spots.
“Who knows what we in boxing lost when we lost Sanchez?” list-maker Matt McGrain wrote.
“He consistently showed the understanding and awareness of a veteran in his early twenties, a testimony perhaps to the number of fights and defenses he crammed into his short career. As a veteran, he might have attained the rare heights of strategic genius reserved for the likes of Archie Moore and Bernard Hopkins.”
Sanchez’s title-winning fight against Sports Illustrated cover boy Danny “Little Red” Lopez – a 13th-round TKO – was broadcast on CBS, as was the rematch four months later that Sanchez captured by 14th-round stoppage. His initial bout with LaPorte and other title defenses against Patrick Ford and Ruben Castillo were shown on ABC, while ESPN carried a match with Nicky Perez.
A 15-round decision over Rocky Garcia in May 1982 was the first featherweight championship match ever broadcast on HBO, and Sanchez crossed over into closed-circuit success – the precursor to today’s pay-per-view format – with an eighth-round TKO of previously unbeaten Wilfredo Gomez that was billed as the “Battle of the Little Giants” and held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
His career earnings ultimately measured in the millions, then rare for a smaller fighter.
“Those who know him knew that he was untouched by his status as a national hero and a world champion,” said ABC’s Howard Cosell, as part of an eight-minute tribute that aired the day after Sanchez’s funeral. “The great thing about the kid was that he never forgot what he might have been had it not been for his success in boxing.
“When one is but 23 years of age and dies tragically in an accident, there is no fulfillment for the fullness of life, no opportunity to do all the things you wanted to do. In Salvador's case, his dream was to retire in another year, study and become a doctor. But no, no chance of that.”
A horrible loss for his family, obviously.
But a painful one for us, too.
5 comments:
Salvador Sanchez was a great upcoming boxer. His death was a great loss to the Mexican boxing community. Who knows what he could have accomplished if given more life. Sadly we will never know. RIP
I kew he'd died in an uto accident but, your know, I didn;t feel it, not what you're feeling.
People die all the time.
part of the journey.
(You never did update the Geronimo Jerry the bartender's son story of cancer and his open requests for cash. Did he make it?)
Back than I was an aspiring BrownTown golden glove champ..
I was in Los fresnos visiting my brother
..when we heard the said news on the radio
That's was 40 yrs ago..
He had so much Charisma..and could fite.
R.I.P.
At the texas lounge there was a picture of him covering the whole door... back than
He was a real champion. RIP
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