THE 100 GREATEST BOXERS OF ALL-TIME #40: SALVADOR SANCHEZ

“CHAVA”

44 WINS (32 BY KO), 1 LOSS, 1 DRAW

World Featherweight Champion 1980–1982

The Ring Fighter of the Year 1981

International Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee 1991

Dead at 23 in a car accident involving one of the many high-end sports cars he drove too fast, Salvador Sanchez packed an all-time great’s career into just seven years as a professional fighter. Though his reliance on skill over brawn betrayed the macho stereotype of a Mexican fighter, his countrymen still embraced him as a hero. “Chava,” as his countrymen called him, celebrated his victories along with them, enjoying the fine clothes, jewelry, and of course cars that came with his success. There’s no telling how much greater he would have been had his lifestyle not led to his early demise.

A professional bantamweight (118 pounds) by age 16, Sanchez fought exclusively in his native Mexico for the first four years of his career but built up a fantastic record. He won his first 18 fights, 17 by knockout, before losing a split decision to Antonio Becerra for the national championship. Growing into a featherweight (126 pounds) in 1978, he suffered two knockdowns against unheralded Juan Escobar but managed to fight his way back to a draw. After that, it was all wins for Sanchez; 24 straight victories over four years.

Tall for a featherweight at 5’6” and possessed of a 68” reach, Sanchez was a patient counterpuncher who boxed behind a long left and precision straight right. His remarkable stamina and focus made him dangerous from the opening bell to the last… if his opponents could make it that far. His trademark oversized jaw may have made for a big target, but it was a solid one. He was never stopped in 46 contests and was only dropped in one bout. Still, he fought his first 35 fights unknown to even die-hard fans outside of his home country.

When Sanchez was matched with future Hall of Famer Danny “Little Red” Lopez for the world’s featherweight championship on February 2, 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona, almost no one outside of Mexico knew who he was. Even his countrymen thought him doomed. The fight indeed proved a one-sided mismatch, but it was Sanchez who dominated and stopped his opponent in the thirteenth round. A little over four months later, he repeated the beat-down, this time ending it in fourteenth.

Having defended his championship four times in 1980 alone, Sanchez took on undefeated Puerto Rican knockout artist and junior featherweight (122 pounds) champion Wilfredo “Bazooka” Gomez on August 21, 1981, at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. All 32 of Gomez’s victories had come by knockout. Mexicans and Puerto Ricans had a historic sporting rivalry, and they embraced their respective champions with enthusiasm. The fight was billed as “The Battle of the Little Giants.” Bert Sugar called it, “the greatest fight in Hispanic history.”

In front of roaring fans from both boxing-mad cultures, Sanchez dropped the fearsome Gomez with a left in the opening round and handled him with astonishing ease for the rest of the fight before finishing him off in the eighth. He shattered Gomez’s cheekbone, bloodied his nose, and shut both of his eyes in the process.

By the time he left that Vegas ring, Sanchez was already one of the most revered Mexican sports heroes of all time, as his entire nation proudly basked in the victory. In America, experts were beginning to regard Sanchez, entirely unknown to them just two years earlier, as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

For his part, Sanchez began to immediately talk up a super-fight with another Latino superstar, lightweight champion Alexis Arguello of Nicaragua. As the boxing world collectively salivated at the possibilities of this fight, Sanchez continued defending his championship, making nine total, the last a stoppage over undefeated future Hall of Famer Azumah Nelson. Sadly, the Arguello fight never came to pass before Sanchez’s untimely death less than a year after his historic win over Gomez.

Salvador Sanchez’s record vs. Hall of Famers & lineal world champions:

2/2/1980 — W (TKO) 13 — Danny Lopez

6/21/1980 —W (TKO) 14 — Danny Lopez

8/21/1981 — W (TKO) 8 — Wilfredo Gomez

7/21/1982 — W (TKO) 15 — Azumah Nelson