How good Could Salvador Sanchez have been had he lived?

IMO he had the potential to be one of the greatest boxers of all time, though it might not have happened as Chava was talking of retirement, and becoming a doctor. His ability was insane, and I've never seen a fighter so poised and relaxed. Sanchez would always suffer from certain stylistic clashes though.

Some people think Chava was slipping before he died, but he was a consummate professional, and would've had more great wins.

In my opinion he would have beaten Arguello had he moved up, but struggle much more against Pedroza at feather.

Also, I'm a big Sanchez fan, so this might not be entirely unbiased.

 

What styles would you say he would have a hard time with?

 

Watch his bout with Patrick Ford.

That extremely rangy style, forcing sanchez (a natural counter puncher) to lead, which he wasn't as comfortable with. Though still good at.

It's why he's struggle with Pedroza but beat Arguello more widely IMO.

 

If he stays at FW for the rest of the 80s I dont see anyone beating him and his resume would put him top 5 modern fighters ever. If he moves up to 130 I think he takes some losses. Camacho, Chavez, Lockridge, and older Nelson are all gonna be tough fights for him

 

If he'd lived, I can see Azumah Nelson dethroning him in a rematch a year or two down the line.
In 1982, '83 Pedroza still had enough left to maybe beat him in a unification fight too.
.... but these are maybes.

 

agree with consensus do far---higher weight divisions were way too deep of a pool for Sanchez. And with all those rounds he had by that age, I was concerned about the guy getting bad hands early on. Like at age 27, not 34.

 

He could have stayed Featherweight Champion for a few more years. All depends on his mindset. If he was still hungry to defend. I don't think anyone at '26 would have dethroned him. Azumah's career might have been altered a bit. He might of had to move up to '30 to win the title.

 

Or, having started so young (turning pro in his mid-teens) it could very well have beenhat we DID see the best he was to give, even if he'd lived. You start young, you burn out young. I don't think he'd have continued more than a couple years.

 

It's easy for Sanchez' numerous fans (which I'm included in) to assume that, had he lived, he would have rattled off another dozen title defenses at featherweight before launching successful campaigns in the 130 & 135 lbs. division, notching multiple defenses in both weight classes before eventually retiring a decorated all time great at a young age.

This hagiography ignores the established patterns in boxing which dictates that something eventually would have derailed Sanchez' star: maybe a crooked manager stealing his money, or maybe substance abuse. Maybe the fame would have gone to his head and he would have gotten lazy, or maybe his hands would have gone bad or his chin would have given out. Or maybe a lunatic girlfriend would have destroyed his focus. Or one final possibility: a more experienced version of Azumah Nelson earns a rematch and get's revenge. I wouldn't rule out a scenario where several of these unfold at the same time.

After about a dozen years as a boxing fan I just started making two assumptions about fighters' careers 1.) that any given fighter is likely to fight longer than they should and 2.) that careers in boxing don't have a happy ending.

These assumptions are almost always eventually vindicated. When someone bucks the trend (Andre Ward. Vitali Klitschko. Lennox Lewis) it's a refreshing change of pace.

 

He was superb, a big name who would have had further big fights.

But from a boxing point of view, the early finish to career (albeit in tragic circumstances) may have been for the best, as it adds to a mystique. Boxing fans love nothing more than debating what could have been, as you cannot be proven right or wrong.

 

Difficult to say. He was still only twenty-three and, in my eyes, had already done enough to propel himself up to #3 in the all-time Featherweight list, behind only Pep and Saddler. A LaPorte rematch was his next port of call before his death, which wasn't necessarily a huge legacy-booster (as despite it being a good fight to watch, he was pretty comfortable overall beating LaPorte first time out already), but a unification fight with Pedroza would have been huge, and surely would have been on the cards in 1983-84. I think based on styles Pedroza would have been a tough fight, but I'd back Sal there. I suspect if he'd have lived he'd have cleaned out Featherweight quite comprehensively by 1984-85 and would have had to move up for new challenges, and perhaps due to increasing weight in any case.

I think a young, confident Camacho at 130 lb could well have put a spanner in the works, though. As the Cowdell and Ford fights show, Sanchez could be touch vulnerable and workmanlike against cagey movers who kept it long and didn't let him fight on instinct. Camacho at 130 was super-quick on his feet, had the hand speed and punch output to offset even the crispest of counter-punchers (which Sal was) and was a hard target to pin down, too. There's an argument to be made that Sanchez's struggles with Cowdell and Ford were more just a case of him taking them lightly and fighting to the level of his opponent, which is possible...But I'd be more inclined to think there's at least a hint of stylistic problems for Sanchez there.

Styles make fights. At 130 lb in 1984-85 I could see a scenario where Camacho beats Sanchez, Sanchez beats Chavez, Chavez beats Camacho, and round and round we go. Sanchez was an amazing championship performer with some of the best all-round skills I've seen and I genuinely do think he'd have cleared out the last remaining challenges at 126 before stepping up, and might have become the greatest Feather of the lot. Above 126, though? Well I think he'd be a titlist at some stage, but Camacho would have been a huge danger, as would an improved Zoomy. And if he moved up to 135 later in the decade, I can't see him beating Whitaker.

 

I agree, if he was not already at his peak he was very likely on the cusp of it. It is quite possible that he could have maintained this level for 2 years and maybe 4-5 fights, before a decline came in. And if he moved up to face JCC which was being discussed this could be the tail end of his world level time frame. I would loved to have seen him and Chavez or better yet Rosario just to give us an idea of how his frame and power translates with a few more pounds. Pedroza vs Sanchez would have been fun to watch too.

 

If only he and Pedroza had faced off.Sanchez's greatest asset for me was his sangfroid, nothing seemed to phase him. There may well be an element of the Marilyn Monroe,James Dean effect about how he is perceived today .He will for ever be that young champ.

 

Bias are not, everything you wrote was is on point. I could see him beating Arguello , and Pederoza giving him hell( Pedroza would've been a stylistic nightmare for Sanchez, unlike Arguello who was a better overall fighter) I didn't think he was slipping at the end , especially when considering what A.Nelson did through out his ATG career. He just had a tough fight with one helleva fighter, that he eventually defeated.