Sanchez took Gomez out of that fight pretty much in the first round. I don't think it would be that sudden but I do think Sanchez would pick Pac apart and eventually stop him mid to late rounds.
Sanchez was too complete for the featherweight Pac. Today's Pac as a featherweight and it would be a classic but that right hand was not there for Sanchez to think about. Sal could pressure him, I don't think Pacquiao could keep Sanchez off him, and he was clearly the better inside fighter. I would go with Sal by UD over 12 and TKO over 15.
Pacquiao was not the same fighter at featherweight that he is now. Sanchez would be far too accomplished for him, and would widely outpoint him, if not stop him. Certainly over 15 rounds a stoppage would be very possible. God only knows Pacquiao's natural weight, but I can say I think he looks better now than he ever has.
Did you actually watch this fight? I have heard about 3-5 different people say this same thing in the past week on here. Watch rds 2-6 and see if Gomez does not take the fight right back to sal. in the 7th with his eye nearly closed sal takes back the momentum before ending it in 8, but Gomez was quite in this fight by my account.
Uh yeah. Unfortunately, I'm old enough to have seen it live. I've seen the fight about 50 times. Gomez never really had his legs under him after the first round. Yeah, he made a gallant effort but I don't think the fight was ever really in doubt after the first round. It sounds like you're saying Sanchez's eye was nearly closed but I'm guessing you meant Gomez. Sanchez was pretty much unmarked. If that fight had been after the Duk Koo Kim tragedy it would have been stopped in the first round. I just think Sanchez completely took it from him in the first. He damn near killed him in the 8th, but other than that, if you like, I guess it was close. Having said all that, based on reports of Gomez's preparation, overconfidence, and just getting badly hurt in the first round things couldn't have gone worse for Gomez. I think a more typical ending for that fight out of 10 times would be that Sanchez would win by late stoppage in a closer fight.
Likewise I am old enough to have seen it live and probably in the 25-50 range myself (Gomez vs sanchez & nelson remain 2 of my favs). Yes I meant Gomez's eye my grammer was poor in the above post. Still after the first gomez took it too him although I agree he was in too deep of waters to pull this off, probably even without the swollen eye. But by rd 6 I have Gomez 1 point behind (all three judges had it close 2/67-65 1 67-66 after 7). Gomez did not back down and certainly gave a good showing of himself. Nelson and sanchez showed he (meaning Gomez) was not going to be elite at this level (and I have lockridge beating him as well, a poor decision by my account), but he gave sanchez a nice battle. i don't believe wilfredo could win this under any circumstance, but still don't feel he was effectively taken out of this fight untill the 7th. I guess we will have to agree to disagree, peace!
I think the first round could have easily been a 10-7 round. I think I gave Gomez 2 rounds. To be honest though, it's my favorite Gomez fight. I was used to seeing him blow guys away and he could be a little nasty (taunting and the like) when he stopped guys. This fight he showed great heart. I respect other viewpoints though and agreeing to disagree is the gentlemanly way to go ;-).
I love Sal Sanchez, my # 3 featherweight of all time. I was disgusted when IBRO organization rated him all the way back at 9th. Pitiful. I like Sanchez over Pac, Sanchez just had too many skills for Pac and would take away Pac's angles, but Pac might put him on his butt somewhere during the fight.
This is the key right here. As explosive as he was (as Barrera found out) he was still very much rough around the edges at 126 - in fact, basically one dimensional. Sanchez would likely have some rocky moments early, but then adjust to Pac's straight left and gradually take over the fight from there.
