Another match-up of two of my favorites....Who do you rate as the greater feather and why...how much is seperating them in your opinion???? Who would win a hypothetical fight and how why????
I would say Saldivar is the overall greater Feather...Ruled a very stacked divison with an iron fist, pretty much cleared it, retired and came back a few years later to defeat the 2 best Feather at that time to become champ again. Had excellent fighters in his resume. As for a match up, the styles match up here favor them both but IMO Sanchez was the more skilled fighter and i think he would come out with a close UD. Both had excellent stamina, but Sanchez' superior speed, movement, and accuracy wins him this IMO.
Although Saldivar does not get the publicity or widespread popularity that Sanchez does I would say he is the greater of the 2 as well. Perhaps if Sanchez's life had not been cut short he may have had the opportunity to prove otherwise. To me Saldivar dominated a better era (perhaps that would make a good debate...which FW era was better?), and did so for twice as long, and then retired and came back 2 years later to reclaim the top spot... I also like Saldivar to beat Sanchez straight up...
Great thread Philly. Im leaning towards Sanchez but I may have to do some Homework on this one, its too close to call.
Like Sanchez he could look ordinary against lesser competition. He could be dropped too, by less than dynamite punchers. But he had unlimited stamina and was hell to fight over 15. Still need to watch the last Winstone fight. Saw his first loss; bizarre fight. My Spanish is virtually non exsistent but I presume the headbutt resulted in the dq.
Another discussion thought Saldivar went 8-0 in title fights retired for 2 years and won it again before losing 2 final title fights (9-2)...While Sanchez went 10-0 in title fights....How would they fare against each others competition.... Sanchez vs Saldivar opponents Laguna This content is protected Rojas Winstone I Robertson Seki I Seki II Winstone II Winstone III Legra Famechon Can any spring an upset??? who gives him a tough fight along the way? Saldivar vs Sanchez oppositiion D. Lopez I Castillo Lopez II Ford Laporte Castanon This content is protected W. Gomez Cowdell Garcia Nelson Can any beat him...who gives him a tough fight??? Whose opposition was better...if we paired their respective opponents against each other how would it play out????? Lopez I vs Ismael Laguna R. castillio vs Sugar Ramos Lopez II vs R. Rojas P. Ford vs Winstone I J. Laporte vs F. Robertson R. Castanon vs M. seki I N. Perez vs Seki II W. Gomez vs Winstone II P. Cowdell vs Winstone III Garcia vs Legra Nelson vs Famechon
Sanchez vs Saldivar opponents Laguna Rojas Winstone I Robertson Seki I Seki II Winstone II Winstone III Legra Famechon I would excpect Sanchez to be the favorite and/or win all of these... I do wonder if Laguna might be able to spring an upset over The Sanchez that fought in Lopez I??? largely because it was over 10 rounds....Laguna may be able to take a close decision (if this was 15 like Lopez I as opposed to the 10 rounder that Daldivar/Laguna fought then I would take Sanchez easily)...as it is I still think Sanchez is the favorite...but laguna would keep it close and possibly spring the upset.... I also think Winstone is a very live dog here...Both Cowdell & Ford were able to take sanchez the distance and lose very close SD's to him...Winstone could likewise cause him some similar trouble IMHO, although I would make him a certain underdog...I also don't think he would pull it off....but I do think he would be competitive... Famechon is the other interesting one....I might pick the Famechon that beat Harada I & II over the Sanchez that beat a green Azumah....I am not sure whether Famechon aged over the 5 months after Harada II or if Saldivar was so good it just seemed like it???? Saqnchez at his best (or the Nelson version) should still be considered the favorite...But I think Famechon might be the best chance of any of Saldivars opponents to spring an upset....
Saldivar vs Sanchez oppositiion D. Lopez I Castillo Lopez II Ford Laporte Castanon W. Gomez Cowdell Garcia Nelson Once again I think Saldivar would/should win all of these... I really Like Little Red (not the guy who posts on ESB....he is horrible!!!!) :hey but I don't like him to beat Saldivar.... I think similar to the reverse opinion in the Sanchez vs saldivar opponents that both Cowdell and Ford could push Saldivar to very close type of decisions and spring upsets if he is anything less than his best...much in the vein of Winstone I & II. The young green Nelson might be able to beat the slightly past prime Saldivar who beat Famechon...actually I would pick nelson to beat him at this stage....But then again I am an even bigger Nelson fan than I am of Saldivar....along w/ Sanchez they are perhaps my 3 favorite FW's ever.
Whose opposition was better...if we paired their respective opponents against each other how would it play out????? Lopez I vs Ismael Laguna- This content is protected R. castillio vs Sugar Ramos- This content is protected This content is protected Lopez II vs R. Rojas- This content is protected This content is protected P. Ford vs Winstone I- This content is protected This content is protected J. Laporte vs F. Robertson- This content is protected This content is protected R. Castanon vs M. seki I- This content is protected N. Perez vs Seki II- This content is protected This content is protected W. Gomez vs Winstone II- This content is protected This content is protected P. Cowdell vs Winstone III- This content is protected This content is protected Garcia vs Legra- This content is protected This content is protected Nelson vs This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected
I'm not so sure about that. I think he would have his hands full with Lopez, Gomez, and even the young Nelson. Saldivar liked to fight at a measured pace and pick his spots, and he was very rarely forced to step out of that. I think Ramos is the only fighter I've seen put some real heat on him in his prime - though Saldivar did come through very impressively with the win. However, I believe Sanchez ultimately proved himself to be more comfortable with a fast pace than Saldivar. Lopez was somewhat comparable to Ramos IMO - a strong, hard-hitting FW with leaky defense - so it's very feasible that Saldivar could eventually break him down with left-handed sharpshooting. However, I'm not so confident as to how Saldivar would handle Gomez and Nelson, who I believe would bring more speed, power, and intensity to their attack than what Saldivar typically faced. As far as Sanchez vs. Saldivar goes, I believe Sanchez was the better all-around fighter, and I would favor his skill and workrate to eventually open up Saldivar's southpaw defense and finish strong to win a decision.
I would much prefer to see their opponents matched based on quality or status rather than their chronology. For example, I believe Lopez vs. Ramos is a fairly even matchup of two gutsy, slam-bang titleholders (and future HOFers). I think Nelson vs. Laguna is a more ideal matchup - two young-ish prospects that went on to be champions and HOFers.
I think I said much of that??? The only disagreement I have is with Gomez....He was not big, strong and/or good enough to hang w/ Sanchez or Nelson and IMHO Lockridge was of the the horrendous robberies of that day....I don't think Gomez would be able to deal w/ Saldivars power and he would likely get stopped after being competitive in the first half...Saldivar should stop him prior to double digets being hit in rounds.
This would be an OK way for me to look at the quality of their oppostiion as well in a comparrison...I went chronologically just to determine how they would have fared at similar points in ther careers...Feel free to revise the order if it suits you.... Lopez I vs Sugar Ramos- I like Little Red (again not the antagonistic, agenda based Pittsburghaholic ESB poster) and think he would stop Ramos late. Lopez II vs Famechon- I like Famechon to take a close decision Nelson vs Laguna- (I hate this, probably my two favorite non-Philly Phighters ever)...I would take Nelson by decision over 12 and stoppage over 15. Gomez vs Winstone I- Again I like Winstone to outpoint the tough and game gomez. Laporte vs Rojas- Laporte by a very close decision Cowdell vs Winstone II- I like Winstone to be just a little to slick and savy and take a close but clear decision... Ford vs Legra- I like the older and wiley vet to beat the up and comer ford Castillo vs seki I- I like both guys but envision Castillo taking a close decision Castanon vs Seki II- This time Seki is up for the challange and a takes the decision Garcia vs Winstone III- I like even this fadeing version of Winstone to beat Garcia by a clear decision Perez vs Robertson- Robertson was certainly on the downsloap of his career, but his skill level should enable to win this decison. Saldivars opposition by 7-4....I still think his opposition was a step ahead no matter how we slice it.