Don't know about amateurish that's an exaggeration. But one thing that may have been a factor quite probably is pacing. That's not something that's easy to see from video but remember it was a 15-round fight. That's something that until you go through it you don't know how to do it. He was in there with a great master who had experience. Not to say that I think Sanchez loses the rematch. I don't think he does I think he learned some things as well. Azumah was strong as hell and he had an awkwardness about him that might be impossible to prepare for from film alone.
Perhaps so...or if you share my school of thought (by the professor of course), he may have wound up rates higher than he currently is!
I have to disagree,I think the Nelson of 85 would have done better.The guy who Ko'd Cowdell inside a round would have improved on his intial performance ,imo.
Okay, fair enough, but in what way was he better? There wasn't enough Cowdell fight to tell us much of anything.
He was bang in his prime at 26 and had the experience of fighting top class opponents.Dispatching Cowdell so summarily whereas Sanchez went the full15 and did not exactly romp through .I think Nelson's punch selection got better and his pacing improved.I'm not saying he beats Sanchez ,just that his performance would have been better.Of course Sanchez may also very well have improved!
I know this was not pointed at me, but the biggest difference between them for me was 1 experience/seasoning at the highest level....and 2 endurance/stamina/conditioning. Would and did Nelson improve after this fight? For me an emphatic yes, although the Cowdell fight might not prove that. He wouldn’t lose for the next 8 years and that was at LW. Would Sánchez also improve? This is unfortunately unknown. But I (and I believe you have suggested this in other threads as well), believe we had seen peak Sanchez. Now he may have been able to fight at this level another 3-5 fights or 3-5 years. I kind of think he had about 3-5 fights left in him at this level, but it is speculation. Stamina/endurance- Sanchez has fought 15 rds on multiple occasions and 13+ on 7 different occasions. Nelson had never gone past 10. Fortunately for him IMO we were on the verge of the 12 rd era which he showed capable of multiple times, and I believe the lesson from Sanchez thought him this truth very well. I personally don’t think we would have ever seen a rematch had Sanchez lived (not because neither guy would want it) because with the window open before Sanchez I think he would have set his sights on SFW and perhaps LW if they were available to him. Either way I would call it a pick em fight a year or 2 later, because Nelson would be improving and Sanchez likely declining. A shame we didn’t get to see Sanchez and his career unfold. These are my 2 favorite FW’s of my lifetime either way.
True. But he probably knew who he was though and had seen him fight before. I doubt the same could be said of Nelson for Sanchez.
Nelson was skyhigh emotionally and mentally. This was his shot at the title. He had seen video of Sanchez and knew what kind of boxer he was. Sanchez was fighting just another defense against a guy he didn't know. He had no idea what to expect.
Sanchez most likely would have made his own adjustments I agree. It's a good fight. I wouldn't count Azumah out. The
