Call me mental, but I think the precise counters sees straight through Armstrong's all aggression style. Sanchez staying calm in the centre of the ring would be of paramount importance to his success.
12 or 15 rds, neither fighter get knocked down, hell, they may not seriously hurt each other, not because they wouldn't be trying, but the quality of both fighters chins. Both were tough as hell. Tough fight to pick. The smooth boxer- puncher Sanchez, who was as kool as any fighter in history, nothing seemed to bother him in the ring, unlike most Mexican boxers had a complete fight game, wasn't just a walk in destroyer, could , box from distance, excellent counter puncher, work off the jab , very good foot work, defensively good. If their was any real weakness to his game,it would be he didn't have the typical crushing power, esp in the left hook as was seen in the typical Mexican fighter of the era. He was more a accumulation puncher. Armstrong was possibly the greatest pressure fighter in the history of boxing. Relentless pressure, inhuman endurance, slicker defensively than given credit for. Plus, his style, also served him defensively, head usually in the opponents chest, didn't give them punching room, very accurate puncher inspite of his action style. Though also wasn't a devastating puncher, he wore his opponents down with that Relentless pressure, had an excellent ko percentage (151 wins, 101 ko's) so obviously he hit hard enough. A real pick-em type fight. But I can't help but think of another pressure fighter, A.Nelson giving Sanchez Hell, though really, at the time they fought, he wasn't as good as he would get after they fought, eventually earning ATG status. Nelson pushed Sanchez to the brink. This leads me to believe the even better pressure fighter Armstrong, would defeat Sanchez prime vs prime. Sanchez would find no room to operate against Armstrong. And unlike Nelson, Armstrong wouldn't run out of gas. Armstrong wins this one, in a very close but unanimous dec. He would out-work Sanchez. Keep him in a defensive posture, go on to win the dec.
I think Sanchez is just about the worst style ever for Armstrong. He thrived off picking aggressive fighters apart, but I think this is an exception. I find you often have to make exceptions for Armstrong. Guys like Nelson and Gomez, whilst both being stopped, found Sanchez when they forced the fight. I think Armstrong was a few levels above both at featherweight. If Sanchez has Arguello-esque power, I'd favour him in an instant, but he doesn't. He doesn't have the physical attributes to go along with skill and style that you need to beat Armstrong at featherweight. In fact, I don't think anyone does. Pacquiao or Saddler maybe? Alas, that's probably fot a completely different thread. I think Armstrong's power is really underrated. He was the only man to KO Sarron, who had 150 fights. One of only two men to KO Benny Bass, who fought nearly everyone in his era, and had 250 fights. He KOed tough Tony Chavez twice. He also KOed granite chinned Chalky Wright. I'm sure there's more as well.
Sanchez is technically better, far smoother, better outboxer and can hold his own inside. He also has the footwork to neutralise Armstrong. Sanchez UD
Armstrong wouldn't give a damn about his feints. He would fight against him chest to chest and attakcing him inside all the times. He wouldn't give him any time to breath. A jab is not enough to stop Armstrong from getting inside, you have to have significant physical advantage to do that. Sanches doesn't have that.
If you think feints don't cause boxers to make errors you don't understand the foundamentals of the sport. Sanchez has a far more varied arsenal than Armstrong and he can put his punches together in combinations, something Armstrong lacked. Armstrong would be looking for his single left hook or overhand and getting lit up by a 6 punch combination
I'm of the opinion that Armstrong was at his best at feather, despite the losses. I rate him very highly at that weight. That said, Sanchez is one of my favorite fighters ever. I'll go Armstrong 60% chance of victory.
If you think that Armstrong could put up punches together into combinations, then I suggest you to learn more about this sport. Why do you hate Armstrong so much?
I think the key would be ,can Sanchez discourage Armstrong from aggressively coming at him. I don't believe he can. Hank by close UD.
I don't think he hates Armstrong. He's just romanticizing Sanchez a little too much. I chuckled at his notion that Armstrong couldn't deal with Sanchez's footwork. It is no disrespect to Sanchez at all in saying that his skillset would be scrambled trying to fend off Armstrong's relentless pressure. I never enjoyed watching Armstrong's style but it was damn effective.
He does though, it's based on other threads. He consistently says that Armstrong ducked his favorite - Charley Burley.