What tactics did Sanchez implement to force his opponents to engage and throw with the taller man?

In some ways he'd make himself smaller. He'd bounce on his toes into range, but rarely in a straight line, and then use terrific head and body movement to throw his opponent off. His opponent figured "well I should do something since he's coming at me" and then they'd most likely miss and eat a flurry of shots.

His punches came from unorthodox angles sometimes too. His right cross for example is never straight; it looks like Sal is throwing a baseball, as if the elbow was a fulcrum. Very odd. A lot of his shots were thrown from positions one wouldn't expect him to be able to throw. He messed with your timing something fierce.

 

Great observations on a great fighter.....
Sanchez's was a one of those special fighters where
he seemed to be boxing cautiously, yet forcing his
opponents to commit to their offense then countering
them to pieces.
The counter punching clinic he put on against Lopez
where he always seemed to be in range of his heavy
artillery, made him commit to his offense ,miss,
then tatto'ed him with counters.
is beautiful to watch. A skill sorely missed
for the most part in today's game.

 

Yeah, he's able to stay in range there because he's always presenting different angles and his feet are always moving. He slips, rolls, throws, blocks incoming, then rolls back outside and starts over again.

 

Salvador Sanchez would use lateral movement, come into range forcing his opponent to throw on him while he slipped several blows then counterpunched his rival. He had great stamina, an iron chin, and great concentration to accomplish all of that.

 

Some of his critics say he wasn’t a great defensive fighter …what say you ?

 

I think that's overplayed. He was of course an aggressive counterpuncher, which infers rather strongly that he put himself in the line of fire to get his work done. He also wasn't shy about trading punches, so he was one of the higher-conact scientific fighters you will find. Given that, I'm frankly a little surprised he didn't get hit more than he did all things considered.

 

Some would say Ray Robinson or Ray Leonard wasn't great defensively. But sometimes, one must look at the skills of the men in the opposite corner. It's easy to look like a defensive savant against no better than 2nd rate or past prime competition as a fighter Like May Jr did as he went up in weight, The fighters he faced simply were not capable of really testing him. But May Jr. Never faced opponents as skilled as Armstrong, Gavilan, Lomatta, Turpin, Nelson , Gomez ,Lopez ,Benitez, Duran , Hearns or Hagler. Fighting safety 1st against that level of competition more than likely gets the fighter a loss.
Sanchez was great defensively, he was a aggressive counter puncher, when a man is fighting not just to win, but to dominate, he takes more chances, those extra chances allows their opponents to get their shots in. He had a fantastic chin when they did land on him.
But when Sanchez leaves absolutely no doubt about who the winner was, I'd say his defense was just fine in my opinion. Especially against the level of competition he faced.