ATG FEATHERWEIGHT: ROUND 1, FIGHT 3 - VICENTE SALDIVAR UD15 TONY CANZONERI

What a draw, still the first round.

The term “cleared out the weight division” is perhaps the most abused in boxing. This is because it almost never happens; there’s always someone out there. That being said, Vicente Saldivar (seeded 3) perhaps came as close as any man to achieving the mythical clearout; he roared through the featherweight division of the 1960s with few left behind to tell the tale of his passing unscathed.

The road to the world title was opened up in a fascinating contest between future greats as he was matched with the soon-to-be lightweight champion Ismael Laguna. That fight was not without its controversies and there were some in attendance who believed Laguna was good for the nod. Highlights of that contest can be found on the McGrain boxing channel on YouTube and shows a close contest but certainly not one that would lend itself to serious objections. Whatever the detail, Saldivar got the nod and in his next contest he met with Sugar Ramos for the featherweight crown.

Ramos, a 2-1 favorite, was cloaked in an unfortunate aura of danger since he took the life of Davey Moore in claiming the title, and he oozed confidence as he entered the bull-ring that held the fight-ring where he was to make his fourth defense. Early, he had success with a long jab to the body, and some rushing, wild hooks. Saldivar, poisonous, squat, compact, studied Ramos in turn and as the fight progressed, he began to find him. Saldivar had learned this wonderful habit, but when he found a fighter it tended to be all at once. Suddenly Saldivar, who had been trying to open up his victim with a jab, a one-two, a sometime body-attack, could be found throwing eight punch combinations. How the fight might progress would, in the main, be decided by how the opponent dealt with such terror and Ramos did not deal with it well. Through the tenth and eleventh rounds, Saldivar achieved rare heights, even for a championship ring, finding seamless squads of punches thrown in neat, compact bunches, all the while, dipping and sliding the increasingly desperate winging blows coming his way in return. These two rounds – and the sick punishment that preceded it – may have been the absolute peak of Saldivar’s career, but we have plenty to choose from. When Ramos failed to answer the bell for the twelfth, a new and violent era was begun.

Saldivar was an insidious force of nature, someone who built his fight-plan from the bottom and delivered the knockout when he was ready and not before. As for the possibility of his being out-pointed, he was a brilliant technician with superb speed and a patience matched only by that of Salvador Sanchez. Age caught up to him in the form of the inexhaustible Kuniaki Shibata but by that point two stints as world champion and a record of 9-0 in featherweight title fights against excellent competition had already guaranteed his immortality.

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Tony Canzoneri (seeded 14), the whirling dervish, the vanishing vapor, as perplexing and confounding a fighter as ever took to the ring, ranks great or near great in every division he ever boxed in. He was a monster who stands here alongside any of the other monsters from this installment that you care to mention.

Canzoneri gathered together the title pieces left shattered by the departure from the division of Louis Kaplan and is generally recognized as lineal from 1928 when he defeated both Johnny Dundee and Benny Bass. These were Canzoneri’s best wins at the weight but unfortunately also the year he was ejected from consideration for the top ten, defeated, as he was, by old foe Andre Routis. The two staged a towering contest punctuated by savage exchanges in which Canzoneri was surprisingly edged out. Overall, he dominated the series with Routis, but this was their key fight and in dropping a split decision Canzoneri suffered an undermining of his featherweight legacy.

Nevertheless, he built a splendid resume at the poundage, twice defeating Ignacio Fernandez, former bantamweight champion Bud Taylor, Al Singer and Joey Sangor, all ranked men when he tortured them with his wonderful blend of unorthodox boxing and savage fighting.

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Who will win under the following rules?

15 round fight.
1950s referee.
8oz boxing gloves.
10 points must.

Cast your vote and explain yourself in a post below! You have 3 days.

 

Lots of talk, no votes!

You'll have to wait and see roughdiamond, but I will say that being in the featherweight tournie wouldn't exclude someone from the lightweight one.

 

This is how I see it, pretty much. I don't think Saldivar would have to look for Canzoneri either, I think they'd be headed for that place where grinding matters.

Canzoneri was a physical specimen but I do think that at that time of his career Saldivar had the goods and would have been able to place him under control for long enough by round to win many of the late ones.