Chavez or Saddler ? - Who was greater ?

Hmmm tough 1, Saddler has the better win (and multiple times) and he beat many champions. Chavez has the longer reign, very good wins but fought much more dross. Technically both near the same level

I'll go with Saddler I think

 

Sadler, in my opinion. Fought better at an advanced age as well.

 

i didnt vote as i havent seen enough of saddler.i do think that sometimes fighters like chavez and whittaker are underrated when compared with those of a previous era.i think the nostalgia effect makes people think better of fighters from a previous era

 

Saddler KO'd Pep (134-1-1) in 4 rounds, beat him another twice, cleaned out his own weight division over a number of years, TKO'd Flash Elorde to reclaim the featherweight title shortly before his retirement at only 30 years old.

Between a points loss in 1948 and another in 1950, Saddler went 27-1, losing only to Pep, with 19 KOs. In 2 years! He was stopped ONCE in 162 fights. As well as Pep and Elorde, his resume includes wins over Joe Brown, Jimmy Carter, Salas, Famechon and Paddy deMarco.

Saddler could easily be considered the number 2 featherweight of all-time behind Pep, he is a fine choice for second spot ahead of Saldivar, Attell, McGovern, Driscoll and Sanchez.

Saddler was only ever outpointed over the 15 round championship distance once - by Pep in Pep's best performance.


All in all, I think his place in boxing history should be a shade higher than Chavez.

 

Saddler had an iron jaw, was only stopped in one of his earliest fights similar to Greb & Armstrong.

 

Three wins over Willie Pep and a points loss over 15 to him in the Fight Of The Year - that's a pretty strong indication of a special fighter. Nostalgia or not, footage of Pep confirms he was a Grand Master.

The only time Chavez ever fought anyone on that level of skill/greatness was Whitaker, and we know what happened there.

 

I think they're pretty much interchangable. If I were to rate one higher, it would be only by a single spot or two.

 

Hard to tell. Chavez was more consistent and perhaps had a greater volume of achievements, but Saddler's wins over Pep were bigger and more impressive than any single wins that Chavez had. Saddler lost a number of key fights when he stepped up in weight (ie: Flanagan, DeMarco, Arajou), but Chavez has some mars against his reputation as well - the controversy around his biggest career win vs. Taylor, his reluctance to pursue rematches to fighters that had beaten or troubled him, and basically "quitting" against his chief rival Randall and in other fights (whereas Saddler never quit).

Personally, I always felt Chavez got to be a bit overrated in his day because of all the incessant hype Showtime gave him. I never did agree he was "the best P4P fighter in the world" like Showtime kept saying (Whitaker was always better IMO, if nothing else).

It's a hard call, but I think if I have to choose, I rate Saddler as better.

 

I used to have Saddler quite a bit higher but have moved them closer to each other of late, with Saddler still higher up.

When you look at Saddler's record at the featherweight limit it's quite simply outstanding. He basically has one loss to Pep over 15 rounds and one to Chico Rosa (in Chico's backyard) over 10 rounds and that's it for his whole prime.

He lost quite a few bouts at jr lightweight and lightweight, but they were mostly ten rounders where Saddler didn't have a chance to come on as he would like over 15 rounds and in which Saddler was usually not in peak condition anyway, given that they were in between featherweight bouts where he did his real business.

Furthermore, it's one thing to be facing the likes of DeMarco and Araujo in between your serious fights and it's another thing to be facing Kenny Vice and Tommy Small, as Chavez was in between his important fights.

Chavez was more consistent on the whole though, so he does have to receive credit for that.

 

i voted Chavez but meant to say Saddler its pretty close though

 

Chavez had the ability to be more consistent really, he was able to take better care of himself in a less demanding age.

I think Chavez is great, no doubt, but fighters, especially black ones from Saddler's era didn't have too terribly many perks.