Fantasy fight: Naseem Hamed v Salvador Sanchez

Salvador Sanchez tamed as destructive punchers in Danny Lopez and (to a lesser extent at 126) Wilfredo Gomez.

Naz's awkward style is not going to see him through here; Sal's fluidity of punch, ring generalship, super accurate punches and solid dig are gonna' see him floor Naz a few times and win a wide decision after 12.

Sanchez fought to the level of his opponent. Against a prime, hungry, sometimes evasive but always dangerous Hamed, we would see the best of Sanchez.

A decent and dangerous 126lber who has a punchers chance against some, being pitted against possibly the biggest head to head beast the division has ever seen. No contest, a mismatch in fact considering Sanchez had an iron chin and a steely composure.

 

Mythical fights are very popular on ESB, their fun but ultimately flawed as one punch thrown at any one time can affect the outcome of a fight, whether it be a broken rib, broken jaw or a broken hand for the guy throwing the punch .. All fights are unique, stylistically and each fight at the top level is unpredictable ..

Salvador Sanchez was a phenomenal fighter, compact, fluid, stamina to burn and he had an all around casual brilliance about him. His fight with the great Wilfredo Gomez showed him at his destructive best wereas his fight with Azumah Nelson showed his patience and his mind always trying to out-think and out-manourvre the awkward and raw Nelson .. Nelson's effort in this fight was extraordinary, he was a 13 fight rookie with undoubted talent and heart but Salvador just kept up the pace, kept up that beautiful rhythm and finally closed it out in the 15th, an absolutely amazing performance from Sanchez stamina wise because this was a 15 round war ....

Naz is very difficult to analyse, im a huge fan of him for the entertainment he brought to boxing but i dont think he ever proved he could go in with a guy like Sanchez and win, yeah he may put a few bombs together and shake Sanchez because he had serious power but the only top line fighter somewere near his prime that he ever fought in Barerra, beat him and beat him rather easily ...... Sanchez UD for me, Naz was dynamite entertainment, Sanchez was a pure dynamite fighter .... Sanchez all the way ..

 

Sanchez imo would beat Naz. To be honest he beats most featherweights prime for prime imo he looked sensational fighter from clips i seen. Would took a special fighter to beat him.

 

It's a fight I've thought about many times.

In fact I once started a thread on it :good

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115557

People were as divided about it then as I am now.

Now, I think about it pretty much the same way. Both Lopez and Naz had very good chins. You could knock both men down (Naz's were usually more balanced-based imo; he could be knocked around a bit though, and by lesser punchers than Lopez) and it had the same effect; once up, they would came at you with renewed vigour and spark you. Lopez clearly had close to an iron chin despite his stoppage losses. The artillery he shipped in his title fights (especially the two Sanchez fights) was immense, and the man didn't stopped coming. Naz on the other hand was caught and stopped momentarily by lesser fighters. Mainly down to his style and in fact, I can envision Lopez just catching him with one of those shots that look like nothing, only for Naz to stumble backwards later and have no chance of beating the ten count. Good chins meat jack **** against Danny Lopez; he'd have starched Wayne McCullough at 126.

This is a prime for prime discussion mind; I just favour Naz's awkwardness a bit more. Both men get off the deck a couple of times, Naz is seen on groggy legs for the first time ever, but his superior speed and own strength bombards Lopez with a nice combo back to the ropes, finishing him off on his feet.

Hamed K.O 2. Though I wouldn't mind if anyone else picked a K.O for the opposite side. I'm a big fan of Danny Lopez, and his heart, precision and power cannot be denied.

 

I'd say so. Willie Pep, Eusebio Pedroza and Alexis Arguello would run him close (I'd favour Alexis at 130) but I can see Sanchez prevailing more times than not in a series of fights with them. Laser-like accuracy, stone-faced composure, undentable chin and can keep his power late.

Awesome.

 

Hamed was a brilliant fighter but he was not as great as Sanchez, no way. Salvador would significent advantages in height & reach. Despite hitting very hard, I don't see Hamed KO'ing Sanchez even if lands cleanly.

Sanchez had a very good chin. Whether its keeping it long behind the jab, fighting on the inside, I just see Sanchez being too good for Hamed.

Sanchez by TKO9!

 

anyone who says Naz doesn't know **** about boxing.

 

I agree no way. NAZ was just a big puncher with an unorthodox-ed style that caught fighters with weird punches that they didnt see. A couple of classes about NAZ IMO.

 

Well Sanchez has to be in anyones argument top Featherweight of all time. he's not outside the top 3 of anyone with a brain anyway. I think he's a different gravy compared to Naz and defuses him quite comfortably.

 

SS was leagues above, and thats no disrespect to Naz either.

 

Exactly.

 

I think I would go with Naz on this one, let me explain.

Naseem Hamed vs. Salvador Sanchez

Both at their primes (around 23 years old)

First I really believe in the bottom of my heart that the Barrera lost shouldn't affect much of Hamed's image. He was not prepared both mentally and physically for this fight. Boxers are human beings, and a bad day can happen to them too. I believe an around 23 years old of age Hamed with Ingle as his trainer would be unlikely to be beat against Barrera. Barrera is one of my favourite fighters of all-time, but Hamed was really, really good too. Emmanuel Steward said it: Hamed is one of the most talented boxers he ever saw (He trained Hearns, Lewis, Klitschko...) among others. He also said that Hamed is a free spirit in the ring, hard to guide.

Salvador Sanchez is dynamite in the ring, it's true. But a confident and hungry Hamed is a beast. Nothing could stop Hamed when he was prepared mentally. Just look at the Kelleys fight. He got down many times in the first two rounds. He later said in an interview that he never thought he was gonna lose even after being hit flush by Kelley.

Look at his fight against Steve Robinson too. I know Robinson is NOWHERE close to Sanchez's level BUT you can see what was going in Hamed's mind at that time, and you could see that he was unstoppable.

MY PREDICTION:

Hamed wins by KO around the 7th round,
Hamed would be slightly behind on scorecards at that time.
Possible chances for Sanchez to drop Hamed on the canvas.

And don't say I don't know **** about boxing.

 

Sanchez, 10 times better than Barrera.

Nuff said