Is Danny "Little Red" Lopez rematching Sal Sanchez the most pointless rematch in boxing history??

A couple of fights he rebounded from was the Famoso Gomez fight - where he was totally outclassed and written off only to wipe out Gomez in 3 in the rematch - and his title-winning fight with David Kotey. Kotey put up stern resistance to last 15 in their first foray only for Lopez to grind him down in 6 in the rematch. And as you say, Sanchez was no ATG at the time (to be truthful, I had never heard of Sanchez before the fight). So, I too think the rematch was acceptable and didn't bat an eye when it was signed. Lopez could always come back from the brink, but as it turned out, it was a bridge too far.

 

Absolutely. Context is everything. No one knew who Sanchez was then, and boxing is rife with stories of guys coming out of nowhere to perform a seeming miracle, only to disappear and never come close to achieving anything on that level again. And, as you say, Lopez had been written off before, only to go on to win the title and defend it a bunch of times.

The rematch made perfect sense then. We just need to escape trying to frame both fighters in the context we have today.

 

My thought also. Salvador Snchez and Julio Cesar Chavez career's
were parallel in that no one knew just how good they were until
they were beating up known world class opponents.
Chavez was 44-0 and had just beat up Mario Martinez before the world
realized he was special.

 

Additionally, no one was really aware of how good Azabache was when he fought Chavez either. Only later did we realize his abilities.

 

Little Red Lopez was a great champion. He deserved a chance to regain his crown.

 

A more recent one was Jorge Linares vs. Anthony Crolla. Thoroughly outfought over 12...and then thoroughly outfought over 12.

 

Mario Martinez doesn't get the recognition deserved .
He arguably beat Azumah Nelson in their 1st meeting.
Though Nelson proved he was the better fighter the
2nd time around.

 

Not to mention the WBA also favored Latin fighters

 

Hilmer Kenty destroying Ernesto Espana in their rematch was pointless.

After that convincing loss Espana got two more cracks at the WBA 135 lb title losing to Art Frias and Ray Mancini.

Espana was from Venezuela a country that had considerable influence with the WBA

 

There's generally a rematch when an unknown underdog pulls off an upset, especially if a title is involved (and when they meant something).

We see it fairly often as well, I could probably name numerous fights similar or worse for a rematch than this one.

Ex Champ gets the chance to show it was an odd night, the new champ gets to prove it was no fluke. Especially with two action fighters like in this one.

 

I think that fighters with Lopez's power always believe they are 1 punch away from redemption

 

loads of others Liston -Patterson II for one! Quarry vs Ali & Frazier . FOREMAN-FRAZIER, Ali-Patterson, Ali-Cooper, ALI-Chuvalo, Ali-Bugner.

 

Yes, it was a pointless rematch. Lopez was extremely easy to hit. That would have been the same result no matter how many times they fought.
Sanchez was a great fighter no doubt, but I think he is another one who's stock has went up because of an early death.
Great as he was, and I was a fan, I do not rank him over Chavez like many do. I see posts on facebook and other social media and they act like Chavez was a bum in comparison. Like Sanchez would have KO'ed Chavez,Willie Pep, Floyd Mayweather etc, and all the rest with ease.... Let's not get carried away.

Another pointless rematch was Hagler-Fully Obel. I never even knew who he was when I first saw that name on his record.
What was the point of that and why was he matched with Hagler the first time much less twice?

 

Obel was a WBA favorite, being Venezuelan, so that explains that.

Again, context; you say that "The result would have been the same no matter how many times they fought." True, but nobody knew that then. We see that now with 30, 40 years of history behind us. You have to look at it through a 1980 lens. Nobody had the luxury of a crystal ball to see what was coming. Was Sanchez anything more than a flash in the pan? Did Lopez simply have a bad night? No one knew that at the time.

 

Hagler was PO'd when he was forced to sign for that rematch. After KO'ing Obel in 5 in the rematch Hagler said angrily, "I never want to see his ugly face again!"