Pat Cowdell vs Salvador Sanchez

.............I'm deeply ashamed to say.........I've never seen it. :|

 

Pat Cowdell was a top fighter. He was a crafty boxer and one of the best conditioned fighters ever. He didn't have one shot KO power but he had enough to keep opponents honest, but rarely got himself into a situation where he had to trade.

He boxed very well against Sanchez. Sanchez was a great thinker in the ring who solved his problems during the fight. He didn't have one plan A but developed it as he went. For many this seems liek fighting to the level of the opposition. Maybe so but I don't think Sanchez ever under-estimated anyone.

Cowdell basically managed to keep Sanchez guessing and banked a lot of rounds. You can see Sanchez slowly working him out though and applying more and more pressure. Anyway, it looked like Pat might just pull it off. But the KD in the last round (I think) won the day.

The FW division was packed with talent in the laste 70s to 80s... Cowdell could have easily won a title in other eras...

Charlie Magri used to room with Cowdell in their amateur days. Both men were fitness fanatics. Magri said that Pat was so obsessed he would be literally boxing in his sleeep as he lay in bed. A lot of British boxers used to overtrain and burn out early.

Don't judge Pat by the Nelson result. Nelson was a great fighter himself and caught Pat... It was a terribel shame because Cowdell was better than that. Sort of like Nunn-Kalambay they could have fought 100 times and never repeated that result.

Cowdell would probably have lost again but he would have stretched Nelson nonetheless.

 

Great post. This is the only major Sanchez fight I haven't seen and I'll be seeing it shortly thanks to Raging Bull!

 

That's a fantastic comparison Ezz, great stuff.

 

Cowdell was a game honest fighter who allways gave 100%,he had a crab- like hunched style ,didnt possess too much power but was very mobile and pretty quick He gave Sanchez an interesting nights work ,but the Mexican won it ok ,imo.The Nelson fight doesnt reflect Cowdell's ability he was a good boxer and brave.

 

I've never seen the Sanchez fight but the Nelson KO could possibly be attributed to weight making problems, Cowdell had been fighting at jr Lightweight for quite a while when the shot against Nelson came up at Feather.

 

Cowdell was very lucky to get the split decision as he was outworked in most rounds and dropped late.

He took the fight at short notice, seemingly fighting to survive in the early going as far as his punch output goes.

That said, he outjabbed Sanchez and landed a very high percentage of what he did throw.

i don't think he was the most talented of fighters; he had a narrow spectrum of things whaich he could do very well, yet nonetheless one of the better technicians at Featherweight from his era to present day.

 

Great, great post.

Thank you.

 

I've watched the fight a few times, and each time I scored the fight exactly 8 rounds to 7 for Sanchez, with the last round knockdown giving him a two-point edge on points.

Cowdell fought something of a one-trick fight, but it was effective most of the way. He continually moved forward, kept feinting, and kept pumping his jab into Sanchez's face. Sanchez was clearly bothered by Cowdell's constant pressure and jabs.

Sanchez was basically picking his rounds to fight in. He would usually fight every other round, one round opening up all over Cowdell (and usually winning the round when he did that), and then the next backing away and giving the round away, as if "recharging" himself for an attack in the next round. IMO, the rounds were usually easy to score one way or the other.

Cowdell showed himself to be a very good technician, and tough with a lot of guts, but he was no puncher.

I had the fight dead even, seven rounds apiece going into the last round, and Sanchez won it big when he dropped Cowdell. That clinched the fight for him IMO.

Two judges had Sanchez ahead by fairly wide margins, while the third (from Cowdell's home turf of England) had Cowdell ahead. I had it scored somewhere in between, with only a slight but fair advantage for Sanchez.

 

Cowdell was a good fighter,its seems he could be caught cold though.The same thing happend in the fight with Najib Daho as the Nelson fight,and it cost Pat the British title.He was far better than those 2 1st round loses suggest.

 

Having now watched Nelson/Cowdell, seeing Cowdell cry into his trainer's shoulder while sitting on the mat after coming to is one of the most depressing things I've ever seen in the ring.

That was his big chance, as the commentators kept saying.

 

In fairness i think Cowdell was starting to slide when he took the Nelson fight and if i remember rightly he took an aggresive approach to the fight,taking the fight to Nelson,big mistake.Was it a huge counter left hook that took him out? I remember Barry McGuighan was sitting ringside just below where the unconcious Pat landed,and i think any chance of a Nelson v McGuighan fight possibly ended then!

 

Good post! the Sanchez fight was quite close ,but I had the Mexican a slight but clear winner.Magri actually said Cowdell wore boxing gloves to bed ,but I think that was to make sure he did't lose his strength with other activities!