Roy Jones picks Salvador Sanchez as his all time P4P # 3

This is very true JT (and replies to my posts are always welcome), but Nelson did have notable durability, sufficient enough that one might not expect Sal to produce three knockdowns on Azumah with his limited power, however far into the bout they were.(Despite the damage he inflicted on Gomez and Little Red, he was hardly in their class as a hard puncher.) As you correctly pointed out, this experience improved Nelson considerably, much in the way experiencing Arguello often turned his defeated opponents into champions. (Sal likewise improved Juan LaPorte, who became his immediate successor.)

Nelson had a pair of tenth round stoppages, also a pair of ten round decisions (one over the popular David Capo, who was ridiculously superior to his drastically misleading 2-18-1 final record, as knowledgeable fans were well aware). His stamina was proved, and he was the Commonwealth Champion, accustomed to training for the Championship Distance.

 

I'm not trying to bust your balls but the distance they were into the bout is very much worth taking into account and your efforts to paint Nelson as a seasoned long distance campainer is overstated. Obviously Nelson had not been past 10 rounds, struggled to beat some mediocre opponents inside 10 rounds and was a long way from being the seasoned professional he was to become regarding pacing and flow. His stamina most definitely was not "proved". Thousands and thousands of fighters have multiple 10 rounders behind them but that doesn't make their stamina proven. Nelson had not gone rounds with anyone remotely within the distance of being rated a "contender" and that's actually understating it.

Going 10 rounds against a few nobodies in your first 13 fights cannot possibly get you ready for 10 rounds against an ATG like Sanchez let alone 15. Crack in the bedroom wall vs grand canyon. Sanchez has ATG stamina and many would place him on the top tier of ATG's stamina wise. He was ridiculous. He also put sustained pressure on you particularly if you weren't going to make him lead. Nelson had noted durability but when you've punched yourself out and given your all you are obviously susceptible to being stopped. Foreman - Ali is a fantastic example of this. SRR was stopped on exhaustion vs Maxim etc etc. Nelson at the peak of his powers was not exhausting himself and being dropped as a consequence.

I'm not buying that Capo was much chop in the big scheme of things.

Nelson stated post career that he was not ready for Sanchez and believed it may have been different if he was. Normally such comments need to be taken with a grain of salt but in this case it has merit even if not to the point of making him a strong favorite peak for peak or even favorite. He gave Sanchez a helluva fight as a green prospect.

We strongly agree on the worth and advancement from fighting such a brilliant fighter as Sanchez, providing you have the intestinal fortitude and talent to make good of the experience of course.

 

Probably outside of my top 20 or so