True but take a look at Eusebio Pedroza's other challengers, never heard of them, Salvador Sanchez defended against tougher challengers, he won the title from Danny Little Red Lopez, Pedroza won his title from some unknown fighter by the name of Cecilio Lastra.
You've summed it up well mate I think.I might just add that Sanchez was light on his feet at feather, really good at small steps and shifts to control the range and dictate the angles to draw ill-fated leads that he'd punish. He did tend to hold centre ring though rather than move excessively and was quite aggressive by nature despite being a natural counter puncher. He'd be able to turn Arguello at least some of the time I think, because Arguello was a bit more stiff legged at 135 than 126/130, but if the extra weight impacts Sanchez's mobility a bit too, then it's not much of an advantage. I worry with how much Sanchez struggled with the fast, rangy punching of Ford from the outside. Ford was underrated tbf and a fine fighter before Pedroza ruined him, probably faster of hand than Arguello but not as accurate, hard hitting or with Arguellos sense of offensive timing. Arguello was a monster down the stretch in the final rounds too where Sanchez often held a crucial edge over other fighters.
That’s what I love about guys like Carlos and Sal. Lesser fighters might lose their sh*t, naturally, in a fight they’re not necessarily winning going away. Not this pair - they just kept cool, stuck to the plan as if victory was preordained and ultimately present as their due reward for remaining faithful to their style and strategy. If there was a tennis player analogous, I might choose Bjorn Borg. It wasn’t always easy but Bjorn always kept a cool head, stuck to the formula backed by his immense skills, played his powerful ground strokes and participated in endless baseline rallies as and when required - never rushed or forcing a winning stroke that had not yet presented itself - ultimately coming out on top far more often than not.
I do not care for cheap imitations of Muhammad Ali, I admire people who march to their own beat, they are called non conformist, I am that way. I do not go out of my way to harm others but I will not be a follower. King Carlos Monzon and Salvador Sanchez fought their own kind of fight, neither was flashy or boastful, but as you say, they stuck to their own game plan, they were both self confident in their abilities, calm, cool, and collected in the ring. When mouthy imitators of Ali would come on television, I would turn the sound off, too much windbag noise, flashy and mouthy do not impress me, just ability.
Pedroza beat: Lockridge x2 Ford Caba Olivares Lastra Laporte Taylor Lujan Kobayashi Sanchez beat ; Lopez x2 Nelson Gomez Castanon Laporte Castillo He put his title on the line 20 times, in 8 different countries, making19 successful defences,going out on his shield to Barry McGuigan in the UK ,when past his best. I think Pedroza's record compares very favourably with Sanchez's!
I still think that Salvador Sanchez outpoints him, Sanchez passed away on August 12 1982 at the age of 23, no wonder Pedroza has more title defenses, he lived longer. Sanchez was the more recognized titleholder. Sanchez was the more cleaner fighter, he did not need the use of backhands or low blows to gain an edge, Salvador was the more studious fighter.
Sandy Saddler was a dirty ****er,but he was a great fighter too! Sanchez was no more recognized world wide than Pedroza, it was the US where he was more known because he didn't venture far from home.
Sanchez has a green Nelson, Gomez coming up in weight ,who was lazing on a yacht 20lbs overweight a month before their fight,Laporte whom Pedroza also beat Ford ,who Pedroza also beat,and Lopez,that's it.There is no justification to rank him over Pedroza based solely on achievements imo.
No doubt he was good, super exciting and TV friendly .. his fights were often wars where he took a top of punishment to go with what he dished out .. his ko of Malvarez was classic .. on the undercard to the Ali - Spinks rematch , he gets hit hard and floored in the first in front of 80,000 people and then flattens him with one shot int the second ... but he was again flawed by terrible defense .. not a great fighter .. This content is protected