Sanchez Against Chavez?

Always liked Sanchez here. Chávez had this great asset of being able to unsettle enemies with bustling, suffocating assaults but if the opponent rose above it (like Whitaker) he was in trouble. You will rarely ever see a cooler head in the ring than Sanchez’s. I like him on points.

 

Great fight tough to call!

 

I think that JCC Snr is just a step too far for Sal who was excellent… but not at that level IMO. Sanchez struggled with a green Nelson, beat Gomez who was dead legged, party wasted - just missing his magic, I think the years of making the weight were rough on him and he was shot despite the record. Then who is left Lil Red? I respect him but… JCC honed his work over many, many years but he ruled with an iron fist, suffered a similar fate to the above mentioned Bazooka Gomez… as for theoretical potential Sal looked like he was slipping, he’d either retire soon (as he said?) or go up and be mince against the immortal Alexis.

 

For me I think the great Mexican fighters are Zarate, Olivares and JCC snr, there are names I don’t know, men I haven’t watched but of the boxers I have those men are the best. Sal is awesome, I love watching him but he don’t wear the crown.

 

I actually think Sal had peaked, I think any struggles we did see would’ve gradually worsened and his losses would’ve come as he went up in weight. I think his life was cut short but the best of his boxing career was seen.

 

At 130, hard to say. We saw Sanchez a couple times in non-title fights there and he seemed to carry the weight well. Not sure though how that translates to fighting someone like Chavez.

No KO here, I think it's safe to assume. Both had great chins, both well-schooled and conditioned. Chavez hadn't yet hit his peak of course. That would come at 135, I believe. I mean, Lockridge and Dwight Pratchett were taking him the distance at 130. Of course that was at the time at 130 when he was starting to become a little weight-drained.

I dunno. This is hard. Stylistically, it figures Sanchez would enjoy having an aggressive fighter coming at him, which Chavez was sure to do. Still, it IS Chavez.

They might split two fights. That's about as sure as I can be.

 

The Chavez that barely eked out a decision over Juan Laporte would struggle with Sanchez at his best. I think the more experienced Sanchez at the point would win a razor thin decision and probably lose the return, maybe at lightweight.

If it were a pound for pound contest I think Chavez might be too active down the stretch.

Salvador was brilliant, beat great opposition but apart from the smaller Gomez, too slow and old Lil Red and young Azumah (who nearly pulled off the upset) he hadn´t really fought any top notch pressure fighters.

The Chavez of the Rosario fight is difficult to beat.

 

Bazooka had Sanchez pinned to the ropes for large portions of their fight, from memory. Chavez was so much more complete as a fighter, in my opinion, and would enjoy a weight, as well as a stylistic, advantage. A close battle within the rounds, but Julio's pressure and output would tell over the course of the match.

 

I don't know how much I would read into the fact Gomez had Sanchez on the ropes in that fight. It seemed to me that Sanchez was keenly aware that Gomez was damaged goods by then, with the hard knockdown and bad facial swelling, and because it meant Gomez would by definition have to be right in front of him to do so, was perfectly willing to allow the fight to go to the ropes so he could counterpunch with ease. And he did. He sliced up Gomez while having his back to the ropes, weakening him by the second. He wanted Gomez to exert himself as much as he could, and this tactic allowed enormous counterpunching opportunities as well in the process. Win-win.

Could be wrong, but that's what I got out of it.

 

I don't doubt that a lot of that was by design on the part of Salvador Sanchez. But I still think we can look at it as a general outline of how a fight against Chavez might go. The fact he thought to go there makes me think he will respond in similar fashion, and that's assuming the choice is not taken out of his hands in the first place.

In Chavez, he'd be facing faster pressure, superior defense, and a more potent offense due to size. I picture this being a dust-up fought on the ropes, with Chava wearing down eventually.

 

That's fair.