Watched the whole fight on youtube what a great fighter Sal was to think he fought an Azumah he didnt even have film on or could study. Sal probably felt this was just another mandatory and he got a young strong Azumah who came to fight and yet Sal with his footwork and skill was able to break him down. I was most impressed with his footwork beautiful....... for me the greatest feather after Pep and only because he died early for he was well on his way and had all the tools to be #1
What's scary about Sal's performance was that he did not feel good at all during the contest. His corner just told him to take it easy. Until his tragic accident, that was the story of the match, that he produced a subpar showing, yet still took his eventual successor out in round 15. A unification bout with Pedroza, or even a nontitle tilt (a la Zarate/Zamora), would have made both millions. How unfortunate, that such a pairing never came off. But in repelling Gomez, Sal won the biggest superfight that he could have prevailed in, as impressively as he possibly could have done.
Excellent points. I think besides the WBC/WBA politics the biggest problem was that Pedroza just hadn't quite caught the eye of the general public as Sanchez had. The Sanchez wins over Lopez and Gomez were exciting fights with high drama vs Wilfredo, but by contrast Pedroza was pretty tame and lacked that high profile fight around similar times as Sal. He was also pushed close by Laporte and Lockridge. People like you and i savoured such a vrilliant tactical matchup, but i'm not sure the entire public did. Without the accident there's a good chance they could have built it up a bit tho i guess.
Yo, Salvador Sanchez Is Right Along Side With My Other Mighty Small Warrior Roberto Duran. Man Alive Sanchez was unreal. Mikey!
Howard Cosell broadcast Pedroza's defense against Pat Ford on American television, and Eusebio produced a far more impressive showing in taking him out than Sanchez had previously done in winning a decision. That would have been the perfect moment to arrange Sanchez/Pedroza, but it wasn't to be. After Pedroza got rid of Ford, and Sal beat Gomez, Sanchez had three more title defenses. In addition to his knockout of Ford, Pedroza had his first defense against Lockridge and his match with LaPorte also televised live in the US, so I believe Eusebio had acquired the necessary exposure for selling a featherweight superfight. Had Sal lived, I'm not convinced that Sanchez/Pedroza would have ever come off. (At the time, Arguello/Sanchez was being discussed as a more likely possibility.) I truly believe that the best possible time for Sanchez/Pedroza to come off would have probably been after Pedroza/LaPorte, with all the controversy that generated over Eusebio's foul tactics and the scoring. As you pointed out, Pedroza was pushed close by Lockridge and LaPorte, but Sal had needed to go into round 15 several times, and looked beatable at certain moments during his reign. Pedroza had a 15 round pedigree, and a level of experience many of Sal's challengers lacked. My supposition is that Sal would have achieved the same level of peak intensity he produced for Lopez and Gomez against Pedroza. When prepared for that level of competition, Sanchez shifted into overdrive where he generally cruised, and waited for his opponents to inevitably wear down. Sanchez/Pedroza would have easily sold out the Astrodome.
Hindsight is good, but remember Sanchez was heavily criticized for that performance against Nelson. He also made it clear in an interview shortly before his passing that Pedroza was not in his plans. Styles make fights and I think Pedroza would of won a close decision over Sanchez... It was a shame we never found out.
Good post. Sanchez was a terrific fighter but gets romanticized and overrated due to his tragic death at a young age.
Great post mate, and you've totally comvinced me on the best time for this fight to have happened. There was indeed an anti Pedroza uproar after the Laporte bout, excellent point. It could have sold the fight, you are right. One thing, do you think Sanchez was less compelling vs fighters of the Ford ilk because of the styles thing, or the mental factor? He was certainly up for the challenge vs the super dangerous Lopez and Gomez, but both were aggressive fighters that came right into Sal's comfort zone as opposed to Ford and a couple of others who stood back. I'm thinking passive styles brought out the least in him but am not entirely cemented on the theory yet.
I would have liked to have seen Sanchez put a whuppin' on Pedroza .....it might have come down to where the fight happened.....Mexico City or Panama City.
I watched that fight too not long ago and I was completely amazed at Nelson's early showing of fighting spirit and ferocity. I think the way that him came at Sanchez with both hands up and waiting to counter every punch Sanchez threw with 3 or 4 punches in bunches really befuddled the champ. I also believe that he's got Sanchez in trouble early on for a few times, but I will have to re-watch the fight. Of course, the champ eventually figured him out and started to get him with the perfect left hook coming in that rocked Nelson many times, a trend that eventually took him out of the fight in the 15th. But man, a rematch would have been epic...
Memories like these are very pleasant to refresh. I had Sanchez pegged as being hard wired for counterpunching when he first dethroned Lopez, an impression reinforced in my mind by his demolition of Gomez. JT, I think it was a combination of the mental factor and styles contrasts which resulted in his most impressive performances. For all the talent Gomez possessed, he attempted a battle plan against Sanchez which played directly into Sal's hands. Whenever Sanchez boxed an opponent who didn't have the reputation or approach of a Lopez or Gomez, he was still able to prevail on the strength of his legendary cardiovascular conditioning. Little Red, for all his punching power, also had fantastic late round endurance, as he proved in winning his title on the road with his decision in Ghana over Kotey, and in his classic round 15 stoppage of Mike Ayala. Once Sal took that championship away, there was always that sense of inevitabilty that he would eventually catch up to a front running challenger, and overtake him in the late rounds for a come from behind blowout points win (as he did to Castillo, LaPorte, Ford, ect...). Pedroza had a combination of speed, skill and height reach and endurance where Sal's most noted challengers were lacking in one or more of those areas. In a 25 rounder or 45 rounder, I'd definitely pick Sal to prevail. Over 15 rounds however, Sal may not be able to count on catching up to a front running Pedroza. He couldn't have relied upon his counterpunching prowess as he did with Little Red and Bazooka. Eusebio's perfection of Gavilan's bolo punch (of which he needed only one to drop Ford for the count) would pose a unique defensive challenge for Sal to cope with, especially with Pedroza's penchant for punishing the body with it. This is a fascinating matchup to contemplate on so many levels, precisely because it seems to defy efforts to make an educated guess about what might happen. Knowledgeable oddsmakers probably would have been tearing their hair out trying to ascertain the outcome had it ever come to pass.
Hard to debate any of that. What a matchup. Some might find it boring but it's technical excellence and subtle tactics would have been fascinating. It really is a pick em' matchup. Pedroza is grossly underrated due to a few factors. Never beat a superstar, Sanchez did. Wasn't the most exciting, and was a very unpopular fighter due to terribly dirty tactics and tendencies. I've always leant very very narrowly to Sanchez. Pedroza too had his close struggles.
Yes he did, to Howard Cosell immediately after his scintillating knockout of Ford. I am not aware of Sanchez ever considering a bout against Pedroza however. Sal had what he considered bigger fish to fry, mainly a prospective challenge of Arguello. Sanchez and his braintrust had a solid business sense. Danny Lopez was the most widely exposed lower weight professional boxer the United States had before the 1976 Olympic Boxing team came of age in the punch for pay ranks, and Sal inherited that high profile mantle, complete with all the economic advantages and prestige the colorful and exciting Little Red endowed that championship with. Sanchez got to defend his title against a number of familiar English speaking challengers, further enhancing his stature, and topped it off by demolishing the boxer who was generally considered to have supplanted Duran as the P4P best in the world. For Sal, Arguello would have been a step up in profile from Gomez, so that would have made more economic sense for him to have a matchup arranged with. If Sal had indeed challenged Alexis, and then got thwarted in his bid to defeat Arguello, then he might have opted for the unification bout with Pedroza which Eusebio clamored for to Cosell after the Ford win.
