The stoppage in Chavez-Taylor 1

Of course its elite status, he was placed alongside Chavez, Mayweather & McCallum... 3 of the best ever.

 

Ive felt bad for few fighters, its a rough business, but theres still some semblance of glory related to unseeding a great fighter like Chavez. I guess I kind of felt bad that Taylor got robbed of that, not that much would have changed in the balance of his career, Chavez took it all out of him..

 

Let's say there was a quick bell & Taylor did hang on for the victory. Would the sympathetic heart then have switched over to Chavez? The physical beating that Taylor endured. Did he look like the winner after the fight? With Taylor's fast hands he did deserve to be in the lead, but Chavez it could be argued, broke the man down & deserved to win the fight. Just another prospective...

 

You don't need to tell me about Sanchez mate, I am a big fan. The three fights you mentioned are without doubt concrete proof of greatness. I particularly like the fight with Nelson, it's a triumph of composure and skill over will and physicality, epic fight. I think Sanchez was an artist in the ring.

But when discussing greatness, there isn't the black and white of "great" and "not great". Of course Sanchez is great, for all of the reasons both you and I have just listed. But there are levels of greatness, which some people refer to as 'tiers'.

- Is Sal Sanchez one of the absolute top elite from boxing history, like Ray Robinson and Henry Armstrong? I would say no.

- Is Sal one of the top elite group from the last half century? I would say not quite. I wouldn't call it crazy or unjustifiable to place him there, but my personal opinion is that he is just a little bit behind the likes of Leonard, Whitaker, Duran, Ali, Hagler and Monzon.

- Is Sal one of the truly proven great fighters of the last 30 years? Yes. Absolutely. I would happily place SS alongside other first-ballot men like Chavez, McCallum, Mayweather, and a few more (whom I can name if you want).

Do you see my point now or still think I'm verging on blasphemy?

 

I just took 10 minutes and about 500 words to say this.

 

Did Frank Bruno look like the winner after his win over Oliver Mcall? The confusion of the whole melee was a factor. He was knocked down but he got up, he was coherent enough to look at his corner and at the ref. The sympathy wouldnt have switched to Chavez, it would have been just a bit too little too late as was the case for Mcall.

 

If I have been chief second in Taylor's corner I would have stopped the fight after the 11th round. It was a moment like the Ali-Frazier III moment. Taylor was in awful shape. He took way more punishment in the 12th than he should have. I believe his corner was irresponsible in that fight. Steele had no choice but to stop the fight when he did. One more shot could have damaged Taylor's brain even more than that fight already had, maybe even killed the man. He looked like a mugging victim.

Chavez wasn't a one-shot knockout artist because of the way he hit. But he hit hard. Chavez's aim was to bust up opponents with shots to the ribs and the center of the face. That odd right cross, almost hook-like was devasating. Chavez distorted the faces of some real fine defensive fights. Look at Camacho's face. It was the worst battering Camacho ever took.

 

Yes, the elite fighters you mentioned did have long prosperous careers. Sanchez' was tragically cut short. But again if you talking AT Featherweight Champions, he is in the top three at least. ( Not bad for a Non-Elite)!

 

Yeah, I'd agree with that, more or less. Had Sal not been taken so young, he would probably have had a Hagler/Monzon style career. He was a magnificent feather, there can be no doubt about that.

With reference to your little side-swipe, if I call the top five fighters in history the elite of the sport (Robinson, Langford, Greb, Armstrong, Charles), do you feel Sanchez should be included in that group?

 

But the cicumstances were a little different.McCall A big puncher who was not really trying for most of the fight, then started landing some big blows to almost win it. Chavez was outgunned by the speedier Taylor. But never gave up & kept plugging away to Physically destroy Taylor by the end of the fight. Was something to watch. If it ended either way, it would have been heartbreaking for the loser.