Vicente Saldivar vs Salvador Sanchez

............He was alright, I guess.

 

I'd go for Sanchez here. Though I have a growing admiration for Saldivar and think he would fare better than Sal against pure boxers (he was better than Sanchez at closing the distance and cutting off the ring imo and had faster footwork), I think the styles here favour Sanchez.

Saldivar relied on a good mixture of boxing skill, a solid chin, stamina and a feverish work rate. The problem here though is so did Sanchez, and Sanchez was just a little better in nearly all those categories.

Sanchez's stamina was legendary and his chin was rock solid. His counterpunching was fantastic as well, and he was rather ambidextrous the way he could set up assaults with both hands. I see Sanchez being a little more patient and calculating and drawing Saldivar in where he will land precise shots. Saldivar will be brave and will outwork Sanchez in some rounds, but it will be one of those fights where although extremely close, the winner is never in doubt.

Sanchez 8-6-1 in rounds.

 

SS pretty much sums up my own thoughts on how this fight would have unfolded. However, I do wonder if Saldivar`s body of work downstairs over the course of the fight may pay its dividends later on for him. Saldivar would have worked Sal`s body moreso than any other of his opponents, and if he managed to slow Sal down enough by the last third of the fight he could win the majority of the remaining rounds through sheer workrate and aggression. But the question is though wether Vicente would have enough of the early rounds in his pocket to make it count, and that I do not know. Good fight either way between two of Mexico`s finest, I`d have paid good money to see this live.

 

Bump

 

My ultimate fantasy featherweight fight. This is like Duran Chavez or the 2 Sugar Rays at 147 for me. Sanchez by razor thin decision.

 

I like Saldivar in an 8-7 or 9-6 type of decision. But this is in my top 10 hypotheticals most likely....well, at least this week