How would you rate this win over the future Lightweight champ, who would go on to beat another ATG in Carlos Ortiz?? When talking about Saldivar, i mostly see people mention his victories over Howard Winstone and Sugar Ramos, but very little about Laguna...How good was Laguna at the time he fought Saldivar???
A cursory look at the year-end ratings of '63 show Laguna as the #2 featherweight and in '63 had beaten Don Johnson, Antonio Herrera and Rafiu King. All 3 held ratings in Ring's top ten. Saldivar was unrated, so this appears to be the bout that made him. Scartissue 1964-06-01 : Ismael Laguna 125lbs lost to Vicente Saldivar 126lbs by PTS in round 10 of 10 Location: Plaza de Toros, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico "Mexican champion Vicente Saldivar upset the world's No. 1 featherweight contender Ismael Laguna of Panama Monday night at the downtown bullring. Saldivar, 127 1/2, forced the action through most of the rounds to offset the superior boxing of the 129 lb. Laguna. Some 12,000 fans applauded the unanimous decision of referee Ray Solis and judges Carlos Scheilinger and Francisco Mulback." -United Press International Unofficial UPI scorecard - 5-4-1 Saldivar Retrieved from "http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Ismael_Laguna_vs._Vicente_Saldivar"
Laguna was top contender and not long after this would upset Ortiz, I Laguna was dead in his prime at this point and was a speed-merchant/defensive technician, at this point. Saldivar was pretty unknown at the time and this got him the title shot with Ramos, I beleive Laguna would have got the shot had he won.
