I hate this thread!!!!! I would lean towards a Saldivar decision....make it a split decision....never mind a draw....ahhhh Nelson takes this.... Ok Saldivar wins a close decision for real.
Saldivar on points hard but clear I think, though Nelson's strength, power and jack-of-all-trades skill set would be no joke. He'd have to jump on Saldivar early, not allow him to build up a head of steam and hurt him. A risky tactic in itself when you see how the physically awesome and highly skilled Ramos tried it and ended up being the one hurt instead without ever fully recovering. Nelson was a bit more resilient and responsible defensively than Ramos possibly, but they were a similar calibre of fighter imo. Saldivar wasn't bullet broof though and Nelson could really hit and break a man down when he focused, I just think that if he struggled with Fenech, Villasana, Laporte and Martinez to varying degrees, you'd have to give Saldivar the benefit of the doubt when he isn't at a severe stylistic disadvantage.
I believe it comes down to the last round to separate em ,it could be that close. I'll go with Vincent's,even though Nelson s a favourite of mine.
It’s a shame that we have so many (horrible) threads on this forum and anytime I have done one on Saldivar it gets less than 10 responses. These are 2 great Feathers in a good contrast of styles. If we look at Sanchez vs Nelson I believe Saldivar would achieve similar results (vs the inexperienced Nelson) I think it would be close, but Saldivar also likely drops him a couple of times, with Nelson surprising him at times. Not many really knew or expected much from Nelson in this fight and he gave a very good account of himself. The true difference,although Sanchez was clearly better at this stage was experience and endurance. Nelson was a novice in the championship rounds and his legs were unable to see him finish this. I expect Saldivar would do the same, in about the same time frame. I always wondered what a Sanchez Nelson II would look like and favor Nelson, but we will never know. Most likely in my mind Sanchez would have moved up to fight JCC, so even had his life not ended tragically to soon I probably still would never get this rematch that I wonder about all to often. I believe Nelson would even the score against Sanchez in about 84 in an alternate reality. Nelson vs Saldivar is one of my top 5 dream time machine fights. And I do think it would be in thier primes a 2-3 fight series to determine a true winner. I think Saldivar would edge it or come away with a 2-1 series lead.
Good responses. I'd take Saldivar by competitive, yet clear decision. I just feel he was better than Nelson.
Sanchez-Chavez would have been highly unlikely. They had the same trainer Cristobol Rosas. Both were loved by the WBC too so I think they’d have wanted both holding titles at the same time so different divisions always.
