Whew, man. I’m a huge fan of both. This is 50/50 in my mind, but I would go with Saldivar by a hair. This would be fun.
Maybe Saldivar,he was healthier in hand conditions and always well prepared,also lasted longer plus better skilled(imo)
This would have been a violent Featherweight match up, that’s a guarantee. I’ll have to favor the better, craftier technician Saldivar to outfight and perhaps stop Fenech in a wild brawl.
I’ve never seen a guy throw more punches round after round than Fenech. If his hands don’t shatter he makes this a coinflip fight.
That's the thing,but looking at how Azumah Nelson was able to outsmart Fenech in the second,there are chances that Saldivar could've done the same,but again, Saldivar never fought someone with the same firepower as Fenech,kind of a coin flip but I do prefer Saldivar to win.
Fenech broke both his hands against Marcos Villasana. You can see him in tears as his gloves are being cut off. Saldivar makes him cry before the end of 15 I imagine. Fenech was great but Saldivar was greater. My two cents anyway.
Big Fenech fan but only had 5 fights at feather with only Villasana and possibly Navarro being the only World class 126 pounds fighters. Victor Callejas,undefeated Super-Bantam champion, was a vicious puncher but had even less fights at feather than the Australian great. Great performance by Jeff in a brutal fight to win the Vacant Crown. Saldivar beat some really good featherweights, Winstone(x3),Sugar Ramos, Raul Rojas, Jose Legra, Johnny Famechon and future 2 time Lightweight champ Ismael Laguna. Fenech would certainly give Vicente some problems early on but the Mexican would take over and pound the iron chinned Fenech for a clear decision in a cracking contest.
IMO, Fenech lost some of his speed & punching sharpness when he moved up to 126, whether b/c of the extra weight &/or hand problems. I still think there's a question of how well Saldivar would respond to Fenech's intense attack & inside spoiler tactics, but I'd probably still give him at least a slight edge here.
