Salvador Sanchez Part One: The Great Unknown
Salvador Sanchez Salvador Sanchez was born in Santiago Tianguistenco, México, to father Felipe Sanchez and mother María Luisa Narváez on 26th January 1959. At sixteen, after a brief spell as an amateur, he turned professional with a third-round knockout against countryman Al Gardeno on 4th May 1975. Sanchez faced Mexican opposition and remained unbeaten during his first eighteen contests, before dropping a twelve-round split decision against Antonio Becerra for the vacant Mexican bantamweight title in September 1977. He ended the year with two ten-round points wins to improve his record to 20-1 (17 KOs). In April 1978, Sanchez made his American debut against eighteen-year-old Juan Escobar, a southpaw from Tijuana, who had an 8-2 (6 KOs) record. Sanchez, 19, found himself on the floor in round five and nearly revisited the canvas in the final minute of the contest when he was stopped in his tracks by a wild left to the head. Sanchez desperately hung on as his...