Salvador Sanchez Part One: The Great Unknown
Salvador Sanchez
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
opponent could not find a fight-ending blow. Judge Kenny Davis scored the
contest 97-93 in favour of Escobar whilst judges Dick Young and Lou Fillipo scored
it 94-94 and 95-95 respectively, making the contest a draw.
With two more wins under his belt, Sanchez travelled to
America for the second time in September 1978 to record a second-round knockout
over Francisco Ponce. Sanchez, a sharp, articulate man outside the ring, was
equally sharp and intelligent inside it and used his natural abilities to break
into the featherweight world top-ten rankings with some impressive wins in
1979.
His eight wins in those twelve months got him a shot at WBC featherweight champion Danny Lopez on
Lopez was the younger brother of Ernie ‘Indian Red’ Lopez,
who challenged Jose Napoles twice for the undisputed welterweight title in 1970
and ‘73. Danny Lopez had the ring name of ‘Little Red’ to highlight the fact he
was part Ute Indian, and the bout against Sanchez was billed as Little Red vs Little Known, with many
observers unfairly asking, “Salvador who?” despite the challenger having a
record of 33-1-1 (27 KOs). The experts also believed that Sanchez’s jaw would
be an easy target for Lopez to find and expected the American to stop the
Mexican by the fourth round.
Lopez’s trainer, Angelo Dundee, correctly identified the
challenger’s punching power and his concerns were brought to light in the
opening round when Sanchez staggered the champion. Lopez was then cut over the
right eye in the third, but the challenger didn’t have it all his own way as
the champion also bloodied him around the nose in the same round.
The accurate counterpunching of the Mexican began to tell
early in the fourth, as Lopez developed swelling under his left eye. Both men
swapped punches with the challenger coming off best as his punches were landing
flush, bloodying the champion’s nose halfway through the round and slicing it a
bit later. The champion’s eye was also nearly completely shut by the round’s
end.
Lopez sustained another cut in the fifth, this time across
the left eye and with 15 seconds of round six remaining, referee Waldemar
Schmidt called for the ringside physician to inspect the champion’s multiple
lacerations. The challenger sustained a cut over the left eye in round seven,
but the Puerto Rican referee once again called the doctor to check on the
champion’s injuries.
Sanchez had no problem standing and trading with Lopez and
continued to show great heart and stamina in the later rounds, forcing the
champion to hang in there every time he went for the finish.
By the thirteenth Lopez, bleeding from his injuries and
completely bruised down the left side of his face and his left eye completely
closed, was staggered by a hard right-hand left hook left combination. The
challenger went after him and caught him with one-twos, before pounding him on
the ropes with vicious uppercuts and left hooks. The referee moved in to save
Lopez after 51 seconds of the round, as the new champion jumped for joy.
Two months later, Sanchez was back in the ring to face the
challenge of America’s Ruben Castillo, whose only defeat in his forty-five
fight career came in January 1980, when he gallantly challenged Alexis Arguello
for the WBC super-featherweight title, losing by an eleventh round technical
knockout. After a sixth-round knockout victory against Edwin Alacron a month
before his April date with Sanchez; Castillo took the WBC champion the full
fifteen rounds, dropping a unanimous decision 146-142, 147-144 and 145-141.
Sanchez, still only twenty-one years old, remained an active
champion, giving the former champion Danny Lopez a rematch on 21st June 1980.
The twenty-seven-year-old challenger had not fought since his defeat to the
Mexican and applied constant pressure, attempting to hit Sanchez anywhere he
could. However, the champion was too smart and countered his opponent every
time he made him miss. Lopez finally succumbed in the fourteenth round when a
left-right made him stagger and Sanchez followed up with a series of snappy
punches, giving referee Mills Lane no alternative but to stop the fight at the one-minute and 42-second mark of the round.
On 13th September, Sanchez was back in action against the
16-0 (10 KOs) Guyanese Pat Ford, who used his height of five-feet-and-inches
(1.78m) and reach of six-and-a-half-inches (16.51 cm) to score heavily and
confuse Sanchez in the early rounds. However, the Mexican used his great
ability to adapt to his opponent and was able to get inside the challenger’s
long reach and land on the body. After fifteen rounds, one judge saw it as 145
apiece, whilst the other two judges favoured Sanchez by scores of 145-141 and
148-139.
Sanchez took part in his fifth world title fight of 1980 when
he put his belt on the line against mandatory contender Juan La Porte of Puerto
Rico on 13th December at the County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas. Despite his
success, Sanchez only achieved celebrity status in his native Mexico and among
the boxing hardcore. However, La Porte was even lesser known, with Puerto
Ricans not knowing who he was, although he did have a following in New York
after having ten fights in the city in his 15-1 (8 KOs) resume.
Don King, the champion’s promoter, figured staging the fight
in a border state like Texas would sell more tickets, with a pro-Sanchez crowd
at the County Coliseum, with ABC televising the event.
By the later rounds, it was the champion who was taking
control, shaking La Porte repeatedly with blows to the head. The Puerto Rican
remained undeterred and continued to trade until the final bell, much to the
delight of the crowd, who gave both warriors a standing ovation.
The champion unanimously retained his title with scores of
148-142, 146-139 and 147-140. Sanchez was so impressed with La Porte’s
performance that he went over to the challenger’s dressing room and told the
Puerto Rican that he would be the next great featherweight champion, and the
two warriors forged a great friendship.
All the best fight fans
Lea
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