The Boxing History Blog

Salvador Sanchez  Next up to challenge Salvador Sanchez was Spain ’s twenty-eight-year-old reigning European featherweight champion Roberto Castanon. The challenger boasted a 42-1 (24 KOs) record, and his only loss was a second-round knockout in his challenge to Danny Lopez for the WBC title in March 1979.   Sanchez-Castanon took place on 22nd March 1981 at Caesar Palace’s Sports Pavilion in Las Vegas, with the twenty-two-year-old hardly losing a round on his way to a tenth-round technical knockout.   The champion did not fight again until 11th July in a ten-round non-title contest against America’s Nicky Perez at the Olympic Auditorium in front of a Los Angeles crowd. Sanchez was declared a unanimous winner with scores of 100-91, 100-90 and 98-92, improving his record to 40-1-1 (30 KOs), before a sterner challenge from Wilfredo Gomez scheduled for 21st August in Las Vegas.   Gomez, born in Puerto Rico on 29th October 1959, had a 96-3 amateur caree...

 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 ...

Jeff Fenech Jeff Fenech was born on 28th May 1964 in St Peters, New South Wales, Australia, and was the sixth child of Maltese immigrants. He was a delinquent tearaway but channelled his aggression into boxing. A zest for learning and hard work were his keys to success, plus trainer Johnny Lewis, polished his boxing style and channelled all that determination. Fenech represented his country in the 1984 LA Olympics. After getting robbed in the quarter-finals he turned professional on 12th October 1984. He stopped Bobby Williams in the second round in his hometown of Marrickville, New South Wales, and the rise of the 'Marrickville Mauler' was launched. In his third bout, he knocked out Junior Thompson to win the vacant super-flyweight Australian title, at the end of November 1984. Two contests later he took on Wayne Mulholland for the New South Wales State and the vacant South Pacific & South Seas bantamweight championships. Mulholland's corner threw in the t...

Azumah Nelson Azumah Nelson was born in Accra, Ghana on 19th July 1958. He had an amateur record of 50-2 and picked up the featherweight gold medal at the Edmonton Commonwealth Games in Canada. He turned professional on 01st December 1979, beating fellow countryman and debutant Billy Kwame, winning a ten-round points decision.  As a professional he had a meteoric rise, winning the Ghanaian featherweight title in only his third contest, beating Henry Saddler with a ninth-round knockout. In his sixth fight, he was African champion, winning by a tenth-round TKO over Joe Skipper. He beat Australian Brian Roberts for the vacant Commonwealth featherweight crown with a fifth-round TKO in bout number ten. On 21st July 1982 at the Mecca of boxing, Madison Square Graden, New York, Nelson, in his fourteenth contest, came in as a late substitute and challenged Mexican great Salvador Sanchez for the WBC featherweight crown. Sanchez, hailing from Tianguistenco, Mexico ...