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Salvador Sánchez

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Salvador "Sal" Sánchez Narváez (January 26, 1959 – August 12, 1982) was a Mexican professional boxer born in the town of Santiago Tianguistenco, Estado de México. Sanchez was the WBC and The Ring featherweight champion from 1980 to 1982. Many of his contemporaries as well as boxing writers believe that had it not been for his premature death, Sánchez could have gone on to become the greatest featherweight boxer of all time. Sánchez died on August 12, 1982, in a car accident while driving from Querétaro to San Luis Potosí.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He is also the uncle of Salvador Sánchez II.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 1991, Sánchez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The Ring magazine named both him, and Sugar Ray Leonard, as Fighter of the Year in 1981. In 2002, he was named the 24th greatest fighter of the past 80 years by The Ring magazine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2003, The Ring rated Sánchez number 88 on the list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sánchez was voted as the #3 featherweight of the 20th century by the Associated Press.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

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Sanchez was born to father Felipe Sanchez<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and to mother María Luisa Narvaez.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Professional career

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Sánchez started his professional career at the age of 16, as a teenager (after a brief amateur career consisting of reportedly four amateur bouts) he started piling up wins against tough Mexican opposition. His first fight of note came in his 19th professional fight against the Mexican bantamweight champion Antonio Becerra. Becerra proved too experienced for the young Sánchez, the bout ended in a split decision defeat for Sánchez.

Sánchez kept on fighting and moved to the Featherweight division. Soon he had beaten people like the Puerto Rican featherweight champion Felix Trinidad Sr., on his way to securing a title shot at world champion Danny "Little Red" Lopez, a popular TV fighter of the late 1970s who was an impressive fighter and had won some spectacular fights against the likes of former world champion David Kotei (twice), Juan Malvares and Mike Ayala. Confident and hard to beat, Lopez was beaten by the 21-year-old Sánchez, who knocked out the defending champion in 13 rounds in Phoenix, Arizona, United States on February 2, 1980. Sánchez defended his title for the first time with a 15-round unanimous decision against Ruben Castillo (47–1). Thinking it was just a case of 'beginner's luck' (as it was Sánchez's first world title fight ever), Lopez looked for a rematch and this he got, in Las Vegas. This time Sánchez defeated Lopez by 14th-round TKO. In his next fight, he defeated Patrick Ford (15–0) .

On December 13, 1980, Sánchez defeated future champion Juan Laporte by unanimous decision. Sánchez then defended his title against Roberto Castanon (43–1–0) and scored a win over Nicky Perez (50–3–0). Then undefeated World Jr Featherweight champion Wilfredo Gómez (32–0–1) went up in weight and challenged Sánchez. Sánchez retained the crown by a knockout in round eight on August 21, 1981, in Las Vegas, and Gómez had to return to the Jr. Featherweight division.

With that victory, Salvador was an unknown to the casual boxing fan no more. He became a household name all over the United States that night.

In his next fight, he defeated Olympic medalist Pat Cowdell by split decision. His defense vs unheralded Jorge "Rocky" Garcia was the second fight featuring two featherweights ever to be televised by HBO, the first having been his contest with Cowdell. He beat Garcia punch after punch, but the challenger gave honor to his nickname, an unknown fighter who lasts the distance with the world champion.

On July 21, 1982, Sánchez faced future champion Azumah Nelson at Madison Square Garden. Nelson, a late substitute for mandatory challenger Mario Miranda, was unknown at the time however, and was expected to only go a few rounds with the champ. It was an intense battle, with Sánchez managing to drop his young charge in the 7th round. After that they engaged in violent exchange after violent exchange. In the 15th, Sánchez broke out finally, connecting with a serious combination that dropped the challenger almost outside the ring. Referee Tony Perez had to stop the fight seconds later. Azumah Nelson went on to have a glittering career and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sánchez proved a dominant featherweight champion. He held title defense victories over the next three fighters (LaPorte, Gomez, and Nelson) who won the WBC title after his death. He went 4–0, all by knockout, against fellow members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame (Danny Lopez twice-KO 13, KO 14-Wilfredo Gomez-KO 8-and Azumah Nelson-KO 15) and defeated four future or former world champions (Lopez, Gomez, LaPorte and Nelson).

Death

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Three weeks after his victory over Nelson, as he was training for a rematch with Laporte set for September, Sanchez crashed on the early morning of August 12, 1982, while driving his Porsche 928 sports car along the federal highway between Querétaro and San Luis Potosí, dying instantly.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the time of his death, there were talks about a bout with Colombian Mario Miranda, a rematch with Gómez or a challenge of world lightweight champion Alexis Argüello. The latter was already off the table. There had been negotiations between the Sánchez and Argüello camps but they broke off when Argüello chose to campaign as a junior welterweight. Salvador Sánchez finished his career 44–1–1. Sánchez was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.

Acting

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Sánchez appeared as himself, albeit as a Junior Lightweight world champion, in the 1983 film The Last Fight, released after his death. The movie was dedicated to him. In it, Sánchez shared scenes with Rubén Blades, who played a challenger to Sánchez's title.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

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Sánchez had a wife, María Teresa, and two sons, Cristián Salvador and Omar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also had a nephew, Salvador Sánchez II, who was a professional boxer.

Professional boxing record

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Trivia

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In the movie 21, Ben Campbell, played by Jim Sturgess, introduces himself to a girl as Salvador Sánchez.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Folk Rock band Sun Kil Moon recorded an eponymous song about Sanchez on their 2003 album Ghosts of the Great Highway.

See also

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References

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No Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
46 Template:Yes2Win 44–1–1 Azumah Nelson TKO 15 (15), Template:Small Jul 21, 1982 Template:Small Template:Small
45 Template:Yes2Win 43–1–1 Jorge Garcia UD 15 May 8, 1982 Template:Small Template:Small
44 Template:Yes2Win 42–1–1 Pat Cowdell SD 15 Dec 12, 1981 Template:Small Template:Small
43 Template:Yes2Win 41–1–1 Wilfredo Gómez TKO 8 (15), Template:Small Aug 21, 1981 Template:Small Template:Small
42 Template:Yes2Win 40–1–1 Nicky Perez UD 10 Jul 11, 1981 Template:Small
41 Template:Yes2Win 39–1–1 Roberto Castañón TKO 10 (15), Template:Small Mar 22, 1981 Template:Small Template:Small
40 Template:Yes2Win 38–1–1 Juan Laporte UD 15 Dec 13, 1980 Template:Small Template:Small
39 Template:Yes2Win 37–1–1 Patrick Ford MD 15 Sep 13, 1980 Template:Small Template:Small
38 Template:Yes2Win 36–1–1 Danny Lopez TKO 14 (15), Template:Small Jun 21, 1980 Template:Small Template:Small
37 Template:Yes2Win 35–1–1 Ruben Castillo UD 15 Apr 12, 1980 Template:Small Template:Small
36 Template:Yes2Win 34–1–1 Danny Lopez TKO 13 (15), Template:Small Feb 2, 1980 Template:Small Template:Small
35 Template:Yes2Win 33–1–1 Rafael Gandarilla TKO 5 (10) Dec 15, 1979 Template:Small
34 Template:Yes2Win 32–1–1 Richard Rozelle KO 3 (10), Template:Small Sep 15, 1979 Template:Small
33 Template:Yes2Win 31–1–1 Félix Trinidad Sr. TKO 5 (10) Aug 7, 1979 Template:Small
32 Template:Yes2Win 30–1–1 Rosalio Muro KO 3 (10) Jul 22, 1979 Template:Small
31 Template:Yes2Win 29–1–1 Fel Clemente UD 12 Jun 17, 1979 Template:Small
30 Template:Yes2Win 28–1–1 Salvador Torres TKO 7 (10) May 19, 1979 Template:Small
29 Template:Yes2Win 27–1–1 James Martinez UD 10 Mar 13, 1979 Template:Small
28 Template:Yes2Win 26–1–1 Carlos Mimila KO 3 (10) Feb 3, 1979 Template:Small
27 Template:Yes2Win 25–1–1 José Santana TKO 2 (10) Dec 16, 1978 Template:Small
26 Template:Yes2Win 24–1–1 Edwin Alarcon TKO 9 (10) Nov 21, 1978 Template:Small
25 Template:Yes2Win 23–1–1 Francisco Ponce KO 2 (10) Sep 26, 1978 Template:Small
24 Template:Yes2Win 22–1–1 Hector Cortez TKO 7 (10) Aug 13, 1978 Template:Small
23 Template:Yes2Win 21–1–1 José Sánchez UD 10 Jul 1, 1978 Template:Small
22 Template:DrawDraw 20–1–1 Juan Escobar MD 10 Mar 15, 1978 Template:Small
21 Template:Yes2Win 20–1 Eliseo Cosme PTS 10 Dec 5, 1977 Template:Small
20 Template:Yes2Win 19–1 José Luis Soto PTS 10 Nov 11, 1977 Template:Small
19 Template:No2Loss 18–1 Antonio Becerra SD 12 Sep 9, 1977 Template:Small Template:Small
18 Template:Yes2Win 18–0 Rosalio Badillo TKO 5 (10) May 21, 1977 Template:Small
17 Template:Yes2Win 17–0 Daniel Felizardo KO 5 (10) Mar 12, 1977 Template:Small
16 Template:Yes2Win 16–0 Raúl López TKO 10 (10) Feb 5, 1977 Template:Small
15 Template:Yes2Win 15–0 Antonio Leon TKO 10 (10) Dec 25, 1976 Template:Small
14 Template:Yes2Win 14–0 Saul Montana TKO 9 (10) Oct 31, 1976 Template:Small
13 Template:Yes2Win 13–0 Joel Valdez TKO 9 (10) Aug 11, 1976 Template:Small
12 Template:Yes2Win 12–0 Pedro Sandoval TKO 9 (10) Jul 5, 1976 Template:Small
11 Template:Yes2Win 11–0 Fidel Trejo KO 6 (10) May 26, 1976 Template:Small
10 Template:Yes2Win 10–0 Jose Chavez TKO 7 (10) Apr 24, 1976 Template:Small
9 Template:Yes2Win 9–0 Serafin Isidro Pacheco TKO 4 (8) Mar 31, 1976 Template:Small
8 Template:Yes2Win 8–0 Javier Solis TKO 7 (8) Feb 25, 1976 Template:Small
7 Template:Yes2Win 7–0 Juan Granados TKO 3 (8) Jan 24, 1976 Template:Small
6 Template:Yes2Win 6–0 Fidel Trejo UD 8 Dec 11, 1975 Template:Small
5 Template:Yes2Win 5–0 Candido Sandoval TKO 7 (8) Nov 25, 1975 Template:Small
4 Template:Yes2Win 4–0 Cesar Lopez KO 4 (6) Oct 19, 1975 Template:Small
3 Template:Yes2Win 3–0 Victor Martinez KO 2 (6) Aug 10, 1975 Template:Small
2 Template:Yes2Win 2–0 Miguel Ortiz KO 3 (4) May 25, 1975 Template:Small
1 Template:Yes2Win 1–0 Al Gardeno KO 3 (4) May 4, 1975 Template:Small