Editing Salvador Sánchez (section)

==Professional career==
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 Rico|Puerto Rican]] featherweight champion [[Felix Trinidad Sr.]], on his way to securing a title shot at world champion [[Danny Lopez (boxer)|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 (boxer)|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 Valley|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]] [[Salvador Sanchez vs. 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. [[Salvador Sánchez vs. Wilfredo Gómez|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 [[Home Box Office|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 (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>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibhof.com/nelson.htm |title=IBHOF / Azumah Nelson |access-date=2008-10-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081022140731/http://www.ibhof.com/nelson.htm |archive-date=2008-10-22 }}</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).