Salvador Sánchez

This article is about the Mexican boxer. For the current president of El Salvador, see Salvador Sánchez Cerén.

Salvador Sánchez

Statistics
Real name	Salvador Sánchez Narváez
Nickname(s)	Sal Sánchez The Invincible Eagle The Champ Chava
Rated at	Featherweight
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Reach	170 cm (67 in)
Nationality	Mexican
Born	January 26, 1959 Santiago Tianguistenco, EdoMex, Mexico
Died	August 12, 1982(1982-08-12) (aged 23)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	46
Wins	44
Wins by KO	32
Losses	1
Draws	1
No contests	0

Salvador Sánchez Narváez (January 26, 1959 – August 12, 1982) was a Mexican boxer born in the town of Santiago Tianguistenco, Estado de México. Sanchez was the WBC and lineal 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, Sanchez could have gone on to become the greatest Featherweight boxer of all time.^[1] He is also the uncle of Salvador Sánchez II.^[2]

Career

Sánchez started his professional career at the age of 16, as a teenager (after a brief amateur career consisting of reportedly 4 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. Sanchez 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 first fight featuring two featherweights ever to be televised by HBO. 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.^[3]

Sanchez's dominance as featherweight champion was such that he held title defense victories over the next three fighters (LaPorte, Gomez, and Nelson) who won the WBC title after his death. Also notably, he went 4-0, all four wins by knockouts, 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)

Death

As he was training for a rematch with Laporte set for September, he crashed on the early morning of August 12, 1982, while driving his Porsche 928 sports car along the federal highway from Santiago de Querétaro to San Luis Potosí, dying instantly.^[4] At the time of his death, there were talks about a bout with 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 Sanchez 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

Sanchez 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, Sanchez shared scenes with Ruben Blades, who played a challenger to Sanchez's title.^[5]

Professional record

44 Wins (32 knockouts, 12 decisions), 1 Lost, 1 Draw^[6]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Win	44–1–1	Azumah Nelson	TKO	15 (15), 1:49	July 21, 1982	Madison Square Garden, New York City	Retained WBC & Lineal Featherweight titles.
Win	43–1–1	Jorge Garcia	UD	15	May 8, 1982	Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas	Retained WBC & Lineal Featherweight titles.
Win	42–1–1	Pat Cowdell	SD	15	December 12, 1981	Astrodome, Houston, Texas	Retained WBC & Lineal Featherweight titles.
Win	41–1–1	Wilfredo Gómez	TKO	8 (15), 2:09	August 21, 1981	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBC & Lineal Featherweight titles.
Win	40–1–1	Nicky Perez	PTS	10	July 11, 1981	Los Angeles
Win	39–1–1	Roberto Castanon	TKO	10 (15), 1:09	March 22, 1981	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas	Retained WBC & Lineal Featherweight titles.
Win	38–1–1	Juan Laporte	UD	15	December 13, 1980	County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas	Retained WBC & Lineal Featherweight titles.
Win	37–1–1	Patrick Ford	MD	15	September 13, 1980	Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas	Retained WBC & Lineal Featherweight titles.
Win	36–1–1	Danny Lopez	TKO	14 (15), 1:42	June 21, 1980	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas	Retained WBC & Lineal Featherweight titles.
Win	35–1–1	Ruben Castillo	UD	15	April 12, 1980	Civic Auditorium, Tucson, Arizona	Retained WBC & Lineal Featherweight titles.
Win	34–1–1	Danny Lopez	TKO	13(15), 0:51	February 2, 1980	Veteran's Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona	Won WBC & Lineal Featherweight titles.
Win	33–1–1	Rafael Gandarilla	TKO	5 (10)	December 15, 1979	Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Win	32–1–1	Richard Rozelle	KO	3 (10), 1:55	September 15, 1979	Sports Arena, Los Angeles
Win	31–1–1	Félix Trinidad Sr.	TKO	5 (10)	August 7, 1979	Summit, Houston, Texas
Win	30–1–1	Rosalio Muro	KO	3 (10)	July 22, 1979	San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Win	29–1–1	Fel Clemente	UD	12	June 17, 1979	Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, Texas, United States
Win	28–1–1	Salvador Torres	TKO	7 (10)	May 19, 1979	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	27–1–1	James Martinez	UD	10	March 13, 1979	San Antonio, Texas, United States
Win	26–1–1	Carlos Mimila	KO	3 (10)	February 3, 1979	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	25–1–1	José Santana	TKO	2 (10)	December 16, 1978	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	24–1–1	Edwin Alarcon	TKO	9 (10)	November 21, 1978	San Antonio, Texas, United States
Win	23–1–1	Francisco Ponce	KO	2 (10)	September 26, 1978	Houston, Texas, United States
Win	22–1–1	Hector Cortez	TKO	7 (10)	August 13, 1978	Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Win	21–1–1	José Sánchez	UD	10	July 1, 1978	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Draw	20–1–1	Juan Escobar	MD	10	March 15, 1978	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, United States
Win	20–1	Eliseo Cosme	UD	10	December 5, 1977	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	19–1	José Luis Soto	UD	10	November 11, 1977	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Loss	18–1	Antonio Becerra	SD	12	September 9, 1977	Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico	vacant Mexico Bantamweight title on the line.
Win	18–0	Rosalio Badillo	TKO	5 (10)	May 21, 1977	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	17–0	Daniel Felizardo	KO	5 (10)	March 12, 1977	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	16–0	Raúl López	TKO	10 (10)	February 5, 1977	Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
Win	15–0	Antonio Leon	TKO	10 (10)	December 25, 1976	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	14–0	Saul Montana	TKO	9 (10)	October 31, 1976	Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Win	13–0	Joel Valdez	TKO	9 (10)	August 11, 1976	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	12–0	Pedro Sandoval	TKO	9 (10)	July 5, 1976	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	11–0	Fidel Trejo	KO	6 (10)	May 26, 1976	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	10–0	Jose Chavez	TKO	7 (10)	April 24, 1976	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	9–0	Serafin Isidro Pacheco	TKO	4 (8)	March 31, 1976	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	8–0	Javier Solis	TKO	7 (8)	February 25, 1976	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	7–0	Juan Granados	TKO	3 (8)	January 24, 1976	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	6–0	Fidel Trejo	UD	8	December 11, 1975	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	5–0	Candido Sandoval	TKO	7 (8)	November 25, 1975	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	4–0	Cesar Lopez	KO	4 (6)	October 19, 1975	Misantla, Veracruz, Mexico
Win	3–0	Victor Martinez	KO	2 (6)	August 10, 1975	Misantla, Veracruz, Mexico
Win	2–0	Miguel Ortiz	KO	3 (6)	May 25, 1975	Misantla, Veracruz, Mexico
Win	1–0	Al Gardeno	KO	3 (4)	May 4, 1975	Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico	Salvador's professional debut.

Trivia

In the movie 21, Ben Campbell, played by Jim Sturgess, introduces himself to a girl as Salvador Sánchez.^[7]

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

Sporting positions
Preceded by Danny Lopez	WBC Featherweight Champion Feb 2 1980 – Aug 12 1982 Died in car crash	Vacant Title next held by Juan Laporte
Preceded by Danny Lopez	Lineal Featherweight Champion Feb 2 1980 – Aug 12 1982 Died in car crash	Vacant Title next held by Eusebio Pedroza

References

↑ Luevanos, Fernando (2006-10-04). "Mexicano Salvador Sánchez". Box Rec. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
↑ Seckbach, Elie (2009-10-04). "Sánchez like Sánchez". Fan House. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
↑ http://www.ibhof.com/nelson.htm
↑ Lightweight champ Sanchez dies in crash
↑ http://www.salvadorsanchez.com/English/legacy.html
↑ http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=002201&cat=boxer
↑

External links

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