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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 from Querétaro to San Luis Potosí. He is also the uncle of Salvador Sánchez II. 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. In 2003, ''The Ring'' rated Sánchez number 88 on the list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. Sánchez was voted as the #3 featherweight of the 20th century by the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
.


Early life

Sánchez was born to father Felipe Sánchez and to mother María Luisa Narváez.


Professional 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 Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. Bra ...
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 David Kotey (originating from the Kotei family; born 7 December 1950), popularly called "D.K. Poison", is a former world featherweight boxing champion between 1975 and 1976. He is the first Ghanaian professional boxer to win a world title. Am ...
(twice), Juan Malvares and
Mike Ayala Mike Ayala (born January 19, 1958) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1975 to 1991. He is the former NABF super bantamweight and NABF featherweight champion. Amateur career Ayala won the 1973 National Golden Gloves flywe ...
. 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 Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
, 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 Beginner's luck refers to the supposed phenomenon of novices experiencing disproportionate frequency of success or succeeding against an expert in a given activity. One would expect experts to outperform novices - when the opposite happens it is co ...
' (as it was Sánchez's first world title fight ever), Lopez looked for a rematch and this he got, in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...
. 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 Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
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 Azumah Nelson (born 19 July 1958) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2008. He was a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC featherweight title from 1984 to 1987 and the WBC super-featherweight title tw ...
at
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. Nelson, a late substitute for
mandatory challenger In professional boxing and some other combat sports, a mandatory challenger is an opponent whom a champion must either fight or be forced to vacate their title as champion. A mandatory defence is the opposite of a voluntary defence, where the champ ...
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 Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...
had to stop the fight seconds later.
Azumah Nelson Azumah Nelson (born 19 July 1958) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2008. He was a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC featherweight title from 1984 to 1987 and the WBC super-featherweight title tw ...
went on to have a glittering career and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004. 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

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 The Porsche 928 is a luxury grand tourer produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978 until 1995. Originally intended to replace the company's iconic 911, the 928 combined the power, poise, and handling of a sports car with the refinement, comfo ...
sports car along the federal highway from
Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities. Its cap ...
to San Luis Potosí, dying instantly. 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

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
Ruben Blades Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...
, who played a challenger to Sánchez's title.


Professional boxing record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" , - !No !Result !Record !Opponent !Type !Round, time !Date !Location !Notes , -align=center , 46 , Win , 44–1–1 , align=left,
Azumah Nelson Azumah Nelson (born 19 July 1958) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2008. He was a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC featherweight title from 1984 to 1987 and the WBC super-featherweight title tw ...
, TKO , 15 (15), , Jul 21, 1982 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 45 , Win , 43–1–1 , align=left, Jorge Garcia , UD , 15 , May 8, 1982 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 44 , Win , 42–1–1 , align=left, Pat Cowdell , SD , 15 , Dec 12, 1981 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 43 , Win , 41–1–1 , align=left, Wilfredo Gómez , TKO , 8 (15), , Aug 21, 1981 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 42 , Win , 40–1–1 , align=left, Nicky Perez , UD , 10 , Jul 11, 1981 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 41 , Win , 39–1–1 , align=left, Roberto Castanon , TKO , 10 (15), , Mar 22, 1981 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 40 , Win , 38–1–1 , align=left, Juan Laporte , UD , 15 , Dec 13, 1980 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 39 , Win , 37–1–1 , align=left, Patrick Ford , MD , 15 , Sep 13, 1980 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 38 , Win , 36–1–1 , align=left, Danny Lopez , TKO , 14 (15), , Jun 21, 1980 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 37 , Win , 35–1–1 , align=left, Ruben Castillo , UD , 15 , Apr 12, 1980 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 36 , Win , 34–1–1 , align=left, Danny Lopez , TKO , 13 (15), , Feb 2, 1980 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 35 , Win , 33–1–1 , align=left, Rafael Gandarilla , TKO , 5 (10) , Dec 15, 1979 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 34 , Win , 32–1–1 , align=left, Richard Rozelle , KO , 3 (10), , Sep 15, 1979 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 33 , Win , 31–1–1 , align=left, Félix Trinidad Sr. , TKO , 5 (10) , Aug 7, 1979 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 32 , Win , 30–1–1 , align=left, Rosalio Muro , KO , 3 (10) , Jul 22, 1979 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 31 , Win , 29–1–1 , align=left, Fel Clemente , UD , 12 , Jun 17, 1979 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 30 , Win , 28–1–1 , align=left, Salvador Torres , TKO , 7 (10) , May 19, 1979 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 29 , Win , 27–1–1 , align=left, James Martinez , UD , 10 , Mar 13, 1979 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 28 , Win , 26–1–1 , align=left, Carlos Mimila , KO , 3 (10) , Feb 3, 1979 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 27 , Win , 25–1–1 , align=left, José Santana , TKO , 2 (10) , Dec 16, 1978 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 26 , Win , 24–1–1 , align=left, Edwin Alarcon , TKO , 9 (10) , Nov 21, 1978 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 25 , Win , 23–1–1 , align=left, Francisco Ponce , KO , 2 (10) , Sep 26, 1978 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 24 , Win , 22–1–1 , align=left, Hector Cortez , TKO , 7 (10) , Aug 13, 1978 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 23 , Win , 21–1–1 , align=left, José Sánchez , UD , 10 , Jul 1, 1978 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 22 , Draw , 20–1–1 , align=left, Juan Escobar , MD , 10 , Mar 15, 1978 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 21 , Win , 20–1 , align=left, Eliseo Cosme , PTS , 10 , Dec 5, 1977 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 20 , Win , 19–1 , align=left, José Luis Soto , PTS , 10 , Nov 11, 1977 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 19 , Loss , 18–1 , align=left, Antonio Becerra , SD , 12 , Sep 9, 1977 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 18 , Win , 18–0 , align=left, Rosalio Badillo , TKO , 5 (10) , May 21, 1977 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 17 , Win , 17–0 , align=left, Daniel Felizardo , KO , 5 (10) , Mar 12, 1977 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 16 , Win , 16–0 , align=left, Raúl López , TKO , 10 (10) , Feb 5, 1977 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 15 , Win , 15–0 , align=left, Antonio Leon , TKO , 10 (10) , Dec 25, 1976 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 14 , Win , 14–0 , align=left, Saul Montana , TKO , 9 (10) , Oct 31, 1976 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 13 , Win , 13–0 , align=left, Joel Valdez , TKO , 9 (10) , Aug 11, 1976 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 12 , Win , 12–0 , align=left, Pedro Sandoval , TKO , 9 (10) , Jul 5, 1976 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 11 , Win , 11–0 , align=left, Fidel Trejo , KO , 6 (10) , May 26, 1976 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 10 , Win , 10–0 , align=left, Jose Chavez , TKO , 7 (10) , Apr 24, 1976 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 9 , Win , 9–0 , align=left, Serafin Isidro Pacheco , TKO , 4 (8) , Mar 31, 1976 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 8 , Win , 8–0 , align=left, Javier Solis , TKO , 7 (8) , Feb 25, 1976 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 7 , Win , 7–0 , align=left, Juan Granados , TKO , 3 (8) , Jan 24, 1976 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 6 , Win , 6–0 , align=left, Fidel Trejo , UD , 8 , Dec 11, 1975 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 5 , Win , 5–0 , align=left, Candido Sandoval , TKO , 7 (8) , Nov 25, 1975 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 4 , Win , 4–0 , align=left, Cesar Lopez , KO , 4 (6) , Oct 19, 1975 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 3 , Win , 3–0 , align=left, Victor Martinez , KO , 2 (6) , Aug 10, 1975 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 2 , Win , 2–0 , align=left, Miguel Ortiz , KO , 3 (4) , May 25, 1975 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , 1 , Win , 1–0 , align=left, Al Gardeno , KO , 3 (4) , May 4, 1975 , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center


Trivia

In the movie 21,
Ben Campbell Benjamin or Ben Campbell may refer to: * Ben Nighthorse Campbell, former U.S. Senator from Colorado * Ben Campbell (musician) (New Zealand), bassist for rock bands Atlas and Zed * Benjamin Campbell, founder of Campbell, California * Ben Campbell, ...
, played by Jim Sturgess, introduces himself to a girl as Salvador Sánchez. Folk Rock band
Sun Kil Moon Sun Kil Moon is an American folk rock act from San Francisco, California, founded in 2002. Initially a continuation of the defunct indie rock band Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon is now the primary recording moniker of vocalist and guitarist ...
recorded an eponymous song about Sanchez on their 2003 album ''
Ghosts of the Great Highway ''Ghosts of the Great Highway'' is the debut studio album by San Francisco quartet Sun Kil Moon, led by Red House Painters' founder Mark Kozelek, who composed all of the lyrics and music on this album. The other members are Anthony Koutsos (form ...
''.


See also

* Notable boxing families *
List of Mexican boxing world champions In Mexico, boxing is considered a major sport, having produced over 200 world champions in professional boxing. Mexico ranks first worldwide between countries with most boxing world champions and is the second country to have world champions accred ...
*
List of WBC world champions This is a list of WBC world champions, showing every world champion certificated by the World Boxing Council (WBC). The WBC is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing, and certifies world champions in 18 different weight c ...
* Salvador Sanchez vs. Juan Laporte * Salvador Sánchez vs. Wilfredo Gómez


References


External links


Salvador Sánchez page
at the International Boxing Hall of Fame
Salvador Sánchez on the Ring Magazine Cover – November 1981 IssueThe Legend of Salvador Sanchez – Fight FanaticsSeconds Out Article
* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Salvador 1959 births 1982 deaths Mexican male boxers Featherweight boxers International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Boxers from the State of Mexico World Boxing Council champions Road incident deaths in Mexico People from Santiago Tianguistenco