Vicente Samuel Saldívar García (May 3, 1943 – July 18, 1985) was a Mexican

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed between 1961 and 1973. He was a two-time

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

champion, having held the WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' titles from 1964 until his retirement in 1967. He came back and once again held the WBC and ''The Ring'' titles in 1970. Saldivar has frequently been ranked amongst the greatest in the history of that division by many noted boxing historians and critics. He currently holds the record for the most wins in unified featherweight title bouts and the longest unified featherweight championship reign in boxing history at 8 title bouts and 7 title defenses respectively. Saldívar fought in front of the fourth largest crowd ever, 90,000 in

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () (officially known as Estadio Banorte for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium located in Coyoacán, Mexico City. It is the official home of football team Club América, as well as the Mexico national team. The stadium ...

, and has also regularly been cited as one of the finest left-handed fighters of all time.

Childhood

Saldívar was born in one of the many poor quarters of

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

and is one of seven children. He used to get in fights on the streets and in school, so his father decided to channel the misguided energy into boxing. Like many other Mexicans his father was a big boxing fan, so it was a logical move. He was taught by Jose Moreno, a veteran trainer of a nearby Mexico City boxing gym.

Fighting style

As a southpaw, Saldívar was a dynamic fighter in the ring. He could box or brawl, and often softened opponents with a brutal body attack. Among his greatest assets was his stamina; he scored seven knockouts after the 7th round. Saldívar had an unusually slow heart and pulse rate, which he claimed was the secret of the phenomenal pace he was able to maintain in the ring.

Amateur career

Saldívar had a successful amateur career, crowned with a Mexican Golden Gloves title at bantamweight. At seventeen years old, he was included into the 1960 Olympic team, but was eliminated in the first bout of the Rome tournament by Ernst Chervet of Switzerland.

Professional career

Saldívar turned professional in 1961 and won the Mexican

title with a second-round knockout of Juan Ramírez on February 8, 1964. His first major victory came on June 1 of that same year when he defeated future

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

champion and hall of fame member Ismael Laguna. Before challenging for a world title, he accumulated a record of 25–1, with his sole loss avenged by knockout.

WBC and WBA Featherweight Championships

On September 26, 1964, Saldívar won the WBA and WBC Featherweight titles by upsetting fellow Mexican fighter and future hall of famer

Sugar Ramos Ultiminio Ramos Zaqueira (2 December 1941 – 3 September 2017) was a Cuban-born Mexican professional boxer who was better known as Sugar Ramos. Ramos fought out of Mexico where he was adopted as a national hero. He was a Undisputed Featherweig ...

with an 11th-round knockout in an extremely bloody battle. His first reign as champion would last three years, in which Saldívar made eight successful title defenses. The reign was highlighted by his trilogy with

Howard Winstone Howard Winstone, MBE (15 April 1939 – 30 September 2000) was a Welsh world champion boxer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. As an amateur, Winstone won the Amateur Boxing Association bantamweight title in 1958, and a Commonwealth Games Gold Me ...

. In his first title defense, he defeated future champion Raul Rojas. On September 7, 1965, he defeated Winstone in their first meeting with a 15-round decision . Following that victory, he defeated Floyd Robertson by second round knock out. He then defeated Mitsunori Seki in two consecutive bouts. On June 15, 1967, Saldívar defeated Winston once again by a 15-round decision. In 1996, Ring magazine included their second meeting on their list of the 100 greatest title fights of all-time. In the final installment of their trilogy, he defeated Winston by 12th round knock out. Saldivar announced his retirement after that contest in October 1967. Three months later, Winstone won recognition as WBC featherweight champion, claiming the belt left vacant by Saldivar, by defeating Mitsunori Seki with a 9th-round stoppage due to a cut right eye.

Return to the ring

After 21 months of inactivity, Saldívar returned to the ring on July 18, 1969, and won a 10-round unanimous decision over another former as well as future Featherweight champion,

José Legra José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

. Then on May 9, 1970, he regained the featherweight title with a 15-round unanimous decision over

Johnny Famechon Jean-Pierre Famechon (28 March 1945 – 4 August 2022) was an Australian featherweight boxer. Famechon was the 2003 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Moderns category and was the third to be elevated to Legend status i ...

. This reign, however, was short-lived. Saldívar lost the crown seven months later in his first defense against

Kuniaki Shibata Kuniaki Shibata (柴田国明, born March 29, 1947, in Hitachi, Japan) is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1977. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC and ''The Ring'' featherweight ti ...

Retirement and comeback

He would fight once more before retiring again in 1971, however, the lure of the ring was too strong. He returned at the age of 30 after 2 years and 3 months of inactivity for another title attempt on October 21, 1973. His opponent was fellow Hall of Famer and former

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

champion

Éder Jofre Eder Jofre (; 26 March 1936 – 2 October 2022)

. Jofre, who was 37, had won the Featherweight crown after coming out of his own retirement (albeit a brief 7 month one). Saldívar's skills had greatly diminished and Jofre won the contest with a fourth-round knockout in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. After the fight, Saldívar retired for good.

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

* WBA featherweight champion (126 lbs) * WBC featherweight champion (126 lbs) (2×)

''The Ring'' magazine titles

* ''The Ring'' featherweight champion (126 lbs) (2×)

Regional/International titles

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

featherweight champion (126 lbs)

Undisputed titles

* Undisputed featherweight champion

Death

He died of cancer on July 18, 1985, aged only 42. In 1999 he was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

.Vicente Saldivar

References

External links

*
Vicente Saldivar profile
at Cyber Boxing Zone

at International Boxing Hall of Fame * , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Saldivar, Vicente 1943 births 1985 deaths Mexican male boxers Boxers from Mexico City Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Mexico International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions The Ring (magazine) champions Southpaw boxers World featherweight boxing champions Deaths from cancer in Mexico 20th-century Mexican sportsmen