I just got done watching the Salvador Sanchez-Azumah Nelson fight a while ago and it got me to thinking about Sanchez. I know he's considered one of the all-time greats at 126 based on what he did before he died, but where do people think he'd be among the all-time pound-for-pound rankings if he hadn't been killed in a car crash? I can imagine he would've won titles at 130 and 135 as well, but what do you guys think?
I dont know how he would do at 135 but I know 1 thing for sure.I would give my left nut just to see a Sanchez-Arguello fight
HA! I was JUST about to post that quoted, for you. I went all the way to your place just to dig up the old thread where I asked about him. That's my dirty fantasy of "what if's" in Boxing. Almost every Old School Fighter and Expert I ask say Sanchez wins a decision, because he would have been to mobile and elusive for the bone-cracking monster that was Arguello at 126. Tough to say, from what I recall a fight between he and Alexis was on the horizon, it was in-talks at one point. Sal definitely was one of the more complete Fighters of the day, but in times like the Azumah fight he had a habit of looking bad when he decided not to give a shit about the guy he was in with. Plus who knows if the power in his right-hand would have carried up? He wasn't a small 126, and hurt/KO'd his fair share of tough tough Fighters, but to move up and be successful you need either definitive speed, or a good punch (like Arguello). His technical wizardry was World Class, but it's not like he never got hit either. I think he'd have been a Champ at 130, definitely, 135? Depends on the climate of 135 at the time he would have moved up.
I'd like to see some Arguello fights. Anyone have any recommendations? Thanks for your thoughts on Sanchez. It did seem like he was getting hit a lot, even if it was by a boxer who went on to be a Hall of Famer.
By the way, sorry if I started a post that you guys had already gone over time and time again. I just happened to see that Nelson-Sanchez fight and it set my mind to working.
Holy shit you haven't seen Arguello fight much? YouTube - Alexis Arguello | The Latin Legends Profile Start with that. Then go to youtube and look up his decimation of Mancini, his brutal Wars with Escalera, his rough manhandling of Boza-Edwards, his murder of Kevin Rooney, the Costello fight, and of course, the Pryor I War.
I disagree. Arguello lost that one bad. It's a tribute to his toughness, but not to what he was when at his peak. Seeing the others first will give a sense of what it meant to beat Arguello even 14lbs north of one of his more defining weights.
One guy is generally loved and one guy is generally hated nowadays, but had Sanchez survived another year or year and a half, and moved up to 130/135, he might've encountered an ultra talented and ultra quick fisted Puerto Rican that was dazzling the boxing world at the time (and who was thought of by many as one of the few then heir apparents to the mythical P4P crown), and I'm not so sure Sal could have handled him in a twelve round fight.
I think Arguello goes to the showers early........With a smile on his face. At 126 and slightly above there was no one better in the last 40-45 years........You have to tap on Willie Peps shoulder to find someone better. Arguello's body shots (and he was one of the best body punchers that ever lived) slowed everybody down and softened them up for the late rounds. Arguello never lost going down into the championship rounds (12-15) until he ran into Pryor........and that fight is still covered in controversy. Sanchez ,with his half lunges would've caught more than his share of those looping hooks to the short ribs. The road map to beating Arguello was going backwards and side to side (Vilomar Fernandez is the perfect example). Arguello was at his best when people came right at him.....and thats what Sanchez would do.....at the very least he would be right in front of AA....and Arguello was the most patient fighter on the planet. AA was never stopped or off his feet (that I recall) at 126......Style-wise....this one is all AA. Sanchez is heralded as an all time great because he beat a very popular champ (who was at the end of his rope).....defended his title against some future greats (Nelson, and LaPorte)....took out Gomez (who was coming up in weight) and died young......way before his time. It's the James Dean factor......Had he stuck around he probably would've had a better than average run and we would be talking about him in much the same vein as Ruben Olivares.......but not in a class by himself.
Thanks for the post. This is the kind of insight, analysis and opinion I was looking for when I started the thread.
This is crazy talk. Sanchez beat better fighters than Arguello did in his entire career. Arguello struggled against an old, moving up in weight Olivares. Sal beat Nelson, by TKO. Gave Nelson the worst beating of his career and Nelson went on to face ATG Whitaker. Nelson is def HOF material. He beat Gomez who while was moving up, he started out at the same weight as Arguello. Lopez went on to win the 126 title only being KO'd by Nelson a few years after Sanchez had beat both. Sanchez beat Laporte whom gave Chavez all he could handle. Your post is completely wrong. BTW P4P Olivares is considered among the top 2 or 3 bantam weights ever to lace them up. P4P Sal is considered by most top 2 or 3 Feathers ever to lace em up. Name me one HOF fighter or elite fighter that Alexis beat aside from Olivares?
