Salvador Sanchez is a former featherweight world boxing champion who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.
Sanchez made his professional boxing debut on May 4, 1975 when he defeated Al Gardeno by 3rd round knockout. Less than five years later Sanchez had accumulated a record of 33-1-1 with 27 wins coming by way of knockout. Then on February 2, 1980, Sanchez got his first opportunity to compete for a major world title when he challenged WBC featherweight world champion Danny ‘Little Red’ Lopez. Sanchez seized command early and never looked back en route to winning by 13th round technical knockout to become the new featherweight world champion. This was just the first of ten championship contests Sanchez fought in his career.
During his reign at the top Sanchez had a number of notable victories, including two wins against Lopez, a stoppage victory against then undefeated Wilfredo Gomez (who was the junior featherweight champion before challenging Sanchez), and his final victory was a 15th round knockout against fellow Hall of Famer, the great Azumah Nelson, who would later go on to win titles in two weight classes. Sanchez’s brilliant career was cut short, when just a few short weeks after beating Nelson he was killed in a car accident. He was just 23 years old, making him what of the greatest “what if” stories during the long rich history of professional boxing.
When all was said and done, Sanchez had 46 professional bouts with a record of 44-1-1 and 32 of his 32 victories coming by way of knockout. Despite his career being cut short at such a young age, Sanhcez is widely viewed as one of the very best featherweight boxers to compete during the long history of boxing.
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will provide a brief chronological recap of all 10 championship contests that featured Salvador Sanchez. This is part 11 of a new ongoing series of Complete Championship Profiles. Please watch and enjoy the video!