Chavez is not the greatest Mexican fighter...Salvador Sanchez is..

[jabsRstiff]

Actually....Salvador Sanchez has become overrated.
His biggest wins are over Gomez, who never proved to be anything special at 126. Nelson, who was a late sub & a 13-fight veteran. Had they fought a year or two later, Nelson would have beaten Sanchez. Danny Lopez....a face-first brawler who was tailor-made for Sanchez, & had also been in too many wars.

If you look closely at Sanchez, the guy ONLY looked special when matched up against fighters who came right at him. He struggled badly with Patrick Ford, a fighter who was brutally beaten & KO'd by Eusebio Pedroza. He struggled with Ruben Castillo, Rocky Garcia, Juan LaPorte, & Pat Cowdell. Azumah Nelson went over to England & knocked Cowdell unconscious in the first round.

I think a lot of people on here are over-glorifying Sanchez.....based on what you've HEARD, & because his death has made a mythical figure out of him.
Those who say "imagine what he COULD have done" don't realize that Sanchez struggled in his last three fights, which leads me to believe he had already peaked. You can look at his age & ask "how is that so ?"....& it's possible that he was an older fighter than he was a man.

So much of this overrating of him is based on "if".....
Yes, he was a great, special fighter....but he was also a fighter who struggled badly with opponents who did not fight with a certain style.

Julio Cesar Chavez, just got more done than did Sanchez. He wasn't more talented than Sal....but more accomplished.

I loved Sanchez when he was active, but have a realistic view of him, as I actually saw him in his prime.

[SnoopySmurf]

Sanchez. Deceptively hard punching skinny guy. His popularity among the press was eclipsed by Sugar Ray Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Benitez, Mancini, Holmes and Norton. Too bad.

[dino]

de la hoya was a better fighter then chavez..and fought better competition...chavez blew up his record fighting outclassed bums in mexico..yea he beat taylor so what

[jabsRstiff]

de la hoya was a better fighter then chavez..and fought better competition...chavez blew up his record fighting outclassed bums in mexico..yea he beat taylor so what

You have consistently been one of the dumber posters on here.
Misinformed, & ridiculous.

[SnoopySmurf]

de la hoya was a better fighter then chavez..and fought better competition...chavez blew up his record fighting outclassed bums in mexico..yea he beat taylor so what

Pre-Chavez, Meldrick Taylor today would be a champ, if not a top contender. He was THAT good. He was beating Chavez all night but was getting too ****y and too aggressive against the harder punching Chavez and eventually, got caught and changed his life forever, physically and mentally. It was the later rounds where Chavez began to land at will and a lesser fighter would have gone down. But Meldrick HAD a chin and took too much punishment.

[IwatchBoxing]

I agree with Jabs, except for the Gomez part , Sanchez had two big wins, and a bunch of struggles and a rematch non-finished, "what ifs" arent enough to make you the greatest.

On other hand, Chavez lost most of his big fights, and his biggest wins were against Edwin Rosario, Hector Camacho, and Taylor (who really won the first, but was never the same). That alone is better than Sanchezs one win against Gomez, you never know, it might of been a fluk...Sanchez needed fighters to comefoward, and Chavez was better with boxers (but not by much..)

[adrsan84]

i doubt that sanchez had peaked cuz although he had more experience than nelson he was in fact younger than him. His Problem was that he sometimes fought down to the level of his competition but most of his wins were still clear cut. He couldnt do as much as Chavez because he didn't have enough time, he was only 23. Who has accomplished more by that age?

[xcaret]

you guys call every Mexican fighter overrated, enough with the hating already.

[jabsRstiff]

i doubt that sanchez had peaked cuz although he had more experience than nelson he was in fact younger than him. His Problem was that he sometimes fought down to the level of his competition but most of his wins were still clear cut. He couldnt do as much as Chavez because he didn't have enough time, he was only 23. Who has accomplished more by that age?

Wilfred Benitez accomplished more than Sanchez did by age 23....so did Tyson.

Benitez was also kinda shot by the time he was in his mid-twenties.
Age in boxing is more than your years on earth.

Xcaret....

I thought Salvador Sanchez was a great fighter....but IMO he is overrated NOW,that's what untimely death's can do to one's legend.

the three posters who voted "they both suck"....
total douchebags.

[xKillingJokex]

You know my vote already..Sanchez..stop the hating on this guy..hes not overrated..yeah he fought down to the level of his competition. Dont try to downgrade his victory against Gomez..cause he didnt "trained" properly for the fight or he wasnt anything special at 126. I dont see anyone bringing up the fact that Carlos Zarate went up in weight to fight Gomez..but yet people say that was a great win for Gomez..which is true to an extent. Zarate wasnt anything special at super bantamweight. So, Sanchez beat Gomez, Nelson, Laporte, Codwell and Lopez (2x). At only 23..not in his prime..yes i think its fair that he would of gotten better..and would have accomplished more.