Willie Pep vs Salvador Sanchez

[THRILLAinmanila]

These two great featherweights passed away before their
time. If they were alive today and at the prime of their careers,
who do you think will rampage over the other ?

[grayfist]

I'm not sure one can stack up Willie Pep against Salvador Sanchez on the premise cited.

Gugliemo Papeleo, also known as Wil o' d' Wisp, was born in 1922, had his debut against James McGovern in his hometown of Hartford, CT in 1940 and fought 242 (!) times, leaving a record of 230 wins (65 KO's)-- 11 losses and 1 Draw. When he went up the ring for his last fight he was 44 years old (March 1966, vs. Calvin Woodland in Richmond, VA)!

On the other hand, Salvador Sanchez, dubbed Chava by fans, indeed, died prematurely. He was born Jan. 6, 1959. He strung up a record of 44-1-1, losing only to Antonio Becerra for the Mexican Bantamweight title (SD) and wresting a single draw (vs. Juan Escobar) even after having been KD'd twice. Sanchez died in a car accident while at the peak of his career in a car crash on Aug. 12, 1982. He was only 23.

A mere weeks earlier, Sanchez had successfully defended his WBC Featherweight crown against Azumah Nelson (TKO15).

Trivia: Sanchez has on his record a fifth round TKO win over Felix Trinidad, Sr., father of Tito. Their fight was staged in Houston, TX.

[JOM'S]

Nice Trivia grayfist, Sanchez was one of my favorites...

[JOM'S]

Pep's record is outstanding but never seen him fight, but as a kid I saw a few fights of Sanchez and it is forever etched in my memory, and at that time I thought he was invincible and unbeatable.....

[grayfist]

Nice Trivia grayfist, Sanchez was one of my favorites...

Thanx pal! Sanchez is one of mine too! Along with (at random) Pep, Saddler, Arguello, the lightweight Duran, Gomez, Pedroza, Leonard, Benitez, Hagler, SR Robinson, JCChavez, Finito Lopez, Ben Villaflor, the Ol' Mongoose, Holmes, Holyfield, Elorde, Hammerin' Hank Armstrong, the Ranging Bull, Harada, Basilio, DeJesus, Greb,Jersey Joe, Pryor....LOTS!

I'm old enough to have caught some of Chava's fights. He had fits in his last one (vs. Nelson) and it appeared that he was on the way to a close decision loss (or a draw) until the 15th when he took the Professor out. Nelson was a late substitute, and got ringsiders wondering where he came from as he stood his ground against the great Sanchez. They exchanged KD's in the course of the fight held at the Madison Square Garden, NY, in July 21, 1983, about three weeks before Sanchez met that fatal accident.

As for Pep, if one were to believe allegations that flew thick at the time that he threw some of his fights (it was said that he took a dive in at least 4), his WIN record would have looked a lot better had he not taken those losses in the manner that he allegedly did.

[Boxerdog]

Bravo Fist!
I thought that I was the only guy on the net that knew Willie's real name.
I used to have as my sig a great quote from the great man:

"I'm a lucky man. I have a wife and a television set and they're both working."- Willie Pep

[grayfist]

Bravo Fist!
I thought that I was the only guy on the net that knew Willie's real name.
I used to have as my sig a great quote from the great man:

"I'm a lucky man. I have a wife and a television set and they're both working."- Willie Pep

HA! HA! HA! Thanx for the accolade pal! Pep was quite a man both inside and outside the ring! I'm feeling bad I came in too late to this site to have seen your Pep quote of a signature. I would have lapped it up! ...as I AM LAPPING it up NOW!!!

[THRILLAinmanila]

Bravo Fist!
I thought that I was the only guy on the net that knew Willie's real name.
I used to have as my sig a great quote from the great man:

"I'm a lucky man. I have a wife and a television set and they're both working."- Willie Pep

I know
of another similar quote:

" I have the best job in the world.
I beat people up and they pay me for it" - Anonymous boxer

[grayfist]

I know
of another similar quote:

" I have the best job in the world.
I beat people up and they pay me for it" - Anonymous boxer

HA! HA! HA! HA! Those GEMS make boxing the sport it is! The only one that comes close when it comes to great quotes may be baseball (especially the old generation players) Compared to what the denizens of boxing have been quoted as saying, those lines coming out of the NBA, NFL and NHL are polite tea party conversations! GREAT LINE, Pal!!!

[THRILLAinmanila]

Thanx pal! Sanchez is one of mine too! Along with (at random) Pep, Saddler, Arguello, the lightweight Duran, Gomez, Pedroza, Leonard, Benitez, Hagler, SR Robinson, JCChavez, Finito Lopez, Ben Villaflor, the Ol' Mongoose, Holmes, Holyfield, Elorde, Hammerin' Hank Armstrong, the Ranging Bull, Harada, Basilio, DeJesus, Greb,Jersey Joe, Pryor....LOTS!

I'm old enough to have caught some of Chava's fights. He had fits in his last one (vs. Nelson) and it appeared that he was on the way to a close decision loss (or a draw) until the 15th when he took the Professor out. Nelson was a late substitute, and got ringsiders wondering where he came from as he stood his ground against the great Sanchez. They exchanged KD's in the course of the fight held at the Madison Square Garden, NY, in July 21, 1983, about three weeks before Sanchez met that fatal accident.

As for Pep, if one were to believe allegations that flew thick at the time that he threw some of his fights (it was said that he took a dive in at least 4), his WIN record would have looked a lot better had he not taken those losses in the manner that he allegedly did.

Talking about Flash Elorde.... it took a long time coming but I
believe his heir has finally come (though in a different division)......