Oh, What Might Have Been

There have obviously been a lot of great boxers over the years; Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Carlos Monzon, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran (as a lightweight, I'm saying), Alexis Arguello, Roy Jones Jr., etc., etc. (please, forgive me if I've omitted your favorite). But, if I had to pick out only one as the best, I think that I'd have to go with 1980s featherweight champion, Salvador Sanchez.........................................................................................For those of you who are too young to remember, Sanchez was the featherweight champion from February 1980, all the way until his death (from an automobile crash) in August of 1982 (nine successful title defenses were registered). His overall record was 44-1-1 (his only loss coming in 1977 - at age 18 - to the much more experienced bantamweight champion, Antonio Becerra, a split decision no less) with 32 knockouts. Among his victims were Danny "little red" Lopez (from whom he took the featherweight title from, and whose face was twice turned into hamburg), Rueben Castillo, Juan Laporte (ultimately a champion himself), Wilfredo Gomez (previously thought of as indestructible), Pat Cowdell (an Olympic medalist), Jorge Garcia, Roberto Castanon, and, yes, perhaps most impressive of all, future hall of famer, Azumah Nelson (Sanchez's final challenger)...............................................................................................But even more impressive than all of this was the classy way that he went about it. Sanchez, folks, was a consummate professional - inside the ring and outside, too. He was voted by Ring magazine as boxer of the year in 1981 (sharing that honor with Sugar Ray Leonard). And, yes, folks, in 1991 he was finally elected (posthumously) into the Boxing Hall of Fame - an extraordinary accomplishment for somebody who only lived to be 23. Who really knows how truly great he might have become.