Salvador Sánchez

Statistics
Real name	Salvador Sánchez Narváez
Nickname(s)	Chava/Sal
Rated at	Featherweight
Height	5 ft. 7 in. (168 cm.)
Nationality	Mexican
Birth date	January 26, 1959
Birth place	Santiago Tianguistenco, EdoMex, Mexico
Death date	August 12, 1982 (aged 23)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	46
Wins	44
Wins by KO	32
Losses	1
Draws	1
No contests	0

Salvador Sánchez Narváez (January 26, 1959 - August 12, 1982) was a Mexican boxer born in the town of Santiago Tianguistenco, Estado de México.

[edit] Career

Sánchez started his professional career very young, as a teenager (after a brief amateur career consisting of reportedly 4 amateur bouts) he started piling up wins against tough Mexican opposition. His first fight of note came in his 19th professional fight against the Mexican bantamweight champion Antonio Becerra. Becerra proved far too experienced for the young Sánchez, dropping him in the first round, en route to a 12 round split decision. This would turn out to be Sánchez's only loss suffered during his career. Sánchez was knocked down for the first time against Becerra and has only been knocked down once more in the fifth round against Juan Escobar, whom Sánchez fought to a draw in his 22nd fight.

Sánchez kept on fighting and moved to the Featherweight division. Soon he had beaten people like the Puerto Rican featherweight champion Felix Trinidad Sr., on his way to securing a title shot at world champion Danny "Little Red" Lopez, a popular TV fighter of the late 1970s who was an impressive fighter and had won some spectacular fights against the likes of former world champion David Kotei (twice), Juan Malvares and Mike Ayala. Confident and hard to beat, Lopez was beaten by 19 year old Sánchez, who knocked out the defending champion in 13 rounds in Phoenix, Arizona, United States on February 2, 1980. Sanchez defended his title for the first time with a 15 round unanimous decision against Ruben Castillo (47-1). Thinking it was just a case of 'beginner's luck' (as it was Sánchez's first world title fight ever), Lopez looked for a rematch and this he got, in Las Vegas. This time Sánchez defeated Lopez by 14th round TKO. In his next fight, he defeated Patrick Ford (15-0).

On December 13, 1980, Sánchez defeated future champion Juan Laporte by unanimous decision. Sánchez then defended his title against Roberto Castanon (43-1-0) and scored a win over Nicky Perez (50-3-0). Then undefeated World Jr Featherweight champion Wilfredo Gómez (32-0-1) went up in weight and challenged Sánchez. Sánchez retained the crown by a knockout in round eight on August 21, 1981, in Las Vegas, and Gómez had to return to the Jr. Featherweight division.

With that victory, Salvador was an unknown to the casual boxing fan no more. He became a household name all over the United States that night.

In his next fight, he defeated Olympic medalist Pat Cowdell.His defense vs unheralded Jorge "Rocky" Garcia was the first fight featuring two featherweights ever to be televised by HBO. He beat Garcia punch after punch, but the challenger gave honor to his nickname, an unknown fighter who lasts the distance with the world champion.

On July 21, 1982, Sánchez faced future champion Azumah Nelson at Madison Square Garden. Nelson was unknown at the time however, and was expected to only go a few rounds with the champ. It was an intense battle, with Sánchez managing to drop his young charge in the 7th round. After that they engaged in violent exchange after violent exchange. In the 15th, Sánchez broke out finally, connecting with a serious combination that dropped the challenger almost outside the ring. Referee Tony Perez had to stop the fight seconds later. Azumah Nelson went on to have a glittering career and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004 [1]

[edit] Death

As he was training for a rematch with Laporte set for September, he crashed on the early morning of August 12, 1982, while driving his Porsche 928 sports car along the federal highway from Santiago de Querétaro to San Luis Potosí, dying instantly. At the time of his death, there were talks about a rematch with Gómez or a challenge of world lightweight champion Alexis Argüello.

Sánchez was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.

[edit] Trivia

In the movie 21, Ben Campbell, played by Jim Sturgess, introduces himself to a girl as Salvador Sanchez [2].

[edit] See also

• List of WBC world champions
• Salvador Sanchez vs. Juan Laporte
• Salvador Sánchez vs. Wilfredo Gómez

[edit] External links

• Professional boxing record for Salvador Sánchez from Boxrec
• Salvador Sánchez page at the International Boxing Hall of Fame
• Salvador Sánchez on the Ring Magazine Cover - November 1981 Issue

• Seconds Out Article: [3]
• Grave Site: [4]