Salvador “Sal” Sanchez and his legacy

Yesterday, from the first minutes on Mexican time zones, which are different from those abroad, the pages that follow boxing on social networks began to be bombarded with memories of one of the most famous fights ever starred in by a Mexican fighter.

August 21, 1981 will not be forgotten by Fistiana fans, and right on time, photos appeared of the epic fight that Salvador Sánchez, the ill-fated Mexican star, won by a resounding knockout in the eighth round against Puerto Rican Wilfredo Gómez.

The newspaper and all the Mexican media provided extensive information about the contest held at the Sporting Pavilion at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, which at that time, along with Madison Square Garden in New York, had become the Mecca of cauliflower ear wrestling.

Why so much echo in that fight?

Gomez, like Hector Camacho years later, was a great fighter, but he was a bit of a mouthful. The difference between Wil and “El Macho” was that when Gomez agreed to fight Salvador, it was like doing a favor to the young man born in Santiago Tianguistengo, State of Mexico. “Sal” was enjoying a meteoric rise, but he was only 22 years old, and Gomez was a respected champion, one of the best there was at that time in the small weight class.

Wilfredo said so much (you can read it in the previews, in the Diario Archive from Megateca), that it was thought that it was actually an offense that the Mexican accepted the fight because they were going to destroy him.

Event

The fight, promoted by Don King and which can be found online with the original audio in Spanish by the master Antonio Andere, was an event, like the fights that take place in Las Vegas during the Battle of Puebla and Independence Day, famous in marketing since the times of Julio Cesar Chavez and now with “Canelo” Alvarez. With Chavez, he faced the best fighters of the time several times. With Alvarez, it was more of a party than boxing.

Back to the main topic, what did “Sal” have to do to finish Wilfredo? A few years ago, Pipino Cuevas talked to the reporter about the great fights of the Mexicans (he lost one against Tommy Hearns that nobody expected him to succumb to, or that it would go so badly for him), and he said that “the first thing is that you have to believe in yourself and “Sal” never showed fear against Wilfredo. That was what made him win.”

Sanchez turned Caesars Palace on its head early on, coming within a whisker of knocking out Gomez in the first round. He was just a little bit close. Gomez, shrewd and classy, ​​had his eyes damaged from that initial round and arrived at the seventh round with a lot of strength, but almost unable to see.

The outcome

The eighth round, as long as it lasted, was a lesson from a young man hungry for glory and a veteran incredulous at the beating he was receiving. At one point, he landed three consecutive body blows with great ease, and in the first minute, on the ropes, Sanchez connected a powerful right to Wilfredo’s face so that the talkative Puerto Rican stayed between the ropes before going to the floor to listen to the count by Carlos Padilla, one of the best referees of that time. Wilfredo wanted to continue, but the official prevented him and madness broke out.

Watching that fight is like witnessing one of the greatest performances by Mexican fighters in the international arena.

Salvador Sánchez Narváez was a prodigy. He became the WBC featherweight champion on February 2, 1980, defeating Danny “Coloradito” López, and defended his title nine times, five against fighters who would later be inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York, where they also made a name for him.

But life is as hard inside as it is outside the ring, and, as we know, Salvador’s existence was brutally cut short by a tragic traffic accident that killed him in his sports car at dawn on August 12, 1982. His death is remembered for cutting short the brilliant career of a great champion, and his fight against Gomez, even more so, for being one of the most brilliant sporting moments in Mexico. Yesterday, the networks were flooded with talk of Salvador Sanchez and his legacy in boxing. — Gaspar Silveira Malaver

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