Salvador Sánchez Narváez (January 26, 1959 - August 12, 1982) was a Mexican boxer born in the town of
Santiago TianguistencoSantiago Tianguistenco, often known as Tianguistenco or Tiejangrueistenk, is a city in Mexico. It lays about 45 minutes southeast by car from Mexico City, in the State of México, and is located 2,630 metres above sea level. Because of this, the city, located in the "Valley of Toluca", has been a...
, Estado de México.
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
bantamweightThe term bantamweight usually refers to a class in boxing or boxers who weigh between 112 and 118 pounds . Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight. The name is derived from Bantam chickens.-History:...
champion Antonio Becerra.
Salvador Sánchez Narváez (January 26, 1959 - August 12, 1982) was a Mexican boxer born in the town of
Santiago TianguistencoSantiago Tianguistenco, often known as Tianguistenco or Tiejangrueistenk, is a city in Mexico. It lays about 45 minutes southeast by car from Mexico City, in the State of México, and is located 2,630 metres above sea level. Because of this, the city, located in the "Valley of Toluca", has been a...
, Estado de México.
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
bantamweightThe term bantamweight usually refers to a class in boxing or boxers who weigh between 112 and 118 pounds . Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight. The name is derived from Bantam chickens.-History:...
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 RicanPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
featherweight champion Felix Trinidad Sr., on his way to securing a title shot at world champion
Danny "Little Red" LopezDanny Lopez is a former American boxer from Fort Duchesne, Utah. Lopez was world Featherweight champion, and a very popular fighter both in television and Southern California, during the 1970s. His nickname is Little Red....
, 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 KoteiDavid Kotei born on December 7, 1950 in Accra, Ghana, was a world featherweight boxing champion between 1975 and 1976 and was also the first Ghanaian professional boxer to win a world title. He was popularly called "D.K. Poison"....
(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
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,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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 luckWhen someone with limited experience achieves better than expected results it is referred to as beginner's luck. The term is most often used in reference to a first attempt in sport or gambling. For example, if Mike beats veteran golf player Joe in his first game, Joe might attribute this to...
' (as it was Sánchez's first world title fight ever), Lopez looked for a rematch and this he got, in
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. 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 LaporteJuan Laporte is a former boxer who was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico.-Amateur career:Juan Laporte won the 1976 112lb New York Golden Gloves Sub-Novice Championship. He defeated Long Island's Ricky Brown in the finals. Laporte was defeated by Joseph Nieto of the Police Athletic Leagues Lynch Center...
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 GómezWilfredo Gómez is a former boxer and three time world champion. Nicknamed "Bazooka", Gómez had one of the highest knockout win percentages in professional boxing, winning 88 percent of his bouts by knockout...
(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
boxingBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
fan no more. He became a household name all over the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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
HBOHBO is a premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner, offers two 24/7 pay television services to over 38 million U.S...
. 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 NelsonAzumah Nelson is a former boxer and three-time world champion. A native of Ghana.Nelson also has endured personal loss: His wife for many years died during the 1990s of cancer.- Professional career :...
at
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. 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 NelsonAzumah Nelson is a former boxer and three-time world champion. A native of Ghana.Nelson also has endured personal loss: His wife for many years died during the 1990s of cancer.- Professional career :...
went on to have a glittering career and was inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of FameThe modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...
in 2004
http://www.ibhof.com/nelson.htm
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 928The Porsche 928 is a grand tourer automobile sold by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978-1995, designed as a more luxurious yet still high performance alternative to the firm's sporting mainstay, the durable 911 sports car....
sports car along the federal highway from Santiago de Querétaro to
San Luis PotosíSan Luis Potosí, commonly called SLP or simply San Luis, is the capital of, and most populous city in, the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. The city lies at an elevation of 1,850 meters ....
, dying instantly. At the time of his death, there were talks about a rematch with Gómez or a challenge of world lightweight champion
Alexis ArgüelloAlexis Argüello , also known by the stage name The Explosive Thin Man, was a Nicaraguan professional boxer and politician. As a boxer he was a three-time world champion. After his retirement from boxing, Argüello became active in Nicaraguan politics and in November 2008 he was elected mayor of...
.
Sánchez was posthumously inducted into the
International Boxing Hall of FameThe modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...
in 1991.
See also
External links