Lopez was as gritty as they come, with a record of 42-3 and a thunderous punch. He lost his first bid for a belt in 1977 against Antonio Becerra by a split points loss.

Sanchez’s lone fight at Madison Square Garden, on July 21, 1982, would be the last fight of his career. Eventually, he found boxing and had a hurried amateur career that ended with obtaining a record of 58-2. A popular figure both in and out of the ring, Sanchez also worked with salsa sensation Rubén Blades in May 1982, on a movie called “The Last Fight” (which was later dedicated to him after his premature death). Sánchez was 44-1-1 in 46 career fights. Nelson was an unknown and not expected to give Sanchez much of a battle. Even on the occasions that he got caught out, Sanchez would pivot, move his head, change direction or move in to smother Lopez. On Aug. 12, 1982, at the age of 23, Sanchez’s life was tragically cut short when he was killed in an automobile accident, while heading home from a night out with close friends alone in his Porsche 928S. It was held in his hometown and over 50,000 people showed up to pay their respects to the fallen fighter. Had he gone on to fight Arguello, Sanchez intended to retire afterward and study to become a doctor.
35 years since the death of Salvador Sanchez. BoxRec.com uses cookies to make the site simpler.
In June 1991, almost 9 years after his death, Sanchez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. A level change off the jab would slide Sanchez in underneath Lopez's return and enable him to bang the body or return to an upright posture and throw a counter at Lopez's head. As Gomez's eyes began to close, Sanchez began to find the mark more. There are a number of juicy “Fantasy” fights that we could all conjure up in the featherweight division. This was a man with ringcraft well beyond his years. World-rated cruiserweight Jai Opetaia 19-0 (15) is looking forward to getting back in the ring when he takes on former Australian champion Ben Kelleher 13-1-2 (4) at the Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane, Australia on Thursday, October 22. Salvador Sanchez promotional photo for his fight with Azumah Nelson,    © 2012 Salvador Sanchez/Grant Boxing. He had knocked out a fan favorite and he was just beginning to get the attention he deserved when he was killed in a traffic accident. Three weeks after knocking out the tough Azumah Nelson to make his tenth title defense in July 1982, Sanchez's story was over. Gomez struggled to see the blows coming but ploughed forward heroically nonetheless. The unanswered questions of fighting are the ones which force speculation and debate decades into the future. 1980s / Death of Salvador Sanchez - 1982. The referee was Tony Perez. Gomez was the only fighter Sanchez really had a personal grudge against. But on November twelfth, Arguello would fight the light-welterweight champion Aaron Pryor. This time, the champion was the favourite to come through. Scotland’s Jim Watt was the WBC holder at lightweight in 1981 and stepped into the ring against Arguello at Wembley on June 20th of that year. His record standing at 44-1-1 with 32 KO’s, a shocking and abrupt end to Salvador’s life occurred on August 12th, 1982 when he was involved in a severe car accident. The Tragic Enigma of Salvador Sanchez On August 12 1982, the 23-year-old featherweight champion of the world died in a car crash. He liked to train at a ranch, with outdoor training facilities, even during the summer in the 90-100-degree heat.

The Nicaraguan had a tough chin, liked to stand toe to toe, was good at finding the range and had deceptively great upper body defensive despite often fighting upright. Not the kind of fighter who could do a bit on the inside and have his way on the outside, or vice versa, but a boxer whose inside game and outside game played off of each other and worked in synergy. He would make comments with those very close to him about not living a long life and spoke about the way he wanted his funeral arranged. Sánchez was a skilled boxer/puncher who could wear down an opponent with accurate, sharp, stinging blows. It was Pryor’s sixth title defense of his WBA title. Sánchez's last fight was a skillful 15-round knockout of Azumah Nelson in New York City's Madison Square Garden about three weeks before the fatal car accident. The jab was a favourite that Sanchez liked to throw and he followed it up with combinations that few opponents could withstand. Flowers • 130 Left by Mia on 21 Sep 2020