The rematch

Azumah Nelson v Sal Sanchez.

A relative novice entering their first fight gave an ATG FW all the trouble he could handle before falling. It became a trait for The Professor to up his game in rematches having learned from earlier fight.

Sanchez. What can you say about this kid. Took on the supposed unbeatable Gomes and literally dissected him. The frightening thing about him is that he seemed to be able to do everything with consummate ease. Only a handful of boxers in history seemed born to fight. He was one of them. The even more frightening thing about him was that he seemed to be improving.

Did he take the novice Nelson too easily. Or would Nelson have improved and learned from their first fight and taken a decision?

Thoughts please.

Great fight......nelson had great respect for Sanchez!!!

My take is that too much emphasis is put on the loser in these fights learning from their experience whereas people forget that the winner can learn also....

Helluva fight but I believe Sanchez would've had the confidence of stopping his man the first time and of knowing what he was up against before the fight!!! ie Nelson wouldn't have been a stranger...

Could be wrong..Nelson was a wonderful fighter...but I'd go with Salvador again.....Nelson liked to control fights and fight at his pace and I'm not sanchez would let him fight in his comfort zone...

Nelson was the ultimate bully....albeit hugely talented one...

Sanchez by late stoppage again...

Personally I dont see a stoppage (over 15). I believe Nelson would have performed better and upped his game. But, Sal was also improving and improving from a higher level that where Nelson was. Nelson would have gained more experience, but experience, whilst good, is no substitute for skill.

Sal by very close UD.

I can't see how nelson improves more than sal

It might be a bit of a cop out but I do think sal might have taken him a bit lightly. Nelson was a great fighter, but at the time he was an unknown quantity. Sal had beaten gomez, an ATG, maybe he thought that Nelson would be a little softer

There might not be a stoppage but Sal would probably win by close but clear UD

Its possible sal took him lightly.

Sanchex and nelson were the same (official) age, but nelson was as green as they come and took the fight at short notice. Now short notice can work both ways, but really, how can sanchez, already seemingly at the top of his game with a stack of championship 15 rounders behind him, improve more than nelson?

Both great fighters, but nelson was stopped through exhaustion more than anything in the first fight, his first time past 10 rounds. Sanchez might well have won the return, but for me he's slight favourite in a pickem. And i really can't see a stoppage in this fight. Nobody after this time ever put a dent in nelson.

I don't know whether its the died-young-legend thing, but sanchez fought and beat some very good fighters yet also limped past some from a level below. He seems to get a free pass for these less than stellar performances... whenever the all time great lists are being discussed. His less dominant victories, Ford, laporte, cowdell and nelson are often put down to him taking them lightly. Hey it could be true, but it could also be that he just wasn't quite the superman some think, and that the older, wiser, better conditioned and 'always better second time round' nelson might have proved that. We'll never know the answer to that, but anyone writing off nelson's chances in this, is i'm afraid buying into the legend more than the reality... In my humble opinion of course!

Glad I made a comment!!

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Glad I made a comment!!

you must be a very glad person, Truss

Honestly I like threads like these...It's a shame more people aren't interested in Sanchez types...

All Manny, Khan, Mayweather, Cotto stuff gets tedious...

Sanchez is Boxing's biggest loss with Gomez 2..Nelson....Mcguigan....Chavez and Camacho on the horizon...

Considering Nelson is a great shows you how well thought of the Mexican...

I take the tumbleweed back It was a cheap shot!!!

Sanchez is the biggest what if of all and it's not as if he didn't achieve a huge amount by the age of 23, only behind Pep and Saddler as far as the featherweights go.

Despite being a long standing champion he still had room for improvement as did Nelson but I can only imagine that Sanchez would have performed much better in the rematch knowing what he was up against. Nelson will have known Sanchez but the reverse can't really be said, with greater experience I see him controlling the fight before stopping him late on but earlier than the first fight.

Gomez 2, Chavez and Mcguigan would have all been comfortable wins for Sanchez at his best, it's not glamourising his abilities because of his unfortunate death but he really was that good when on form. Camacho is harder to call as I don't recall him facing someone with that kind of handspeed but could only input him as a heavy favourite.

Sal was a great 15 round fighter. He knew that he could outlast nelson. The KO was pretty hard and nelson, for all his toughness, would go into the 2nd fight with a little more caution. Salvador imo would go straight to the body from the start. Salvador, like most Mexicans, was great at going to the body. He head hunted in the first fight and didn't attack the body untill later in the fight. He could outlast nelson and had heavier hands so hitting the body early would put him in a good position going past 10 rounds. Salvador had a great chin and great conditioning so I don't think that nelson would be able to knock him out

Don't think Chavez would be comfortable for anybody!!!!

come on...he was bigger than sanchez for a start!!!

Julio was relentless and I could see him wiinning one out of a trilogy..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Don't think Chavez would be comfortable for anybody!!!!

come on...he was bigger than sanchez for a start!!!

Julio was relentless and I could see him wiinning one out of a trilogy..

Chavez at lightweight in his prime would beat Salvador 2-1 in a trilogy if not win all 3. Sal was a big featherweight and used his size well. Chavez was a bull at lightweight in his prime. Chavez would make it a war and only a couple of fighters in history could out-brawl a prime Chavez. If nelson could put sal under that much pressure then so could Chavez

Wilfredo Gomez II would have panned out like the first, Gomez wasn't going to win at featherweight.

It wasn't until the late 80's that Chavez moved up to lightweight by which time Sanchez would have matured physically even more so any size difference would be negligible while he held a slight reach advantage. I see it panning out completely different to the Nelson whereby he'll keep it at distance and outbox Chavez using his advantages to the full, comfortable is possibly the wrong word but I see a clear points victory.

I'm thinking of a fiaround 85/86 at 130!!!!

Chavez was naturally bigger and had taken shots off guys like Laporte at 130 and we know he could take a murderous puncher like Rosario's shots...

Whilst Sanchez was smarter he'd have Julio pressuring him for 12 hard rounds.....Look at Taylor's face!!!

Whilst I agree that Sanchez might shade a trilogy...

Comfortable...no no way!!!

Chavez was too good and more cunning than given credit for...and his inside game was excellent....Ask Edwin and Meldrick..

What you then need to consider that Sanchez was better than both Rosario and Taylor, his timing and accuracy might make Chavez think twice, don't see a stoppage either way but by 86 I think Sal would have been bigger, even better and more experienced.

In fairness to Taylor i've always felt he fought the perfect but wrong gameplan, he was winning rounds with the flashy combinations but he wasn't hurting JCC, unless you're as good as Whitaker you need to slow him down somehow which he didn't.

My biggest regret is that Arguello wasn't a few years younger or older, he was always at the wrong weight whether it be Duran, Chavez or Sanchez, i've long held the view that he was the best of all them.

I don't think he was murderous enough at 126/130 to make Chavez think twice and he was no speed demon....Chavez took a 135 Rosario's shots and he hurt more than Sal...

Chavez had a wonderful inside game...

He does it the hard way..........although he probably does it..

There is no evidence to suggest that sal would get better as he went up in weight. He didnt have the power to hurt or stop Chavez. Rosario is a big puncher and at 135.

Chavez seems to be really underrated on here. He was a ferocious fighter and feared. He might look one paced at times but in his pomp he cut the ring off as well as anyone and had great technique on the inside. Sal got caught on the ropes by both Gomez and nelson. He lost rounds to nelson before he tired late. With sal vs Chavez it would be the other way around as Chavez won't be worn down. To say he outboxes him to a wide UD is a bold statement

Lot's of quality boxers couldn't keep Chavez away for long enough to do that....

Wonderful career and never lost at 130/135.....

Certainly would've been the best fighter Sanchez had faced for sure...

I personally can't see Nelson beating Sanchez in a rematch. In fact, I'm not sure Nelson could ever have beaten Sal, full stop.

I'm not sure that the old line of Sanchez "fighting to the level of his opponent" now and then is a way of airbrushing his less than dominant wins; rather, it's just an undeniable truth. I'd also take exception to Milky's comment, for instance, that his win over La Porte was one such win. I think Sanchez was superb in that fight and, while it was a very exciting bout, he won it by a country mile, putting on a very, very good performance. It's not as if there's any shame in failing to stop the iron-chinned La Porte, anyway.

As Truss has rightly said, Nelson, while a fine technician, could fall foul to foes who had that little bit more class. As I'm sure most will agree, he was a good two or three points down on Gomez before (brilliantly) forcing the stoppage, and this was a Gomez above his best weight and who'd had his aura wrecked by Sal already. Great win for Zoomy, but a telling sign that he had his weaknesses, none more so than the way he sometimes fell in to a lull and came forward in straight lines with that high guard - not a recipe for success against Sanchez's almost otherworldly counter-punching.

I think Sanchez either stops him late again - but with less drama beforehand - or takes a wide-ish decision, ala the La Porte fight. Something like 146-139.

Undeniable truth... is that an intellectual's 'FACT'. Dress it up like you will its still a waingro level comment. You're stating your opinion Chris, just as i was.

laporte was a clear win in terms of rounds but in a very competitive fight, pretty much admitted by sanchez. I'll accept of the fights i picked, its the weakest example. But do explain why is it an undeniable truth that he fought down to his opponents? Rather than maybe he struggled against cagey boxers like cowdell, or rangey guys like ford. Rather than he was unbeatable, so must have been taking it easy. I'm not sure you'd let other guys off so easy... not at the highest levels we're talking here.

His death denied us finding out just how great he was or could have been, because of the potential fights truss mentioned earlier. Which is why he's the ultimate what if.

I think sal was a fantastic fighter, and deserves a higher rating than nelson, i'd have him as slight favourite in the return. But there is no feather in history who would be more than slight favourite against prime nelson. Those that dismiss the relative points in their career that the fight took place in, or recognise how a green nelson faded late in that fight, and never did again, do nelson a huge disservice in my view. Yes it could be that he never again fought someone of sal's class, but maybe he learnt his lesson and paced himself better. If you watch his later fights, its pretty obvious to me... and a stoppage win for sal is highly unlikely... just my opinion.