Salvador Sanchez KO8 Wilfredo Gomez (1981): any way Gomez could have won?

[elmersalsa]

I feel sorry for every one of your teachers. I'm sure they tried.

What do you mean by that?

[m3304]

Even though Gomez was coming up in weight he was the betting favorite. I could be wrong
but I think he was something like 40-0 with 40 KO's before the Sanchez fight. Both were great fighters
& as I recall Gomez finally did become featherweight champ later on. I loved the sport for a long time
& IMO Sanchez was one of the all time greats. Knocking out Little Red Lopez, Wilfredo Gomez &
The "Mighty Warrior' Azumeh Nelson is a testament to the greatness of Sanchez. Nelson after
being KO'd by Sanchez held the featherweight & later junior lightweight championship for over 14 years.
It was the only time Nelson was ever KO'd.

Sanchez finished his remarkable career with 44 wins & 1 loss. He lost his life crashing his sports car
in his early 20's losing IMO almost a decade of prime years ahead of him. I checked his record &
the only blemish of his career was a split decision loss in a bantamweight fight years before his
championship reign.

I see at BoxRec he's only rated #12 featherweight of all times. I think he was #1. In fact of
all the fighters lb for lb I'd rate (1 Ray Robinson 2) Roberto Duran 3) Salvatore Sanchez

[elmersalsa]

Even though Gomez was coming up in weight he was the betting favorite. I could be wrong
but I think he was something like 40-0 with 40 KO's before the Sanchez fight. Both were great fighters
& as I recall Gomez finally did become featherweight champ later on. I loved the sport for a long time
& IMO Sanchez was one of the all time greats. Knocking out Little Red Lopez, Wilfredo Gomez &
The "Mighty Warrior' Azumeh Nelson is a testament to the greatness of Sanchez. Nelson after
being KO'd by Sanchez held the featherweight & later junior lightweight championship for over 14 years.
It was the only time Nelson was ever KO'd.

Sanchez finished his remarkable career with 44 wins & 1 loss. He lost his life crashing his sports car
in his early 20's losing IMO almost a decade of prime years ahead of him. I checked his record &
the only blemish of his career was a split decision loss in a bantamweight fight years before his
championship reign.

I see at BoxRec he's only rated #12 featherweight of all times. I think he was #1. In fact of
all the fighters lb for lb I'd rate (1 Ray Robinson 2) Roberto Duran 3) Salvatore Sanchez

Salvador Sanchez for sure is a top 5 featherweight all-time.

[Nile4000]

I think that also the great Eusebio Pedroza would have obliterated Bazooka.

So, either way, Gomez would have lost to these two great champions at featherweight. They were in another class by themselves.

Gomez had to beat an unlisted champ Juan LaPorte. That was the only way he could have become champ in my opinion. Not through Pedroza or Sanchez.

My feelings exactly. He was just moving up meeting superior fighters.

[elmersalsa]

I think that also the great Eusebio Pedroza would have obliterated Bazooka.

So, either way, Gomez would have lost to these two great champions at featherweight. They were in another class by themselves.

Gomez had to beat an unlisted champ Juan LaPorte. That was the only way he could have become champ in my opinion. Not through Pedroza or Sanchez.

My feelings exactly. He was just moving up meeting superior fighters.

Exactly. It is a damn shame that Pedroza and Sanchez never got into it.

[Nile4000]

I think that also the great Eusebio Pedroza would have obliterated Bazooka.

So, either way, Gomez would have lost to these two great champions at featherweight. They were in another class by themselves.

Gomez had to beat an unlisted champ Juan LaPorte. That was the only way he could have become champ in my opinion. Not through Pedroza or Sanchez.

My feelings exactly. He was just moving up meeting superior fighters.

Exactly. It is a damn shame that Pedroza and Sanchez never got into it.

Real talk! I think Sanchez wanting to be a doctor and going out with the most dollars had something to do with that. I'm thinking something might have happened to him, causing his death.

[giacomino]

Gómez made tactical errors in the Sanchez fight and Sanchez was smart and talented enough to exploit them. Would have been amazing to see a rematch, although I would have still picked Sanchez by a close decision the second time around. Gómez would have beaten Pedroza, IMO. He slapped LaPorte around after he won a belt like he was an amateur. Pedroza’s win over LaPorte was close and questionable, like his Lockridge fights. Gómez would have matched Pedroza nut-shot for nut-shot, thrown more punches and Pedroza didn’t have the power to hurt him. The idea Pedroza would have “obliterated” Gómez is fanboy fantasy. Sanchez and Pedroza were different fighters

[Counter-puncher]

Maybe. I think size would be a factor for Gomez against Pedrosa, and the whole style triangle thing means I’d hold judgement on Pedrosa-Gomez just on the basis of their comparative performance against Laporte. Also I wonder if Pedrosas box move style was a difficult one for Gomez (Laportes lazy style certainly wasn’t). Totally agree it would be a foul fest for the ages but even there I think Pedrosa being bigger physically would have success bashing him with his shoulder/etc (I’m sure they’d go blow for blow with the low blows and elbows though ). I mean, Pedrosa was a load for anyone to try to carry and he does have some advantages to parlay here

I can see it either way, my instinct says Pedrosa but it’s no clear cut call, obliterated is obvious Elmo hyper

[giacomino]

Maybe. I think size would be a factor for Gomez against Pedrosa, and the whole style triangle thing means I’d hold judgement on Pedrosa-Gomez just on the basis of their comparative performance against Laporte. Also I wonder if Pedrosas box move style was a difficult one for Gomez (Laportes lazy style certainly wasn’t). Totally agree it would be a foul fest for the ages but even there I think Pedrosa being bigger physically would have success bashing him with his shoulder/etc (I’m sure they’d go blow for blow with the low blows and elbows though ). I mean, Pedrosa was a load for anyone to try to carry and he does have some advantages to parlay here

I can see it either way, my instinct says Pedrosa but it’s no clear cut call, obliterated is obvious Elmo hyper

100% agree. I was mostly reacting to Elmo’s usual hyperbole, I think Gomez was underrated as a boxer, but Pedroza used his size well. Gomez was just as mean with the ball-shots (Zárate can attest to that). Both would have been DQ’d today more than once. My guess is it would go the distance and Gomez would win but Pedroza could pull out a close win as well. Neither would be, as Elmo said, “obliterated”

[Counter-puncher]

in any hypo i basically default to 'Pedrosa would be difficult' because, well, huge guy, great mover, rough and physical and smart with it, i mean i would hate fighting him i reckon

[elmersalsa]

Maybe. I think size would be a factor for Gomez against Pedrosa, and the whole style triangle thing means I’d hold judgement on Pedrosa-Gomez just on the basis of their comparative performance against Laporte. Also I wonder if Pedrosas box move style was a difficult one for Gomez (Laportes lazy style certainly wasn’t). Totally agree it would be a foul fest for the ages but even there I think Pedrosa being bigger physically would have success bashing him with his shoulder/etc (I’m sure they’d go blow for blow with the low blows and elbows though ). I mean, Pedrosa was a load for anyone to try to carry and he does have some advantages to parlay here

I can see it either way, my instinct says Pedrosa but it’s no clear cut call, obliterated is obvious Elmo hyper

100% agree. I was mostly reacting to Elmo’s usual hyperbole, I think Gomez was underrated as a boxer, but Pedroza used his size well. Gomez was just as mean with the ball-shots (Zárate can attest to that). Both would have been DQ’d today more than once. My guess is it would go the distance and Gomez would win but Pedroza could pull out a close win as well. Neither would be, as Elmo said, “obliterated”

Pedroza whips Gomez every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Gomez did not had the power to hurt a real featherweight. Plus, Pedroza was much more a complete fighter than Gomez. Perhaps Pedroza was the most complete boxer that I have ever seen. But, the American media make us to believe that he was totally a dirty fighter. I differ from that assessment. Pedroza could do it all. He was just not exciting for American TV audiences. But, his style was effective most of the time.

[giacomino]

Maybe. I think size would be a factor for Gomez against Pedrosa, and the whole style triangle thing means I’d hold judgement on Pedrosa-Gomez just on the basis of their comparative performance against Laporte. Also I wonder if Pedrosas box move style was a difficult one for Gomez (Laportes lazy style certainly wasn’t). Totally agree it would be a foul fest for the ages but even there I think Pedrosa being bigger physically would have success bashing him with his shoulder/etc (I’m sure they’d go blow for blow with the low blows and elbows though ). I mean, Pedrosa was a load for anyone to try to carry and he does have some advantages to parlay here

I can see it either way, my instinct says Pedrosa but it’s no clear cut call, obliterated is obvious Elmo hyper

100% agree. I was mostly reacting to Elmo’s usual hyperbole, I think Gomez was underrated as a boxer, but Pedroza used his size well. Gomez was just as mean with the ball-shots (Zárate can attest to that). Both would have been DQ’d today more than once. My guess is it would go the distance and Gomez would win but Pedroza could pull out a close win as well. Neither would be, as Elmo said, “obliterated”

Pedroza whips Gomez every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Gomez did not had the power to hurt a real featherweight. Plus, Pedroza was much more a complete fighter than Gomez. Perhaps Pedroza was the most complete boxer that I have ever seen. But, the American media make us to believe that he was totally a dirty fighter. I differ from that assessment. Pedroza could do it all. He was just not exciting for American TV audiences. But, his style was effective most of the time.

Yes, we know about your love of Pedroza. Could whip Louis, Ali and both Sugar Rays on the same night Got it.

[elmersalsa]

100% agree. I was mostly reacting to Elmo’s usual hyperbole, I think Gomez was underrated as a boxer, but Pedroza used his size well. Gomez was just as mean with the ball-shots (Zárate can attest to that). Both would have been DQ’d today more than once. My guess is it would go the distance and Gomez would win but Pedroza could pull out a close win as well. Neither would be, as Elmo said, “obliterated”

Pedroza whips Gomez every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Gomez did not had the power to hurt a real featherweight. Plus, Pedroza was much more a complete fighter than Gomez. Perhaps Pedroza was the most complete boxer that I have ever seen. But, the American media make us to believe that he was totally a dirty fighter. I differ from that assessment. Pedroza could do it all. He was just not exciting for American TV audiences. But, his style was effective most of the time.

Yes, we know about your love of Pedroza. Could whip Louis, Ali and both Sugar Rays on the same night Got it.

Pedroza was more complete fighter than those guys mentioned above

[Ambling Alp II]

Pedroza was competent at most things, not great at anything. Not sure hop "complete" that makes him. He clearly wasn't as good as the guys just mentioned.

[Wee Tommy]

Another thing that occurred to me: might Gomez's eye injuries have been caused by head butts? I can't tell, because their infighting moments make it hard to track fists, butts, or elbows on film.

No disrespect to Sanchez, but I saw that he was very quick to lower his head anytime the guys got really close to each other.

Desperate.

[elmersalsa]

Pedroza was competent at most things, not great at anything. Not sure hop "complete" that makes him. He clearly wasn't as good as the guys just mentioned.

You don't have a clue what a complete fighter is. A compleye fighter to you gotta be American. Anyone else from another country is not a complete fighter in your view.