Featherweights: Willie Pep vs Salvador Sanchez

[elmersalsa]

Have we ever discussed this match? I see Salvador winning this fight.

[theone]

Pep UD 15. Sanchez has been getting a tad overated lately on these boards.

[vagabundo55]

Pep UD 15. Sanchez has been getting a tad overated lately on these boards.

I say Sanchez did have a chance of beating Pep. The same thing can be said about Pep. (About being overrated.) Some fight fans seem to forget no fighter is invincible (including Sanchez.) I'd say both at their best it's a pick em fight. I'd probably favor Sanchez because of his counterpunching ability. Although Pep was a defensive wizard without a doubt, his offensive skills weren't quite on par with Sanchez counterpunching skills. So I'd say it'd be a competitive fight although slightly boring because both fighters would probably wait for the other to come in first.

[vagabundo55]

SALVADOR SANCHEZ COULD BEAT WILLIE PEP, BUT HE WOULD BE A HUGE UNDERDOG!ONEONEONEONEONEONEONEONEONE

That's funny. If I didn't know it was sarcasm i'd think that was idiotic because I don't think it'd be an easy fight for either fighter. But in all honesty, I do believe it would be a close fight, and a good case can be made for either fighter. I have said I would favor Pep in this match up in other threads, but I can see either fighter winning this match up though. I'd favor Pep to win 3 out of 5, but to say Pep would outclass Sanchez, now that I wouldn't agree with. These are some of the best fighters of all-time. Much like a fight between Whitaker and Duran, it could go either way. I know you'd favor Pep to win 5 out of 5 probably, but that might be overrating a fighter. (Don't worry, the moment someone says Sanchez wins 5 out of 5, i'll say the same.)

[vagabundo55]

If you expect Pep to go 4/5 against Sanchez (which I would), Sanchez would be a +375 underdog. That's being a big underdog, fella.

Even an huge underdog can win. Matchmakers, bookies, they've been wrong before. Sometimes statistics don't matter so much as what you've shown in the ring. Most people who've seen Sanchez fight at his best will agree he'd be a game fighter against any featherweight.. including Willie Pep. It takes a great fighter to beat a great fighter. Being an underdog, that's nothing for a great fighter. Sanchez was an underdog against Gomez too.

[vagabundo55]

If you expect Pep to go 4/5 against Sanchez (which I would), Sanchez would be a +375 underdog. That's being a big underdog, fella.

Even an huge underdog can win. Matchmakers, bookies, they've been wrong before. Sometimes statistics don't matter so much as what you've shown in the ring. Most people who've seen Sanchez fight at his best will agree he'd be a game fighter against any featherweight.. including Willie Pep. It takes a great fighter to beat a great fighter. Being an underdog, that's nothing for a great fighter. Sanchez was an underdog against Gomez too.

Um, yeah. I said that Sanchez would be a big underdog, not that he couldn't win. You know anything about sportsbook?

Nope.

[vagabundo55]

Seriously. I don't pick fighters to win or lose in these classic matchups unless I'd have one as a +500 or more underdog. I'd see Pep-Sanchez something like this:

• Pep -425
• Sanchez +375
• Pep by KO, TKO or DQ +250
• Pep by Decision -375
• Sanchez by KO, TKO or DQ +650
• Sanchez by Decision +525
• Over 13.5 rounds -210
• Under 13.5 rounds +195
• Draw +2000

Your thoughts?

To be quite honest, I respect those figures. But they're all speculation, same can be said about my opinion. They do seem just a tad bit off, sometimes the more popular fighter is seen as the favorite. I only really look into those types of figures when i'm going to bet on a fight. But even then bookies get it wrong sometimes and that's when I bet on a fight. I've admitted plenty of times I have a slight bias toward Sanchez although I try to stay realistic. Would you say the same about Pep for yourself?

[vagabundo55]

I actually like Sanchez better than Pep. I'm a huge fan. Pep was simply a better fighter, though. Also, I try not to rank fighters on what-might've-beens. He had 50 fights and did pretty damn well in those years, but for all we know, he could've been shot by the age of 24. It happend to Tyson and Ketchell. What a fighter does after he's lost it matters a lot to me. Pep after the plane crash simply wasn't the fighter he was before the crash, but he still fought like one of the greatest featherweights of all time. He would've always had trouble with Saddler, but Pep knew how to overcome adversity. We really didn't get to see whether or not Sanchez could, because in his short career, he didn't face enough of it. I'd like to see how he he'd react to being past his prime and fighting at a higher weight class at the age of 26, the way most featherweights are.

I understand your opinion on the "what if" about Sanchez. Funny thing is this match up isn't for an old Pep, or a Sanchez past his prime. So what they do after their prime shouldn't matter much. Sanchez faced great fighters in their prime. (Nelson can be called a bit green but then other fighters have fought for their title with that many fights or less and won.) If we made a "dream" match for Ali and Tyson we wouldn't use the Ali that was away from boxing for a couple of years, or the Tyson that was away. We'd imagine either fighter at their best. For the record i'd favor Ali to win 5 out of 5 in that match up easily. That being said, I can see where you're coming from, but this is all ultimately speculation. I'm sure our fellow boxrec posters also would respect both our opinions. (Which aren't very different anyway.) Honestly, as entertaining as this conversation has been, this thread is about who would win the fight not so much about what the odds of the fight would be.