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Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition

Salvador Sánchez

by Trudy Mercadal

Mexican boxer

Salvador Sánchez was a Mexican boxer and a Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, who was the World Boxing Council (WBC) and lineal featherweight champion from 1980 to 1982. Had it not been for his premature death, many of his contemporaries believed that Sánchez would have become the greatest featherweight boxer of all time.

Latino heritage: Mexican

Born: January 26, 1959; Santiago Tianguistenco, Mexico

Died: August 12, 1982; Queretaro, Mexico

Also known as: Salvador Sánchez Narváez; Sal Sánchez, Chava; Iron Lung

Areas of achievement: Boxing

EARLY LIFE

Salvador Sánchez was born in Santiago Tianguistenco, Mexico, in 1968. His parents were María Luisa Narváez and Felipe Sánchez. Like many young Mexican boys, Sánchez was a fan of wrestling, an extremely popular form of entertainment in Mexico. When his closest friend, José Sosa, took him to a boxing gym, Sánchez fell in love with practicing the sport. At thirteen, Sánchez began his amateur career. However, Sánchez soon pursued a professional career, after winning a few fights, becoming a professional boxer in 1975. Initially, his parents opposed Sánchez’s career choice, but they eventually came around. In fact, his mother would tape a cross inside his shoes made from palm leaves to represent Christian triumph.

Because of his reputation for almost superhuman endurance, Sánchez is considered one of the greatest boxers in the history of the sport. He chose to undergo extremely rigorous training. Reports have described that the medical doctor of his team helped perfect his training method so that Sánchez could spar for a five-minute round and then have his heart rate fall back to normal within a forty-five-second break. This led to Sánchez being nicknamed “Iron Lung.”

LIFE'S WORK

Sánchez’s professional career began at sixteen, winning numerous fights against stronger and seasoned Mexican contenders. He won eighteen bouts in a row without a single loss. Sánchez soon became one of the most impressive young boxers the Mexican audience had seen. However, he lost his nineteenth professional fight against bantamweight champion Antonio Becerra, a fighter much more experienced than Sánchez. This defeat was Sánchez’s only loss during his career.

Sánchez continued to fight, and reached the Featherweight division. Sánchez continued to climb the boxing ladder with surprising ease and beat Puerto Rican Featherweight champion Felix Trinidad Sr. in 1972, at the Summit in Houston, Texas.

Despite his success, Sánchez’s first celebrity fight was in 1980 against popular world champion Danny “Little Red” Lopez. Although Lopez proved a formidable contender, the then twenty-one-year-old Sánchez knocked-out the defending champion in thirteen rounds in 1980. Sánchez, having won his first title, became a very popular champion. López called Sánchez’s win “beginner’s luck,” demanding a rematch, which took place in Las Vegas’ Caesar’s Palace. Sánchez defeated Lopez by a total knockout (TKO) in the fourteenth round. Sánchez would then defeat Robert Castanon and Nicky Perez that same year.

Sánchez then faced the undefeated World Junior Featherweight champion, Wilfredo Gómez, who went up in weight and challenged Sánchez for the belt. Gómez, although new to the weight, was a seasoned boxer who had dominated the junior boxing division. Moreover, Gómez had disrespected Sánchez personally and publicly on various occasions, and Sánchez’s widow, Teresa, would later remember that Sánchez told her he aimed to hurt Gómez. Sánchez knocked Gómez out in round eight on August 21, 1981, giving Gómez the first loss of his professional career. The fight launched Sánchez into even greater renown.

Sánchez continued undefeated into 1982. On July 21, 1982, Sánchez fought his last bout against the undefeated Ghanian boxer Azumah Nelson at Madison Square Garden. Nelson was a replacement after his original opponent, Mario Miranda, withdrew with an injury. Sánchez was expected to win the fight easily, as Nelson was less known. However, it turned out to be an unexpectedly tough match. Nevertheless, Sánchez stopped Nelson in the fifteenth round and won his last fight. Sánchez had planned to move up to the lightweight division to fight Alexis Arguello, and retire afterwards to go to medical school—but the fight never took place.

Sánchez died on August 12, 1982, after crashing his car on a highway in Queretaro, Mexico, dying instantly. He was twenty-three years old. Salvador Sánchez finished his seven-year professional career with a score of 44-1-1 and thirty-two knockouts. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame posthumously in 1991. He left behind his wife, Teresa Guadarrama and two sons, Cristian and Omar Sánchez.

SIGNIFICANCE

Although often overlooked due to his short career, Salvador Sánchez is arguably the best Mexican boxer in the history of the sport, according to many. Some experts believe that Sánchez, had he not died so young, would have become the best featherweight boxer to ever step inside a ring. Sánchez was a dedicated and determined athlete, who grew up in a poor family but emerged to beat incredible odds and best undefeated boxers from around the world. Sánchez has been forgotten by many, but there is no refuting the fact that in his day he cast a large shadow over Mexican boxing. Lately, numerous commemorative stories have been published in English and Spanish media outlets about the life and trajectory of the prodigious young boxer.

Further Reading

1 

Allen, Stephen D. A History of Boxing in Mexico: Masculinity, Modernity and Nationalism. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2017. A history of boxing and boxers in Mexico, and how they become sources of national pride. It also explains their role in U.S. boxing.

2 

Izquierdazo, Staff. “Cuatro Rivales Describen Cómo Era Pelear Contra Salvador Sánchez.” Izquierdazo.com, April 22, 2020. izquierdazo.com/cuatro-rivales-describen-como-era-pelear-con-salvador-sanchez. Although the original article is written in Spanish, it provides interviews with four of Sánchez’s opponents. The former boxers describe what it was like fighting against Sanchez, providing an in-house perspective about Sánchez’s talents inside the ring.

3 

López, Richard. “A Look Back at Salvador Sanchez vs. Danny Lopez.” Eightcount.tv, March 23, 2020, https://eightcount.tv/2020/03/24/a-look-back-at-salva-dor-sanchez-vs-danny-lopez-i. A detailed and thrilling recount of the legendary fight between Sanchez and Danny López.

4 

“Salvador Sanchez’s Record.” Salvador Sánchez Memorial. salvadorsanchez.com, n.d. www.salvadorsanchez.com/English/record.html. The eponymous website contains a complete and detailed history of Sanchez’s fights.

5 

Wainwright, Anson. “Mexican Great Salvador Sanchez Remembered by Friends, Fans and Former Foes.” TheRingTV.com, April 21, 2020. www.ringtv.com/597620-mexican-great-salvador-sanchez-remembered-by-friends-fans-and-former-foes. This article revisits Salvador Sanchez’s career and recounts the love and praise from the public. It contains commentary from other boxers about Sánchez as a person and an athlete.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Mercadal, Trudy. "Salvador Sánchez." Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition, edited by Trudy Mercadal, et al., Salem Press, 2021. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLLatin2e_0489.
APA 7th
Mercadal, T. (2021). Salvador Sánchez. In T. Mercadal, C. Tafolla & M. P. Cotera (Eds.), Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Mercadal, Trudy. "Salvador Sánchez." Edited by Trudy Mercadal, Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera. Great Lives from History: Latinos, 2nd Edition. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2021. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.