I never thought of this matchup....but it would be a great fight.

Any thoughts....?

sal would be too small for Robert Duran given the fact that we didnt see Sal at lightweight but im guessing he would give an Alexis Arguello type performance before sucumbing to Durans power and tenacity the way Arguello did to Pryor. This fight would be very similar since a primed and more effective SAl would probably be fighting at 126-130 lbs not 135. When you have a great small guy vs a great big guy, the big guy usually wins. Like i said i figure the fight would be like arguello/pryor except i dont see SAl getting stopped by Roberto Duran. Given the track record of Sal's oppenents, i dont think any of them fought effectivly past 130lbs. This means most of his opponents are not close to Durans size.

This was P4P...

#4# Sanchez is a more versatile fighter. He would make this an arms length fight after tasting some of Duran`s wicked body shots. Duran`s problem was always against smoooth, tough, intelligent boxers. Salvador by U/D.

Duran's problems were more against stick and move boxers. Sal was a stand in your face boxer who used counterpunching. Duran is really an underrated boxer. He had good handspeed and had an uncanny ability to make guys miss. I don't think he gets the credit he deserves as a complete/versatile fighter. Not to mention that he had a great chin as well.

This fight is a mismatch in terms of size. Sal maybe fights at 135 toward the end of his career. I think he could have been fine against good fighters at 135 but we are talking about the greatest lightweight of all time. Kind of like Morales fighting at 135. Could he have beat some some good fighters at 135 in his prime? Sure, but could he have beat Castillo?

you have to explain to me what you mean. im a bit confused because P4P could compare Tyson to SAl too. and if thats what you mean , than this isn't a match up its a comparison of accomplisment.

You Kinda missed the point. This is based on pound for pound, not who has size advantage. For example, If Duran was a Heavyweight with all the skills he has a lightweight, could he beat the `Clit`shko brothers ?

Each guy at his best..squared to equal size.Say Duran was a featherweight rather than a lightweight....or vice versa.

Still Duran. I think the difference being hand speed. I am HUGE Sanchez fan, by the way. Duran was just special.

I would love to see a heavyweight Duran fight the Quitschko brothers. Or is it Bitchko?

Duran did have great handspeed.Alot of people who only saw him in the 80s dont realize that they are only watching maybe 60% of what he was at lightweight.He lost that speed....

I would give Duran the edge in power punch for punch...Sanchez the edge in boxing ability but not by much.Sal was a well rounded warrior but Duran`s slick defense might be the difference here.

Id lean towards Duran in a distance fight all the way.

i know its fun to compare P4P, but it just cant be done in a realistic way. there is no way we could compare P4P. the physical intangibles wont allow it. IF pretending Duran was a heavy weight but taller bigger , his body traits would change. Its not fair for real Heavy weights because you lose speed, stamina, and cordination isnt the same. but, if that the way you wanna do it than ill go with Sal hence the nelson fight.

A feather and a lightweight isnt unrealistic....maybe comparing a heavy and a lightweight would be.

given that salva left us while so young, as good as he was we still dont know how good we could have been. so i will go with duran on this one.
duran was just too vicious in his prime, salva would outbox and outslick duran in parts, but over 15 rounds. i dont see it. i think duran would eventually make salva fight duran's fight. i see a clear UD for duran (once again, we never saw salva get knock out).

i know that a light and feather could be compared , but i said what i did based on this quote. Regardless if you "mythically " match these two up people will still think Duran would be stronger and i personally think its unfair to sal because people wont take in to consideration that they are "mythically" in that same weight class and they would lean with Duran, but... given tha circumstances you provided, a smaller version of Duran at Sals Division would get beat because we arent acknologing that Duran is the bigger man

@ more versatile then Duran. Doesn't get anymore versatile. Sanchez was a great one but Duran was faster and had a better defense. He wins a close but clear decision.

Sal would get on his toes at times and cause trouble. But he was a warrior at heart and he would fall short here.

Sanchez was the much smoother boxer while Duran was more rugged with underrated defense. It is close but then again we are talking about 2 of the most intelligent fighters to lace them up. If Sanchez did not die early, he may have been top 10 #p# based on beating more creme dela creme fighters.

Sal was great. Duran was greater. He was smoother with lateral movement. No one threw a smoother right hand then Duran did. Sanchez defense isn't in the same ballpark as Duran's.

Look at the trouble he had with the pressure from a novice Nelson. Duran would bring the same pressure, but do it more intelligently.

Fair point...I think the Nelson fight might have been an anomaly to some extent.Had they had a rematch Sal wouldve know what he was in for...in the end he stopped a guy that was impossible to stop Azumah Nelson.

Not that I disagree with Duran winning...I think his defense might be the difference here.

I had Nelson ahead at the time of the stoppage. I see the mythical rematch differently. Nelson had never been past 8 rounds or been in the US.

I like the professor if they fought again. Sal was pushed by some other guys too. I wish he and Pedroza would have fought. That would have been a great one.

Duran's d and superior handspeed are going to be tough for Sanchez to overcome. Add in that Duran is the harder puncher with an equal chin and Sal would appear to be looking up a hill.

Sanchez fought a real good level of comp for the short time he was champion...and as a contender.Being pushed by the guys he faced is a positive...it showed he could handle pressure.

Sal had good speed too,as well as an excellant chin,good power,counterpunching skills..Duran did have some unique qualities for an aggressive fighter...#1 being defense and vision.

Its a pretty even matchup..Id slightly favor Duran.

There are few things that people sometimes overlook when analyzing the Sanchez/Nelson fight. Yes, Sanchez was much more experienced professionally. However, Sal didn't have an amateur career so his first 20 fights were essentially his amateur experience. I believe Nelson had about 50 if I am not mistaken. Another thing is that Sal was 23 and Nelson was 26. IMO fighters usually don't peak until they are about 27 so Nelson was more physically mature IMO.

Sal was great but could fight down to his level of competition as he showed vs. Ford and Cowdell. Again, that may have been an indication of 22 year old immaturity or lack of focus. I bet he would have been laser focused in a Nelson rematch.

Sal had fought 44 p[ro fights and been 15rds countless times. That's much more experience then 50 amateur fights and 13 pro ones in Ghana.

Sal did fight down to his competition at times. But Ford and Cowdell were not pressing him and hitting him hard. Nelson was all over him early and after Sanchez dropped him. If it was a matter of being unmotivated you wouldn't think Nelson would regain control of the fight.

Nelson was every bit as good as Sanchez imo.

I am talking focus in training and strategy. I am sure Sal went balls out during the fight. Nobody knew Nelson, I am not even sure they had video of the guy. I am sure Nelson knew much more about Sanchez than Sal about Nelson.

Nelson was great IMO, I have nothing but admiration for the guy.

I do think physical maturity was on Nelson's side though. I know Sal was more experienced, no doubt, he was also tired from a brutal schedule. He fought 15 rounds 2.5 months before. From July of 81 through July of 82 he fought three 15 round fights, one 10 round fight, and some guy named Wilfredo Gomez.

Being able to win a fight when you are struggling or maybe underestimated a guy is the mark of a great fighter.

For example Lampkin pushed Duran a little but in the end the result was he go KTFO...


Sal wouldve ended the rematch with Nelson sooner.

ok how bout the professor vs manos de pierda

Duran would beat him too. I think at his best Duran was no worse then a Top 5 alltime p4p fighter and not many guys would be able to beat him.

In a sense, Sal's closest fights (Nelson, Ford, Castillo) were arguably his most impressive in that he fell behind or the fights were real close and he just stayed the same, was never rushed and just fought his own fight knowing that would be enough.

I think he'd have taken Nelson in a return. He didn't know who Nelson was and tended to fight to the level of his oppostion somewhat. He knew what Nelson was all about after that fight and would have been more into the fight mentally and knew what to expect.

Nelson went 10 rounds in his first pro fight.

If they had a rematch, it would be a toss up because both fighters would do things a little different than in the first fight. A lot of people say `oh, but Nelson had only 13 pro fights.` Nelson is an exception to the rule. Dude had a decorated amatuer background and was commonwealth champ before he fought Sanchez.

Even a raw Nelson is better than 90% of the featherweights out there.He was uncommonly strong for a 126lber.

LMAO at thise decorated amateur experience making up for a guy who has 8 or 9 title defenses and goes 15 rounds at will.

Really hilarious.

LOL. Like a guy fighting 5 times, including 3 15 rounders, and TWO Hall a Famers within 13 months and fighting within 2.5 months of his last 15 round fight. I am sure that wasn't taxing on his body.

Just wondering how we know he went 15 rounds at will? Wouldn't those competitive fights against inferior fighters be an indication that perhaps he wasn't doing it at will?

I think it is hilarious that people think Nelson was this poor 26 year old lamb being thrown to the wolves. He was a MAN. Was he vastly experienced? No. Was he a baby? No. How old was Sanchez vs. Lopez? How many times had he gone 15 rounds when he fought Lopez?

Good shit. They are all men. I don't recall saying he was 14.

I can't even believe a "debate" is going on about this. Have fun.

Sanchez proved he was just as good in return bouts(I think he beat Lopez ass harder in the rematch). on another note, people want to say Sal beat a novice Nelson, but Nelson was older and closer to his primed age than SAl . not to mention that regardless if Nelson was a novice or not he was still Azumah Nelson.

Usually when the best arguement you can make against a fighter is to point out a fight he won by knockout ...its a weak arguement.Bottome line is Sanchez KOd Azumah Nelson and the only thing that stopped him from doing it again was the fact that he died.

amen.