Salvador Sanchez vs Wilfredo Gomez

Background

It was billed as ‘The Battle of the Little Giants’, and rightly so. It was one the first of legendary and spectacular match ups between the great fighting nations, Mexico and Puerto Rico, represented through the great champions Salvador Sanchez and Wilfredo Gomez.

Build up

Salvador Sanchez (40-1-1, 30KO), who had won the title in 1980, had already defended his title 6 times by the time he was matched up against Wilfredo Gomez. Still a young man at the age of 22, this was the biggest fight Sanchez had been pitted against when he came up against fellow great champion.

Wilfredo Gomez, who was king of the super bantamweights. He had knocked out all of opponents in his 32 wins to earn a formidable reputation, and had a bigger profile amongst casuals of the sport. His ferocious and exciting style was enough to earn him the tag as favourite going into the bout with Sanchez and Gomez made no secret of his intention to knockout out early. Sanchez however told Gomez: ” You had better take your picture before the fight, because after I get through with you, you won’t recognize yourself.”

The fight was to be held at Ceasar’s Palace, in front of 5,000 raving fans, and was shown on closed circuit television across the globe. The defending champion Sanchez, received $750,000, and Gomez would get $500,000.

The Fight

                Wilfredo Gomez stayed true to his pre fight vow, flying towards Sanchez from the opening bell. Wrong move. Sanchez threatened to end the Mexican-Puerto Rican affair early, countering Gomez’s rush with a combination to put him on the canvas. Gomez was hurt, and Sanchez jumped back on with a mid range assault, but Gomez weathered the storm.

Despite some shades of competitiveness, the direction of the fight always seemed to be with Sanchez. Even when Gomez went on the offensive, with Sanchez on the ropes, Sanchez showed his ring versatility by blocking, slipping and sliding punches off from on the inside. Gomez’s eyes started to close, his nose was bleeding and his cheeks puffed up, as Sanchez remained accurate  and active throughout the fight.

Sanchez floored Gomez in the first round

Then in the eighth round, with Gomez on the ropes, Sanchez feinted the jab and landed a hard right that bent Gomez over at the waist. Sanchez seized the opportunity and followed up with a savage assault that lowered Gomez into the ropes and eventually onto the floor. Gomez gamely showed some intention to continue the fight, but the ref stopped the affair, signalling Sanchez’s victory.

Aftermath

Salvador Sanchez celebrates beating Wilfredo Gomez

Despite being unknown previously amongst the general public, Sanchez’s victory over a big-name opponent put him on the map.  Sanchez would go onto to become the first featherweight to featured on HBO television a couple fights later. But on that night against Gomez, Sanchez represented the Mexican flag  with pride and so spectacularly, that to this day his only rival in the history of Mexican boxing is Julio Cesar Chavez, despite dying at the young age of 23.