If Salvador Sanchez never died.....

[Sugar Adam Ali]

What would his career look like if he would have fought thru the rest of the 80s

[way2strong]

The world will never know he could have stayed at his weight for a couple years longer and ended up facing Chavez sr or moved up in weight to face a pernell whitaker

[Sugar Adam Ali]

From what I read, his next few fights would have been rematches with laporte and Gomez, and then a move to lightweight vs arguello....

I think he easily wins the rematches but totally unsure about arguello.. Maybe it looks like the Pryor fight and Sanchez overwhelms him late

Then as 135 champ-- fights with Chavez, Rosario, Mancini, camacho,,,, all huge fights

[mickey malone]

From what I read, his next few fights would have been rematches with laporte and Gomez, and then a move to lightweight vs arguello....

I think he easily wins the rematches but totally unsure about arguello.. Maybe it looks like the Pryor fight and Sanchez overwhelms him late

Then as 135 champ-- fights with Chavez, Rosario, Mancini, camacho,,,, all huge fights

My initial thought would've been a Nelson rematch.. But in all probability, he'd have fought Arguello, possibly at sfw or ltwt..
That really would have been huge!.. Mancini, Camacho, Rosario, Bramble, Chavez - all possibilities..

[ShoulderRoll]

Sanchez against Arguello would have been something to see.

If he managed to win that then there could have been a great Mexico vs Puerto Rico showdown with prime Camacho. The weight classes in his vicinity were loaded with superstar talent.

I don't think he makes it undefeated through all those names but you never know.

[rightsideup]

As great as Sanchez potential seemed to be I do not think he would have been successful against elite fighters if he moved up in weight I envisioned him having a long run at feather.

[Humean]

It is hard to tell because it happens so often that a fighter is dominant at one division and then moves up in weight and he really loses his edge. At featherweight Sanchez looked to me about as good as it gets but you never know how his chin, which looked like granite at 126, would look at 135 against a puncher like Arguello. In terms of skills I think he'd be more than a match of the best of the junior lightweight and lightweight division in the early to mid 80s. I'd love to have seen Arguello-Sanchez, it probably would have started a bit boring and tentative but developed momentum as the fight wore on as Arguello felt he could time Sanchez but if Sanchez could take Arguello's punches well it could have developed into a barnstormer down the stretch. I'd go with Sanchez on the higher skillset but if Arguello's punches could penetrate Sanchez's chin then i'd go for Arguello.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

It is hard to tell because it happens so often that a fighter is dominant at one division and then moves up in weight and he really loses his edge. At featherweight Sanchez looked to me about as good as it gets but you never know how his chin, which looked like granite at 126, would look at 135 against a puncher like Arguello. In terms of skills I think he'd be more than a match of the best of the junior lightweight and lightweight division in the early to mid 80s. I'd love to have seen Arguello-Sanchez, it probably would have started a bit boring and tentative but developed momentum as the fight wore on as Arguello felt he could time Sanchez but if Sanchez could take Arguello's punches well it could have developed into a barnstormer down the stretc. I'd go with Sanchez on the higher skillset but if Arguello's punches could penetrate Sanchez's chin then i'd go for Arguello.

Yeah I can see Sanchez dominating at feather, maybe beating arguello, but then the wars would have caught with him and I think he could become fodder for Rosario, Chavez, camacho, possibly even Mancini... I can imagine Sanchez at 140 by 88-89 taking losses to young guns like meldrick,

[soul_survivor]

One of the great "what ifs..." of boxing. Tbh I just don't know, there were some names to go up against and have mega fights with, as everyone has mentioned, Arguello, Mancini, Camacho and of course maybe even Chavez Sr...how many of those he beats? Possibly Mancini, maybe Camacho but Arguello and Chavez Sr for me would have been too much. But we'll never know, I don't think we ever saw him at his physical peak, he was in his early 20s when he died. Imagine him at 25/26/27...

[just the facts]

my dad and argue to this day about a Sanchez/Arguello matchup. Dad swears Arguellos power would have prevailed, I maintain Sals huge advantage in speed would have got his an easy decision. Wish we could have found out