Mike Tyson has revealed who he deems to be the greatest Mexican boxer to ever lace up a pair of gloves.
When it comes to identifying Mexico’s greatest ever fighter, the choices are as rich as the country’s boxing heritage. Such has been Mexico’s success across generations that only the United States has produced more world champions. Mexico’s tally sits around the 190 mark — nearly double that of the UK, who are third on the all-time list.
In the May 2, 2024 issue of Boxing News, we named our own top 10 Mexican fighters. The list included featherweight stylist Vicente Saldivar, strawweight master Ricardo Lopez, and the eternal rivals Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales.
At number one, we selected Mexican national hero and sporting icon Julio Cesar Chavez, who at one stage built an 88-fight unbeaten record and made nine defences of his WBC super-featherweight title.
Mike Tyson, the former undisputed heavyweight champion and host of his “Hotboxin’” Podcast, has now weighed in with his own pick — and it wasn’t Chavez. Instead, Tyson chose the man who ranked second on our list.
“Salvador Sanchez. I think Sanchez was just hard to beat, he’s one of those guys. Sanchez, this made him really special — if you’re a halfway fighter, decent fighter, you might last the distance. As good as you are, the greater you are the more he kicks your ass.
“He fights right above the level of the game that you’re fighting. You go ask him he gonna f*** you up. He’s just above everybody else. Monster.”
Tragically, Sanchez lost his life in a car accident on August 12, 1982, at just 23 years old, only 34 days before a planned defence of his WBC featherweight title in a rematch with Juan Laporte at Madison Square Garden. By then, he had already conquered elite opposition in Danny Lopez, Wilfredo Gomez and a young Azumah Nelson.
Among the pantheon of Mexican greats, Sanchez may well have been the most complete of them all — a fighter whose brilliance still resonates more than four decades after his death, making it clear why Tyson feels the way he does.