Vicente Saldivar


Vicente Samuel Saldívar García was a Mexican professional boxer who competed between 1961 and 1973. He was a two-time featherweight champion, having held the WBA, WBC, and The Ring titles from 1964 until his retirement in 1967. He came back and once again held the WBC and The Ring titles in 1970. Saldivar has frequently been ranked amongst the greatest in the history of that division by many noted boxing historians and critics. He currently holds the record for the most wins in unified featherweight title bouts and the longest unified featherweight championship reign in boxing history at 8 title bouts and 7 title defenses respectively. Saldívar fought in front of the fourth largest crowd ever, 90,000 in Estadio Azteca, and has also regularly been cited as one of the finest left-handed fighters of all time.

Childhood

Saldívar was born in one of the many poor quarters of Mexico City and is one of seven children. He used to get in fights on the streets and in school, so his father decided to channel the misguided energy into boxing. Like many other Mexicans his father was a big boxing fan, so it was a logical move. He was taught by Jose Moreno, a veteran trainer of a nearby Mexico City boxing gym.

Fighting style

As a southpaw, Saldívar was a dynamic fighter in the ring. He could box or brawl, and often softened opponents with a brutal body attack. Among his greatest assets was his stamina; he scored seven knockouts after the 7th round. Saldívar had an unusually slow heart and pulse rate, which he claimed was the secret of the phenomenal pace he was able to maintain in the ring.

Amateur career

Saldívar had a successful amateur career, crowned with a Mexican Golden Gloves title at bantamweight. At seventeen years old, he was included into the 1960 Olympic team, but was eliminated in the first bout of the Rome tournament by Ernst Chervet of Switzerland.

Professional career

Saldívar turned professional in 1961 and won the Mexican featherweight title with a second-round knockout of Juan Ramírez on February 8, 1964. His first major victory came on June 1 of that same year when he defeated future lightweight champion and hall of fame member Ismael Laguna. Before challenging for a world title, he accumulated a record of 25–1, with his sole loss avenged by knockout.

WBC and WBA Featherweight Championships

On September 26, 1964, Saldívar won the WBA and WBC Featherweight titles by upsetting fellow Mexican fighter and future hall of famer Sugar Ramos with an 11th-round knockout in an extremely bloody battle. His first reign as champion would last three years, in which Saldívar made eight successful title defenses. The reign was highlighted by his trilogy with Howard Winstone.
In his first title defense, he defeated future champion Raul Rojas. On September 7, 1965, he defeated Winstone in their first meeting with a 15-round decision. Following that victory, he defeated Floyd Robertson by second round knock out. He then defeated Mitsunori Seki in two consecutive bouts. On June 15, 1967, Saldívar defeated Winston once again by a 15-round decision. In 1996, Ring magazine included their second meeting on their list of the 100 greatest title fights of all-time. In the final installment of their trilogy, he defeated Winston by 12th round knock out. Saldivar announced his retirement after that contest in October 1967. Three months later, Winstone won recognition as WBC featherweight champion, claiming the belt left vacant by Saldivar, by defeating Mitsunori Seki with a 9th-round stoppage due to a cut right eye.

Return to the ring

After 21 months of inactivity, Saldívar returned to the ring on July 18, 1969, and won a 10-round unanimous decision over another former as well as future Featherweight champion, José Legra. Then on May 9, 1970, he regained the featherweight title with a 15-round unanimous decision over Johnny Famechon. This reign, however, was short-lived. Saldívar lost the crown seven months later in his first defense against Kuniaki Shibata.

Retirement and comeback

He would fight once more before retiring again in 1971, however, the lure of the ring was too strong. He returned at the age of 30 after 2 years and 3 months of inactivity for another title attempt on October 21, 1973. His opponent was fellow Hall of Famer and former bantamweight champion Éder Jofre. Jofre, who was 37, had won the Featherweight crown after coming out of his own retirement. Saldívar's skills had greatly diminished and Jofre won the contest with a fourth-round knockout in Brazil. After the fight, Saldívar retired for good.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
40Loss37–3Éder JofreKO4 Oct 21, 1973Ginásio de Esportes, Salvador, Bahia, BrazilFor WBC featherweight title
39Win37–2Frankie CrawfordUD10Jul 15, 1971Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
38Loss36–2Kuniaki ShibataRTD12 Dec 11, 1970Auditorio Municipal, Tijuana, Baja California, MexicoLost WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
37Win36–1Johnny FamechonUD15May 9, 1970PalaEur, Rome, Lazio, ItalyWon WBC and The Ring featherweight titles
36Win35–1José LegráUD10Jul 18, 1969The Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.
35Win34–1Howard WinstoneTKO12 Oct 14, 1967Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, MexicoRetained WBA, WBC, and The Ring featherweight titles
34Win33–1Howard WinstonePTS15Jun 15, 1967Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales, U.K.Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring featherweight titles
33Win32–1Mitsunori SekiTKO7 Jan 29, 1967Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City, MexicoRetained WBA, WBC, and The Ring featherweight titles
32Win31–1Mitsunori SekiUD15Aug 7, 1966Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City, MexicoRetained WBA, WBC, and The Ring featherweight titles
31Win30–1Floyd RobertsonKO2 Feb 12, 1966Plaza de Toros México, Mexico City, MexicoRetained WBA, WBC, and The Ring featherweight titles
30Win29–1Howard WinstonePTS15Sep 7, 1965Earls Court Arena, London, England, U.K.Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring featherweight titles
29Win28–1Raul RojasTKO15 May 7, 1965Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, U.S.Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring featherweight titles
28Win27–1Delfino RosalesTKO11 Dec 6, 1964Plaza de Toros La Luz, León, Guanajuato, MexicoRetained Mexican featherweight title
27Win26–1Sugar RamosRTD12 Sep 26, 1964Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City, MexicoWon WBA, WBC, and The Ring featherweight titles
26Win25–1Ismael LagunaUD10Jun 1, 1964Plaza de Toros, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
25Win24–1Eduardo GuerreroUD12Apr 4, 1964Arena México, Mexico City, MexicoRetained Mexican featherweight title
24Win23–1Juan RamírezTKO2 Feb 8, 1964Arena México, Mexico City, MexicoWon Mexican featherweight title
23Win22–1Félix GutiérrezTKO3 Dec 16, 1963Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
22Win21–1Beresford FrancisTKO2 Sep 21, 1963Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico
21Win20–1Eloy SánchezKO1 Jul 13, 1963Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico
20Win19–1Baby LuisTKO8 Jun 15, 1963Mexico City, Mexico
19Win18–1Dwight HawkinsKO5 Apr 19, 1963Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
18Win17–1Luis HernándezKO2 Mar 16, 1963Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico
17Loss16–1Baby LuisTKO7 Dec 29, 1962Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City, Mexico
16Win16–0Jorge SalazarKO5 Dec 16, 1962Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
15Win15–0José LópezPTS10Nov 17, 1962Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
14Win14–0Luis HernándezKO1 Oct 11, 1962Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico
13Win13–0Alberto SotoTKO2 Aug 22, 1962Arena Coliseo, Mexico City, Mexico
12Win12–0Indio FernándezTKO6 Jun 27, 1962Mexico City, Mexico
11Win11–0Genaro GonzálezDQ8 May 2, 1962Mexico City, Mexico
10Win10–0Jorge SalazarKO4 Apr 4, 1962Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
9Win9–0Juan ZavalaKO10 Mar 18, 1962Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico
8Win8–0Rosendo MartínezTKO5 Feb 8, 1962Huauchinango, Puebla, Mexico
7Win7–0Ernesto BeltránKO6 Jan 6, 1962Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
6Win6–0Juan RodríguezTKO6 Dec 3, 1961León, Guanajuato, Mexico
5Win5–0José Luis MoraPTS10Oct 14, 1961Huauchinango, Puebla, Mexico
4Win4–0Babe LópezKO3 May 20, 1961León, Guanajuato, Mexico
3Win3–0Eduardo MezaKO3 Apr 16, 1961Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico
2Win2–0Frijol GonzálezKO4 Mar 22, 1961Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico
1Win1–0Baby PalaciosKO1 Feb 18, 1961Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

''The Ring'' magazine titles

The Ring featherweight champion

Regional/International titles

Undisputed titles

Death

He died of cancer on July 18, 1985, aged only 42. In 1999 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.