[8.8] SANDY SADDLER 162-144(103)-16-2 [Super- Featherweight & Featherweight]: Daily Telegraph - Saddler v Pep IV - Box Rec online - George Foreman -
Sandy Saddler: World featherweight champion whose fight with Willie Pep in 1951 shocked even hardened boxing reporters: Sandy Saddler, the former world featherweight champion who has did aged 75, was best known for his epic series of fights with his fellow American Willie Pep which both entranced and repelled the boxing world between 1948 and 1951.
Although Saddler won three out of their four encounters, his reputation was somewhat tarnished by their final meeting on September 26 1951 which is often cited as the dirtiest fight in history.
This vicious encounter, which took place at the New York Polo Grounds before a crowd of 14,000, shocked even hardened boxing reporters. They likened it to a street brawl in which every rule in the book was broken at least twice. Though one of the greatest fights ever seen, it was one in which, to quote one observer, ‘any resemblance to a boxing match was purely coincidental.’ Daily Telegraph article 20th September 2001
In his second professional fight, Saddler was stopped in three rounds by Jock Leslie. It would be his only stoppage loss in 162 fights.
Saddler got his first shot at a world title in his 94th professional fight. A 3-1 underdog, Saddler knocked out Willie Pep in four rounds to win the World Featherweight Championship on October 29, 1948.
Pep defeated Saddler by a 15-round unanimous decision to regain the World Featherweight Championship on February 11, 1949. The fight was named Fight of the Year by The Ring.
On December 6, 1949, Saddler defeated Orlando Zulueta by a 10-round split decision to win the vacant National Boxing Association World Junior Lightweight Championship. He became the weight division’s first world champion since 1933.
Saddler defeated Pep by an eighth-round TKO to regain the World Featherweight Championship on September 8, 1950.
After Saddler regained the World Featherweight Championship, the NBA ceased to recognize him at Junior-Lightweight under its rule that a champion could only hold one title at a time. When Saddler knocked out Diego Sosa in Cuba on February 28 1951 the Cleveland Boxing Commission recognized the fight as being for the World Junior-Lightweight Championship. The weight division then fell into disuse until 1959.
Saddler defeated Pep by a ninth-round TKO to successfully defended the World Featherweight Championship on September 26, 1951. It was such a dirty fight that the New York State Athletic Commission revoked Pep’s license and indefinitely suspended Saddler. In the December 1997 issue of The Ring, the fight was named the sixth dirtiest fight of all-time.
Saddler was drafted into the United States Army in April 1952. The title was frozen while he served his two-year hitch.
On January 22, 1957, Saddler retired as World Featherweight Champion due to a detached retina in his right eye. He suffered the injury on July 27, 1956, when a taxicab in which he was a passenger was hit by another car. Box Rec online article
I met Sandy Saddler when I went to New York City to work out for a fight with Donald Waldheim. Sandy helped Dick Saddler and I out in the gym as far as finding sparring partners. From that time on, Sandy was in my corner any time I went to New York City. He was always second in charge behind Dick Saddler at all the big fights I had in Madison Square Garden. Whenever their was a big fight anywhere, Sandy was there – in Kingston, Jamaica; Caracas, Venezuela and the last fight we worked together in Africa against Muhammad Ali.
Dick knew I had so much respect for Sandy. If he couldn’t get a point over, he knew if I heard it from Sandy I would do what I was told. One time I had been training really well in California and just kind of stumbled into a vegetarian diet. Dick was with me in an examination and the doctor said, ‘George, you don’t eat meat do you?’ I said, ‘How’d you know that?’ ‘I can tell by the tests,’ said the doctor. Dick looked me in the eye and kind of swelled up and said, ‘You can’t do that. I did all this work to make you champion and you go off and eat just salads?’ I wasn’t going to stop being a vegetarian, though. Dick brought Sandy out to Oakland, California and let me tell you, Sandy jumped all over me and told me the virtues of meat. He made me eat some bacon right in front of him. Sandy was just an important guy to me. If ever a point needed to be made, call Sandy Saddler.
As a boxer, Sandy was vicious. There is no other word to describe him in the ring. He would try to really put that into me. When he was in the ring, he knew nothing about retreat. Everything was about get him, get him, get him. Going back to my corner during my fight with Ali, even when I was burning out, I could hear Sandy saying, ‘Get him, get him, get him.’ That was the one thing about him: he knew how important it was to the boxing world to have one fighter bring the fight. No matter what happened, he thought it was important to be true to boxing fans and go at the opponent.
Sometimes when he talked about his fights with Willie Pep, it would get on his nerves a little bit. At the time he was not in the Boxing Hall of Fame and he thought it was because of his eye injury. He’d always say Willie did this to him and Willie did that to him. One day just when they were getting the new Garden organized, he did an exhibition with Willie Pep. They were just playing around and he said Willie told him to ‘take it easy, Sandy.’ He always laughed at that story. I think that Willie telling him to take it easy gave him a little freedom from those Willie Pep matches. He’d just break his side laughing that Willie didn’t want him to hurt him. You never heard Sandy laugh much, but that always tickled him. That exhibition they fought in Madison Square Garden brought peace to him and Willie Pep. George Foreman, ESPN online article 25 September 2001, ‘Saddler was vicious in the ring’
138) Willie Pep IV Ret 9: Rocky Marciano’s Commentary TV -
v Willie Pep 26th September 1951 ***** [r1] … This is a kid who knows everything; the only trouble is, he’s lived about three lifetimes already … Referee Ray Miller is squawking about it too … [r2] … This fight is starting to get out of hand … This is Pep at his best … [r3] … The blood is running into Willie’s eye … Saddler’s face is gonna be a mess … [r4] … That was low … lose your temper and you lose the fight … I got Pep ahead so far … [r5] … head-locking now … [r6] … Willie rubs those laces over Sandy’s face again … This is getting so dirty … [r7] … I’ve never seen anything like this fight in my life, not even in the streets … I think Pep is trying to trip him … [r8] … Willie’s arguing with his corner … He looks tired … I don’t know how much longer Pep can go … [r9] … He knows he’ll get Pep … [r10] … Pep isn’t coming out; he’s calling it a night. Rocky Marciano’s commentary
[8.7] JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ 64-56(40)-7-1 [Welterweight & Light-Welterweight & Lightweight & Super-Featherweight & Featherweight]: The Ring magazine - Boxing News online -
It took Juan Manuel Marquez 10 years to win a world title but once he did he didn’t stop, going on to win a total of eight major titles in four weight classes. He is one of only three Mexicans to win belts in four divisions.
The Mexico City-born boxer often fought in the shadows of high-profile countrymen Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, whose all-action styles were more appealing to Mexican fans.
And, if strong rumors were true, many top fighters in and around Marquez’s weight class wanted nothing to do with him because of his obvious ability. Naseem Hamed was said to be one of those fighters.
However, eventually, Marquez became impossible to avoid because of his success, evolved into a more entertaining fighter and built a career that will eventually take him to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
‘Dinamita’ lost his 1993 debut by disqualification but won his next 29 fights to earn a shot at unbeaten WBA featherweight titleholder Freddie Norwood in September 1999. The challenger dropped a unanimous decision that many believed he deserved to win.
Undeterred, Marquez set about earning a second title shot. He won his next 10 fights (nine by knockout) to land a fight with old warhorse Manuel Medina for the vacant IBF crown in February 2003. Marquez won this time, stopping his countryman in seven rounds.
Marquez considers it his proudest moment.
‘I had my first chance when I was 26 but, simply, the judges denied me the opportunity,’ Marquez told The Ring. ‘Four years later I won my first world championship, defeating ‘Mantecas’ Medina. That was such a great moment.’
On the flip side, it was the four-fight series with Manny Pacquiao, beginning in May 2004, that would cause so much frustration for Marquez. It got off to a horrible start as he went down three times in the first round of the first fight. The Mexican master worked his way back into the contest but had to settle for a draw after 12 hard-fought rounds.
Marquez and Pacquiao couldn’t come to terms on an immediate rematch so the Mexican went another direction that included the surprising decision to go to Indonesia, where he lost a 12-round decision to the talented Chris John.
Once again he had to work his way back into the mix. In 2007, he won a world title in a second weight class by outboxing Barrera.
Pacquiao eked out a razor-thin split decision in their second fight and three years would pass before number three. In the meantime, Marquez picked up The Ring lightweight championship against Joel Casamayor and won two more titles with a hard-fought stoppage over Juan Diaz.
Then came the most one-sided setback of his career. When Floyd Mayweather junior ended his first retirement, he chose the smaller Marquez as his opponent. Mayweather won by a near-shutout decision. Curiously, although Marquez was pressed by The Ring, he didn’t pick Mayweather in any of the 10 categories here.