RARE Danny "Little Red" Lopez vs Salvador Sanchez I WBC World featherweight title official on-site 12 page programme, 2nd February 1980, Phoenix Memorial Coliseum, Arizona.

Condition very good (light centre crease)

Sanchez W TKO 13
Action packed fight as in most cases with Danny "Little Red" Lopez. The headlines for this fight were: Little Red vs. Little Known. Before the fight, many ringside observers said "Salvador 'who'?" They would for sure know "who" Salvador was afterwards. Many 'experts' said Lopez would KO Sanchez by the fourth round, saying that Sanchez's big jaw would be an easy target to find for Lopez. Sanchez puts on a devestating show of power, and gives Lopez one of the most terrible beatings he's ever had. Lopez is staggered many times throughout the fight, especially in the first round. Angelo Dundee repeatedly acknowledges Salvador's punching power. By the time the middle rounds come around, Sanchez is willing to stand toe-to-toe with Lopez and he was getting the better of the exchanges without a problem. In the later rounds, Salvador shows that he has a ton of energy left as he repeatedly goes in for the finish. Danny shows great tenacity, but he is still repeatedly getting staggered. By the thirteenth round, Lopez's face is a mess. He is bleeding from somewhere in the face, or possibly many places, it's hard to know for sure, and the left side of his face is completely bruised along with his left eye almost sealed shut. Salvador lands a hard right hand-left hook combo that staggers Lopez and Sanchez goes after him, following him with short one-twos. The referee moves in to stop it while Sanchez pounds Lopez into the ropes and lands vicious uppercuts and hard right hands. Sanchez jumps for joy, and Lopez shows great sportsmanship in congratulating the new champion.

Price: £250

Salvador Sanchez vs Danny "Little Red" Lopez

In the case of Salvador Sanchez, the boxing world will forever wonder, what if? Sanchez was the reigning WBC featherweight champion when he died in an auto accident on August 12, 1982.

What we do know, is that at the age of 23, Sanchez was in his prime and considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

Sanchez turned pro at the age of 16 and won 17 of his first 18 bouts by knockout. Although he was tall and thin, Salvador packed considerable power.

But punching power wasn't all he brought into the ring. Sanchez was a an excellent counterpuncher, dismantling many of his opponents with accurate and swift counterpunches.

In 1977, Sanchez lost a 12-round decision to Antonio Becerra for the vacant Mexican bantamweight title. He would never lose again. In 1980, he met popular WBC featherweight champion Danny "Little Red" Lopez, a hard-hitting American who had made nine successful title defences.

Sanchez dissected Lopez with precision and power, scoring a 13th-round TKO. Salvador made four successful title defences before the year ended, decisioning Ruben Castillo, knocking out Lopez in the 14th round of their rematch, and then decisioning Patrick Ford and future featherweight champion Juan LaPorte.

The Mexican warrior may best be remembered for his 1981 fight against Wilfredo Gomez, the WBC junior featherweight champion. Gomez was unbeaten in 33 fights with 32 knockouts. Still, Sanchez decimated the future Hall of Famer. He dropped Gomez in the first round and maintained a consistent attack until the fight was stopped in the eighth round.

In his final bout, on July 21, 1982, Sanchez turned back a young and aggressive Azumah Nelson at Madison Square Garden for his ninth title defence. The fight was stopped at 1:45 of the 15th round. Nelson would go on to win world titles in two weight classes. But three weeks after their fight, Sanchez was dead.










Danny Lopez (born July 6, 1952) from Fort Duchesne, Utah. Lopez was world Featherweight champion, and a very popular fighter both in television and Southern California, during the 1970s. His nickname is Little Red.

He is number 26 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

Background
Lopez is of Ute Indian, Mexican, and Irish heritage. He is also the brother of welterweight contender Ernie Lopez.

Pro Career
Lopez began boxing professionally on May 27, 1971, knocking out Steve Flajole in one round at Los Angeles. He won his first 21 fights in a row by knockout, in one of the longest knockout win streaks ever. During that streak, all but one of his fights were in Los Angeles, a fact which could be credited for his popularity in the area. The only one of his fights among those 21 fights outside Los Angeles took place in Honolulu, where he beat Ushiwakamaru Harada by a knockout in three.

On January 17, 1974, Genzo Kurosaw became the first person to go the distance with Lopez, Lopez winning by a ten round decision. His next fight, a month later, in Mexicali, Mexico, was his first fight abroad. He beat Memo Rodriguez by a knockout in nine rounds there. People in Los Angeles were eager to see Lopez and another up-and-coming Angelino, Bobby Chacon, square off inside a ring. The fight took place on May 24, and Lopez suffered his first professional loss, by a knockout in round nine. After one more win, he lost once again by a knockout in round nine, this time to Shig Furuyama.

After losing to Octavio Gómez to begin 1975, Lopez went into a roll: He began by beating Chucho Castillo by a knockout in two rounds. Two more wins, and he was faced with Ruben Olivares, whom he beat by a knockout in seven rounds, after recovering from a first round knockdown himself.

In 1976, he beat Sean O' Grady by knockout in four, Gómez by knockout in three and Art Hafey by knockout in seven.

Finally ranked number one by the WBC, he travelled to Ghana to challenge world Featherweight champion David Kotei in front of an estimated crowd of more than 100,000 Kotei partisans. Lopez became world champion by outpointing Kotey over 15 rounds on November 6. This trip proved to be troublesome for the new champion, however: back in his hotel room, he tried to call his family in the United States to announce the good news, but all communication systems had been cut down in Ghana. Lopez then tried to send them a telegram through the American embassy in Accra, but they too were affected by the system failure and could not get his message through. Lopez's family was finally able to realize that Danny was a world champion when they picked him up at the airport one week later.

Lopez won three fights in 1977, retaining the title once, against Jose Torres by a knockout in round seven.
He and Kotei had a rematch on February 15 of 1978, as part of the undercard where Leon Spinks dethroned Muhammad Ali of the world Heavyweight title. Lopez knocked Kotey out in round six of their rematch, and then he retained the title against Jose DePaula by knockout in round six, and Juan Malvares (on the undercard where Ali regained the title from Spinks) by knockout in two. On October 21, he had a fight with Fel Clemente, against whom he retained the world title with a four round disqualification in Italy.

By the end of 1978, there was much talk of a super-fight against world Jr. Featherweight champion Wilfredo Gómez, but the bout never materialized.

His fight on March 10 of 1979 against Spain's Roberto Castanon in Salt Lake City, not only marked the first time he defended his world title in his home-state, but the first time he fought in his home-state as a professional period. He retained the crown with a ten round knockout. Then, on June 17, at San Antonio, Lopez and Mike Ayala fought what boxing book The Ring: Boxing in the 20th Century called one of the best fights of 1979. Lopez retained the title with a 15th round knockout, but the fight was marred by the finding afterwards that Ayala had been fighting under the influence of drugs. Nevertheless, this did not affect the fight's result, but left many to speculate about how the fight would have ended had Ayala not been drugged during it. Ayala himself admitted to have been, in his own words, loaded on the day of the fight.

Lopez went on to defend the title once more that year, knocking out Jose Caba in three rounds. Lopez's reign as world champion came to an end on February 2, 1980, at the Arizona Veterans Coliseum in Phoenix. He met Salvador Sanchez that day, and he lost by knockout in round 13. A rematch was fought on June 21, in Las Vegas, and that time around, Lopez managed to last until the 14th round before succumbing once again by knockout. He announced his retirement after that fight.

In 1985, he talked about a comeback, but decided not to do it. However, in 1991, he did a one fight comeback, losing to Jorge Rodriguez by a knockout in round three.

His record was of 42 wins and 6 losses, with 39 wins by knockout.

Life After Boxing
Lopez has remained active during his latest retirement in the social sphere: He has been the object of various dedications and been active on the autograph signing circuit. He returned to live in Utah full-time after stepping away from the boxing rings for the last time, then moved to Los Angeles, where he works as a construction worker.

Honors
• He was inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame - 2005