WBC Featherweight Champion and Ring Magazine's Fighter of the Year in 1981. He successfully defended his title nine times, and held it up until a tragic 1982 car accident ended his life when he was just 23.
Turning professional at age 16, he won the WBC Featherweight Championship in 1980, the first Mexican since Ruben Olivares to win a world featherweight title.
He finished his career with 24 straight victories and overall went 44-1-1 as a professional.
His nephew Salvador Sanchez II became a featherweight boxer as well.
Humberto Soto was another popular featherweight boxer from Mexico.
