Born in Mexico City, Saldivar 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. SaldÃvar 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. As a southpaw, SaldÃvar 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. SaldÃvar 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. He beat many great fighters in his career including; Sugar Ramos, Ismael Laguna, Howard Winstone, Johnny Famechon, Jose Legra and Raul Rojas. Although primarily known as a great offensive fighter, this highlight focuses on the more underrated aspects of Saldivar's skill set - his defense and counterpunching. He retired in 1973 with a record of 37-3.
