Wilibaldo Salazar opened his professional career on Dec. 14, 1979 in his home town of Jalisco, Guadalajara Mexico with a 4 round decision loss to fellow Jalisco pro debuter Librado Moran. He won his 2nd pro fight and then won his 3rd pro fight via knockout before being stopped his self in fight number 4. His record stood at a non-de script 2-2 and he was not seen as anything "special" by local boxing fans.
He was improving though, and ran off a 7-fight win streak including 5 wins by knockout. He then labored with an up-and-down career that saw 3 straight losses, leading to a streak of fights in which he went 6-9-1 against mostly local talent. His record stood at a respectable 20-12-1 when he got his first shot at a title belt. It was for the Mexico National Flyweight title, and he went the 12-round distance to earn that title with a decision win over fellow Jalisco resident - Adolfo Anguiano. That belt probably felt pretty good around the waist of Salazar, and from the way he performed as "champion" it seemed to improve him as a fighter too.
After the win against Anguiano, Salazar went on a 5 fight winning streak (4 by ko) against opponents with a combined record of 86-16-5, and on June 27, 1987 he found his self with a winning record of 26-12-1, in possession of the Mexican National Flyweight title, and now was named as a contestant for the vacant NABF Lt. Flyweight title. The fight was held at The Forum in Inglewood, California and it was a good night for Willy as he scored a 12-round majority decision win over unheralded Jose Manuel Diaz to pick up his 2nd title belt.
Salazar was finally being seen as more than just an "easy" opponent, but rather as a respected journeyman fighter who would not be easy for anyone to defeat. He proved that he was a respectable champion with back-to-back knockout wins in defense of his Mexican National Flyweight title, and then successfully defended his NABF Lt. Flyweight title with a knockout win over Julio Cesar Cardona in Tucson, Arizona.
Willy climbed in the ratings with those wins and title defenses, earning him a shot at his first world title. He traveled to Seoul, South Korea to meet undefeated WBA Light Flyweight Champion Myung Woo Yuh (25-0) for that title. Feb. 7, 1988 was the big night, just a little over 8 years from his pro debut loss, Salazar found his self fighting for the World title! Although Salazar performed well, he lost a respectable unanimous decision to the unbeaten champion by scores of 113-116, 112-117, and 110-118. It did nothing to hurt the challenger's reputation, in fact, it raised his worth in the boxing world. From here on out, his level of opposition was raised quite a bit, taking an "easy" fight every now and then, but for the most part, he was fighting a much higher caliber of boxer.
That higher level started with a nice win in defense of his Mexican National Title against hot prospect Ricardo Mijares (15-1) by tko. It was an even battle when the fight was stopped on a cut suffered by the favored Mijares. Salazar lost his Mexican National Title in his next title defense against Armando Velasco (15-8-1), but bounced back with a nice tko win to defend his precious NABF Lt. Fly title belt against Mexican fast-riser Ysaias Zamudio (12-1), halting the challenger in round 9. And just to add to his reputation, Salazar regained his Mexican National Flyweight title by knockout over Gonzalo Villalobos, and then defended it with 2 straight knockout title defense wins, stopping Valente Flores, and Fernando Varguez before dropping a 12-round decision to 59-fight veteran Javier "Suzuki" Diaz (38-19-2) to lose his Mexican National Fly Title.
Salazar then traveled to San Diego, California where he lost his NABF Lt. Flyweight title to Home-town favorite Tony "Bazooka" DeLuca (15-2-3) via tough 12-round decision. Willy now found his self without a title belt, but he wasn't finished adding titles to his collection.
The Mexican Flyweight put together a 3 fight winning streak including a rematch win over Ysaias Zamudio, again, stopping Zamudio in round 9. Salazar stood at 38-16-1 had held 2 title belts, and was now put in against some of the best fighters in the division as he went 0-5 against fighters with a combined record of 84-22-5 including Alejandro "Cobrita" Soto, Alberto "Raton" Jimenez, and Miguel "Maikito" Martinez! Even after losing 5 in a row, all it took was 1 big knockout win over respected Alfredo Virgen (14-9) to put him back into a title challenging bout.
The date was Feb. 24, 1995 - nearly 15 years after his first pro fight, Salazar found his self with a record of 39-21-1, and now challenging for his 3rd title belt - the WBC Continental Americas Super Flyweight Title held by defending champion Josefino Suarez (18-11-1). It was a grand evening for Salazar who ko'd Suarez in round 9 to win that championship and again feel a title belt around his waist! And then in his next fight Salazar defeated Noe Santillana (15-11) to win his 4th title belt - this time it was the Mexican National Super Flyweight championship! But, just two months later, he would lose both belts to Armando Salazar (34-7-4) via split decision loss.
The up-and-down fortunes of Willy Salazar had one more big surprise to come. On Sept. 8, 1995 IBF Flyweight World champion - Danny Romero Jr. (25-0) took what was supposed to be a "Tune-up" non-title bout against Willy who had a record of 41-22-1 at The Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada. Romero came in with a 5 pound weight advantage, and a huge reputation as a knockout artist, but as the rounds progressed it became clear that Salazar was ready to give Romero all he could handle.... and a little more! Salazar fought one of the best fights of his life as he punished the undefeated champion breaking the orbital bone of Danny's left eye causing the fight to be halted before the start of round 8. That fight was named as Ring Magazine's "Upset of the Year" and it was a stunner!
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| Salazar scores 1995 Upset of the Year against Romero |
That fight put Willy Salazar's name out there and he became the target of another big-time New Mexico flyweight fighter.
With all of the talk about a possible matchup between New Mexico champions (Danny Romero vs Johnny Tapia) this was a perfect opportunity for Johnny Tapia's management team to present a comparison, and Salazar's incomprehensible upset win made him the obvious challenger for Johnny Tapia's WBO world title belt.
Just 3 months after the huge upset win over Romero, Salazar stepped into the ring for a shot at the WBO Super Flyweight world title. It wasn't the first time he had faced a fighter who was a current, former, or future world champion, but it was the second time he would face a World champion with their World Title at stake. And this time he wanted to leave the ring as Champion! December 1st, 1995 was the date, Fantasy Springs Casino Resort ws the venue, it was held outside, on a cold night.The card was a pay-per-view event loaded with big names. Gabe Ruelas' rematch with Azumah Nelson, Stevie Johnston, John John Molina, even "Butterbean" Eric Esch were featured on the card. In an amazing turn of events, just as Romero was not allowed to come out for round 8 of their bout, it was Salazar who was battered and not allowed to come out for round 10 in this world title fight! It wasn't easy for the undefeated Tapia (now 33-0-2), but as well as Salazar performed, he was unable to win that coveted World title belt.
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| Willy's second shot at a world title against Johnny Tapia in 1995 |
Salazar had pretty much reached the peak of his career with his 2 fights against the New Mexican Champions. He would fight for 2 more titles and ended his career fighting only ranked contenders. 2 fights later, he found his self in Thailand fighting for the WBU Flyweight World Title, being stopped in round 5 by another undefeated defending champion - Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym (8-0, 5 ko). In his next fight after the WBU title challenge, Willy fought for and regained the WBC Continental Americas Super Fly Title with a 9th round tko win over fellow Mexican Basilio Morales (23-6) in Tabasco, Mexico.
In his 2nd to last outing, Salazar was unable to defend his newly won title belt, as he was stopped in round 9 by challenger Genaro "Poblanito" Garcia (12-1) in Salazar's home town of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
Willy's last pro bout came on Nov. 14, 1997 when he traveled to Denmark and dropped a shutout unanimous decision to IBO and European Bantamweight Champion - Johnny Bredahl (34-1). That was it, the end of the nearly 18 year pro boxing career of a colorful and popular fighter.
Willy Salazar's incredible boxing career finished with a final record of: 43 wins, 28 losses, 1 draw, and winning 30 by knockout. He held several titles, and even fought twice for world titles.
Check out his complete pro ledger at Boxrec: WILLY SALAZAR COMPLETE PRO RECORD
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MAT TALES - True Stories from the Bizarre, Brutal World of Pro Boxing by Dan Sisneros
