Saldívar 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.

Saldívar 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.

At seventeen years old, he was included into the 1960 Olympic team, but was eliminated in the first bout of the Rome tournament by Ernst Chervet of Switzerland.

[8] Saldívar turned professional in 1961 and won the Mexican featherweight title with a second-round knockout of Juan Ramírez on February 8, 1964.

His first major victory came on June 1 of that same year when he defeated future lightweight champion and hall of fame member Ismael Laguna.

On September 26, 1964, Saldívar won the WBA and WBC Featherweight titles by upsetting fellow Mexican fighter and future hall of famer Sugar Ramos with an 11th-round knockout in an extremely bloody battle.

Three months later, Winstone won recognition as WBC featherweight champion, claiming the belt left vacant by Saldivar, by defeating Mitsunori Seki with a 9th-round stoppage due to a cut right eye.

After 21 months of inactivity, Saldívar returned to the ring on July 18, 1969, and won a 10-round unanimous decision over another former as well as future Featherweight champion, José Legra.