Carlos Zárate: Mexico’s WBC Bantamweight Knockout Champion
Carlos Zárate was a Mexican boxer who held the WBC bantamweight championship from 1976 to 1979. His professional record finished at 66 wins and four losses, with 63 knockout victories.
Career and major results
Zárate won the WBC title by knocking out Rodolfo Martínez in the ninth round in 1976. His defenses included victories over Paul Ferreri, Waruinge Nakayama and Fernando Cabanela.
In April 1977, he stopped fellow bantamweight champion Alfonso Zamora in the fourth round. Their celebrated meeting was a ten-round non-title contest because the sanctioning organizations did not approve it as a unification.
Wilfredo Gómez defeated Zárate in a 1978 super-bantamweight title challenge. Zárate later lost his bantamweight belt to Lupe Pintor by split decision in June 1979.
A comeback began in 1986 and included unsuccessful title challenges against Jeff Fenech and Daniel Zaragoza. Zárate retired in 1988 and entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994.
Zárate’s record is striking for its knockout total, but his career also included close results and losses at the highest level. The non-title bout with Zamora was a major matchup, though it did not unify the belts. Pintor later won their title fight by split decision, and the 1980s comeback did not produce another championship.
Sources
Related reading: Boxing
Sources: boxhall.wixsite.com; wbcboxing.com
Related references: https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/000402 https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Carlos_Zarate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Z%C3%A1rate_Serna http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/zarate-c.html https://www.ringtv.com/653416-born-on-this-day-carlos-zarate/ https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/carlos-zarates-greatness-and-legacy.195709/
Tags
Boxing, Boxing History
