Ringside Report Looks Back at Former World Champion Carlos Zarate

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

70 fights, 66 wins, 63 knockouts and only 4 losses. Carlos Zarate, 66-4, 63 Kos is a Mexican who fought a long career, managing to set records and hold the WBC bantamweight title from 1976 to 1979, was the 1969 Guantes de Ora Champion (Mexican Golden Gloves) and who managed to string together over 20 wins by knockout (twice), one after the other! Fighter of the Year, according to Ring magazine in 1977, he was voted the number 1 bantamweight of the 20th century by the Associated Press.

Carlos Cañas Zarate made his debut in 1970 against Luis Castaneda in Cuernavaca and began a streak of no fewer than 23 wins by knockout. He never went into the 10th round of any of those fights and only twice did he get beyond the third! He was a 5 foot 8 inch monster with a cracking right hand. He may not have inspired fear standing without shoes, but he inspired dreadful fear when his hand was gloved up!

His 24th fight? It went the distance. And he won. 30th January 1974, Mexico City against Victor Ramirez.

Thereafter he went on another knockout streak for 28 fights!

What was likely to follow? At the end of 1975 he was the WBC number 1 bantamweight and therefore on May the 8th, 1976, in the Forum, Inglewood, he knocked out fellow Mexican and defending champion Rodolfo Martinez in the eighth round. 1976 saw him defend his title no fewer than 8 times.

But there are runs which are of interest, note or notoriety. There are players or fighters who should be lauded, applauded and lionized. When you have not one but two who are at the top of their game, peak of their performance power and they stand toe to toe across from each other in a ring, you progress to special. The story which follows of the fight of the Z boys, is a story which legendary British boxing pundit Steve Bunce has had called it the best four rounds of boxing ever. Why?

Because it included an invasion that was not in the script and a fight that should be a part of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Two Mexicans – Zarate and Alfonso Zamora – two champions – from the WBC and the WBA – faced each other, after much wrangling in Inglewood, California on the 23rd of April 1977. Referee Richard Steele was doing a decent job in the early rounds as he saw Zarate trade with Zamora in the early rounds but come off the worse for it. And then a man, in a white tank top and what are described as “gray sweatpants”, who had not only not got dressed up for the evening, but he also violated security by entering the ring. In came a load of policemen wearing distinctive helmets to remove the least well-dressed man in the venue as Steele was forced to halt the contest.

Zarate was to overwhelm Zamora in the 4th and become the unofficial bantamweight king – why the unofficial king? Because the WBC and WBA refused to sanction the bout, meaning that they would fight only to boast about their win in the bars of Mexico. However, that was more than enough for both men as they gave Zarate the crown of “Fighter of The Year” from The Ring magazine.

From there what next? The drama, the title, the beating of his biggest rival, the undefeated runs – was there anything left for him to conquer?

Two more defenses followed against Danilo Batista – KO 6th round – and then Juan Francisco Rodriguez – KO 5th round in Madrid – as 1977 closed with Zarate at the top of his profession.

1978 was another year of successful defenses – no fewer than 3 – before he decided to move on up and challenge Wilfredo Gomez at super bantamweight for his WBC title. On the 28th of October 1978, with Zarate boasting a 52 unbeaten record and 51 knockouts against Gomez with a 22-fight unbeaten record – though he did have a draw – and 21 knockouts, somebody was clearly going to taste canvas. It was Zarate! He hit it three times and was stopped in the fifth meaning he lost in the ring for the first time in his career. The ignominy came when his corner threw in the towel in the 5th round and the invincibility was shattered.

Zarate went back down to defend his belt against John Kodjo Mensan but perhaps it was now that people thought he could be beaten because he had been beaten.

In Las Vegas on the 3rd of June 1979, against Lupe Pintor, he defended his title for the last time in a close fight and lost a 15-round split decision. He was furious and vowed never to fight again, especially as he had knocked Pintor down in the 4th.

Except he did.

His flouncing away from the sport lasted five years before he returned for the applause in 1986. In his return against Adam Garcia, we saw a man who was simply a shadow of he had been. But the shadow of who he was enough to win that four-round fight, send him on an 11-fight winning streak – 10 by knockout – and make him the number one super bantamweight contender.

In October 1987, he found himself in Australia against Jeff Fenech. He lost in Sydney on the 16th of October 1987 when a cut sustained by Fenech stopped the fight, it had gone four rounds and the judges had awarded Fenech all four of the boxed rounds.

Fenech then vacated and Zarate fought Daniel Zaragoza in Inglewood, for the vacant belt. He lost again, being stopped in the 10th round. He finally hung up his gloves permanently thereafter and despite the lure of the boxing ring and the roar of education that comes along with it, has stayed retired.

He was a remarkable boxer, an inescapable ability which graced the ring and gave Mexicans such a high bar to follow. His legacy will always be that, despite being at a smaller weight, he was an absolute lion. In the UK we have seen how that legacy has cost many of our fringe level contenders who simply cannot deal with the intensity of the Mexican challenges.

Now in the Hall of Fame, Zarate is a name carved on our conscience to remind us of what teak tough actually really means and what knockout power really does look like.

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