On this day in Boxing history: Carlos Zarate is crowned World champion

On May 8th, 1976, boxing fans at The Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California were treated to a wonderful display of technical precision power punching between two of the greatest bantamweights to ever come out of Mexico. Not only were defending champion, Rodolfo Martinez and undefeated challenger, Carlos Zarate from Mexico. They both came from Mexico City’s toughest breeding ground: Tepito. As most boxing fans know, if you put a Mexican fighter in a ring, you can generally expect a spirited battle, if you put two in the same ring, you should get a war but if you add in the extra spice of two knockout punchers from the same barrio going at it for neighborhood bragging rights then you sort of expect special things to happen.

Rodolfo Martinez vs. Carlos Zarate was not just any old Mexican civil war; it was a mega fight that pitted a distinguished champion with a penchant for engaging in classic firefights against an up and coming knockout artist who had the look and aura of invincibility. While some pointed to the experience, the know-how and proven track record of the champion, Martinez, many trusted their eye test that Zarate was a special fighter on the rise who could perhaps equal or exceed the achievements of his stable mate, former bantamweight world champion, Ruben Olivares, now on the downside of his career in the featherweight class.

Barrio Bravo

“Being Mexican is a privilege, but being from Tepito is a gift of God”, common phrase used by Tepito residents.

Tepito, known as “barrio bravo”, which means fierce neighborhood, is one of Mexico City’s roughest and toughest areas. The nickname derives from the 16th century, when Tepito was able to resist the Spanish conquistadors for 93 days as the rest of the city surrendered easily. The nickname has remained apt as it remained of the fiercest neighborhoods in Mexico for centuries and is perhaps more synonymous with boxing in Mexico City than any other part of town. Tepito is famous for his street markets, its hustle and bustle and its high crime rate but perhaps the greatest source of pride is within that fighting tradition.

Ever since Luis Villanueva Paramo, better known as “Kid Azteca”, rose to prominence as a national idol in the 1930’s, Tepito has churned out world class boxers at a rapid rate. Kid Azteca reigned as Mexican welterweight champion from 1932 to 1950 while earning victories over such names as Fritzie Zivic, Ceferino Garcia, Cocoa Kid, Kenny LaSalle and others en route to becoming a national sporting icon but it wasn’t until the emergence of Raul “Raton” Macias that Tepito had its own world champion. Macias won the NBA world bantamweight championship in 1955 when he defeated Chamroen Songkitrat of Thailand and regularly performed in front of large audiences as he became a national hero. Macias would reign as world champion for two years before losing his title on points against Alphonse Halimi of France. Macias retired at the age of 25 and despite a few attempted comebacks never fought major fights again as he became a movie star.

It was around this time that Jose Medel was emerging as the next major Mexican boxing star. Nicknamed El Huitlacoche, a reference to his complexion which likened that of the edible corn smut often enjoyed as a delicacy in Mexico, Medel had a long and storied career which saw him reign as Mexico’s bantamweight champion for eight years and defeat such fighters as Masahiko “Fighting” Harada, Toluco Lopez, Eloy Sanchez, Jesus Pimentel, Walter McGowan and many others. Medel was unfortunate to compete in an era which coincided with the legendary Brazilian Eder Jofre, who ruled the division with an iron clad fist. Jofre, often viewed as the greatest bantamweight of all-time defeated Medel in a final eliminator for the world title in 1960 and repeated the feat in a world title re-match in 1962. Medel’s second and last chance at a world title came five years later and a little removed from his prime, when he traveled to Japan to drop a close decision to Harada, who had dethroned Jofre in 1965. Although never reaching the pinnacle of a world title, Medel remained a popular figure in the neighborhood and even today, nearly 20 years after his passing, there is a gym named in his honor. Medel’s class, humility and excellence, in an era when Mexico produced the majority of the world’s finest bantamweights, helped inspire many young fighters in the barrio and helped transition to perhaps the golden era of not just bantamweight boxing in Mexico, but in Mexican boxing in general.

The Bantamweight scene in 1975
The aforementioned Fighting Harada lost his title in 1968 when he was upset by Australian teenager Lionel Rose. Rose defeated world class challengers in Chucho Castillo and Alan Rudkin but was destroyed in five rounds by the latest sensation in Mexican boxing, Ruben Olivares. Olivares proved to be a great champion over the next three years, defending in destructive fashion against Rudkin before going 2-1 in a classic trilogy which saw him defend and then lose his title before regaining the championship in a rubber match with his fiercest rival, Chucho Castillo. These bouts took place over a 12 month period from 1970 to 1971 and helped cement Olivares’ status as the biggest icon in Mexican boxing in addition to the biggest draw at the Great Western Forum. No boxer ever fought more than Olivares at the famed Los Angeles venue as he would compete in no fewer than 23 bouts at the arena which many referred to as “The house that Olivares built.” Olivares defended the title twice after the Castillo rubber match but came a cropper against Guadalajara native, Rafael Herrera when he was knocked out in eight rounds. Herrera dropped the title in his first defense when he ventured to Panama to take on Enrique Pinder in July of 1972 but when Pinder refused to meet his number one contender he was stripped by the WBC which meant the titles became fragmented. A little further below we will carry on the lineage of the WBC title which the Rodolfo Martinez vs. Carlos Zarate mega fight was for but the WBA title changed hands a number of times in quick succession. Pinder had turned back the challenge of Chucho Castillo before the WBC stripped him of their portion, but was then dethroned by Romeo Anaya in January of 1973, who twice defeated him inside three rounds. Anaya did not hold the title long as he was defeated by South African Arnold Taylor in a classic fight in November of that year, which The Ring voted as the 15th greatest world title fight of all-time in 1996. Taylor lasted even shorter as champion as he was relieved of his title against South Korean Soo Hwan Hong in his maiden title defense in July of 1974. Hong was dethroned by Mexican knockout artist Alfonso Zamora in his second defense in March of 1975 and Zamora still reigned as the WBA champion at the time Martinez vs. Zarate was set. It was eagerly anticipated that he would be in line to fight the winner in what was shaping up into a very exciting time in the division.

The fighters
Rodolfo Martinez:

Rodolfo Martinez was just the second boxer from Tepito to win a world championship and was the first fighter trained by Lupe Sanchez to have achieved that honor. As a youngster, Martinez had idolized the great Jose Medel and followed his lead at the Gloria Gym in the neighborhood. Martinez was a dedicated young man who took the sport very seriously and did not have any of the vices that so many of the other icons of his era had. Martinez, though an excellent fighter with a proven track record of beating the best of the best was not as popular as other fighters and was even referred to as “the other champion”, despite holding the more coveted WBC title. The explosive knockout punching sensation, Alfonso Zamora, was the more popular of the two champions having won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics before running up an unbeaten record which included a 100% knockout ratio as a professional.

Martinez was a natural southpaw but switched to an orthodox stance early on because he was finding it difficult to find opponents. It was this ability to switch from lefty to righty which saw him rise to the top of the bantamweight division but his rise was not without the occasional roadblock. Having turned professional in 1965, Martinez ran up an unbeaten record of 28 wins with one draw before he would face the excellent Rafael Herrera in 1971, in an elimination contest for the world title. Martinez’ run of victories included Rogelio Lara, Lenny Brice, Kazuyoshi Kanazawa and Raul Cruz and those impressive wins meant he was favored to beat Herrera. Herrera proved a difficult customer and scored a knockdown in the second route before piling up the points through the middle rounds en route to earning a majority decision over Martinez. Martinez had his moments in the 8th and 9th rounds, when he punished Herrera and hurt his man in the 11th round but was unable to follow up and lost his unbeaten record.

Martinez went back to the drawing board and would win seven consecutive bouts over the next two years, including a knockout victory over fellow Tepito star, Octavio Gomez at The Forum for the vacant North American Boxing Federation bantamweight title. Gomez had been on his own impressive run as he closed in on a world title opportunity but was laid out with a left hook out of nowhere which put him out for the count. For Martinez, it was a much needed break, since he had been trailing the bout on points. “I sparred with just about all the great Mexican bantamweights of that era, including Martinez, whom I remember quite well”, said Rick Farris, ex fighter and current President of the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame. “I only boxed with him a few times in 1972, when he was training to fight Octavio Gomez at the Forum, and I was training to fight a guy named Jose Mendoza. This was prior to Martinez winning the world title. He was a good one. At the time the old school Mexican bantams Jesus Pimentel and Jose Medel were done, but an amazing title wave of brilliant 118 pounders came to L.A. to carry on the Mexican dominance”, Farris added.

The victory over Gomez had earned Martinez a crack at the WBC champion Enrique Pinder of Panama but Pinder refused to defend against Martinez, instead preferring to defend his title at home against Romeo Anaya. The WBC announced that it would be sanctioning Martinez to face Herrera again for the vacant title. Since their 1971 contest, Herrera had defeated the brilliant Chucho Castillo in a final elimination contest in what had been a wonderful contest and then stunned the legendary Ruben Olivares when he annexed his title by a one-sided eight round knockout in March of 1972. Herrera’s reign was short as he dropped a decision to Pinder in his first defense over in Panama but he was back in the ring just a few months later beating Olivares again, this time on a majority decision in an above the weight contest.

The Herrera-Martinez world title fight was one for the ages and is regarded as one of the greatest bouts of all-time between two Mexican fighters. Herrera threatened an early finish as he put Martinez down twice in the fourth round but found himself on the canvas in the eighth round and was battered and bloodied before he turned the fight back in his favor scoring two more knockdowns in the 11th round before ending matters in the 12th via TKO when Martinez could no longer fight back. It had been another bitter defeat for Martinez but it only made him stronger as he worked his way back to yet another crack at Herrera at the end of 1974. This time revenge was sweet for the Tepito fighter as he dropped Herrera in the fourth round and when Herrera got up and asked if he could continue he told the referee he could but sagged back into the ropes, prompting Octavio Meyran to wave him off. Martinez was finally a world champion and was determined to keep onto his title as he pursued true greatness in the annals of Mexican boxing history.

As a champion, Martinez enjoyed a strong maiden year as champion in 1975 when he went to Colombia to stop the dangerous Nestor Jimenez before turning back Hisami Numata on points in Japan but it was his victory over the excellent Venice Borkhorsor in Thailand in January of 1976 which served as his signature title defense. Borkhorsor’s pedigree was superb, having knocked out Betulio Gonzalez for the world flyweight title in 1972, but he was best known in North American boxing circles for the hellacious beating he gave Rafael Herrera in 1973 for the bantamweight title. The Thai was unsuccessful in his attempt to become a two division champion, losing on a very controversial decision in a bout which Herrera was left a bloodied mess. Borkhorsor was given a great chance at defeating Martinez especially in Thailand and on the back of multiple impressive victories he had run up after the Herrera fight. Early on, it had appeared Martinez was going to lose the title, as he was dropped and lost the first three rounds but he switched to his southpaw stance and befuddled the Thai the rest of the way, busting him up en route to winning a split decision in what was described as an action packed bout.

Carlos Zarate:

At 24 years old, Zarate was about two weeks shy of his 25th birthday and was already heralded as the most talented of the next generation of Mexican warriors. This was thanks to his eye opening record of 39 wins in 39 fights which featured a staggering 38 knockouts. Just as Ruben Olivares had done, Zarate came off of Arturo “Cuyo” Hernandez’s talented conveyor belt of world class battlers. Zarate was unbeaten in 33 amateur contests in which he ended 30 by the short route and had the valuable experience of sparring hundreds of rounds with the great Olivares as he cut his teeth in the game.

Zarate was born in Tepito but when he was four years old, his family moved to the neighborhood of Iztacalco, close to the Benito Juarez International Airport. He would still travel back and forth to Tepito visiting friends and family members. As a youth, Carlos was often in trouble at school for getting into fights. His brother Jorge was the person that introduced him to the sport at the age of 10 and Carlos was hooked almost immediately. He would see big fight coverage in the newspapers such as when Davey Moore died at the hands of Sugar Ramos and the fateful Emile Griffith vs. Benny Paret rubber match. These headlines caught Carlos’s attention and by the age of 12 he was watching fights at the Delegación in Iztacalco and setting up his own matches with his friends in school. The kids would move the benches out of the classroom and make a makeshift ring and even set up a bell for the timekeeper and wore little gloves. At the age of 16, Carlos started to train for real when he was introduced to Hernandez. “Cuyo Hernandez was a teacher. You can see how many fighters he developed from when they were young children and how many went on to become champions”, he said. Carlos won the Golden Gloves title at the age of 18 but he did not consider going for the Olympics, citing an urgency to start making money for his family.

Zarate turned professional in 1970 and in knocking out everyone that got in his way in Mexico, he was introduced to American audiences in the winter of 1974. When he defeated undefeated Texan prospect James Martinez on the undercard of the classic Alexis Arguello vs. Ruben Olivares at The Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California, he made a strong impression and was invited back three times the following year. A stoppage victory over undefeated Californian Joe Guevara was followed up by two very impressive inside the distance victories over the far more seasoned Orlando Amores and Benicio Sosa as Zarate climbed the ranks. In Mexico, it became a matter of when, not if, he will become world champion as he punished the impressive trio of Jorge Torres, Nestor Jimenez and Cesar Deciga as he waited for the title opportunity to arrive.

Despite the incredible knockout ratio, Zarate was not the type of boxer to tear into his opponent from the opening bell. His style was more like creeping death in that he would feel out the opponent, work behind his strong fundamentals and then he would strike when the opportunity was there, finishing his opponent with a ruthless efficiency. It is hard to find a more patient and expert finisher than Carlos Zarate. He possessed fight ending power in both fists, wasted few punches and in addition to being deadly accurate with his right hand, he was a murderous body puncher. These attributes and his impeccable track record meant that despite the experience and quality of the man in the other corner, Zarate was a 3-1 favorite.

The buildup

In a surprising event, the bout was not signed by Los Angeles promotional rivals Don Fraser of Forum Boxing or Aileen Eaton for The Olympic Auditorium, it was MagnaVerde Promotions who acted quickest and secured the contracts of both fighters. MagnaVerde was an organization formed in 1973 with Rene Arselmo, president of channel 34. Danny Villanueva, vice-president of MagnaVerde was instrumental in signing the fight as he went to Mexico and sat down with both camps and pleased both parties’ demands. Martinez as champion was set to receive a payday of $60,000 while Zarate was to get $15,000.
Villanueva, a former place kicker for the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys in the NFL, being a Spanish speaker, felt he had an advantage in getting the fight over Fraser and Eaton. “They didn’t move quickly enough and it was probably because I spoke the language. I could sit and talk with them. I didn’t have to go through interpreters”, he said.

The fight got so big in Mexico, especially in the capital, that it made most sense to take it out of Mexico due to television restrictions for local events. “This fight was originally signed for Mexico but as interest and the ante rose it became obvious that it would have to go outside of the country. The LA Sports Arena had something else scheduled and we discussed briefly on the phone, possibility of a co-promotion with the Forum but the economics didn’t work out”, Villanueva said about the increase in interest of the bout. “We thought about going into the Coliseum but the evening temperatures for the first week of May usually aren’t very good. About that time the forum called us back”, he added.

In a very impressive move, Villanueva was able to negotiate with Fraser and Eaton and work with the both of them for the bout. The Olympic would host some of the pre-fight events such as the public workout, the Sunday prior to the bout whereas the Forum would be the site chosen as the host venue. 3,000 tickets were sold for the workout which gives you an idea of how big a deal the bout was locally especially among the Mexican community. “I had no problem working with either of them (Fraser and Eaton). Somebody was saying the other day, ‘You’re a third party putting on a show at The Forum and using the Olympic to hold a workout. The Forum is promoting the Olympic workout and the Olympic is promoting the fight at the Forum. This is incredible”, Villaneuva said. He had forged a good relationship with both promoters and they were happy to work with him as a partner as Magnaverde was not exclusively in the boxing business and did not host weekly shows as they did.

In the buildup to the bout, Martinez made it clear that he was not particularly fond of his unbeaten opponent and took a verbal jab at him at a promotional lunch at the Mexican Village restaurant in Los Angeles. “As long as we are here, let’s get something straight. Why do you deny that you are from Tepito? Why are you now saying you’re from a better barrio?” he asked. Zarate replied, “Because I moved from there when I was very young.” Martinez told him, “You should say that you’re from our barrio.” When asked if they knew each other, Martinez said: “Even now we don’t know each other. We never met in the streets. We never fought…I don’t think.”

Zarate had cut his hair short for this bout which promoted reporters to question the motive behind his new look. “It was hot down in Mexico so one day in the gym I decided to shave it off”, Zarate said. MagneVerde publicist Jeff Temkin said that wasn’t the real reason behind the haircut. “The real story is that he bet his manager that no sparring partner could last more than a round with him. He KO’d the first four but the fifth one lasted.” Whether that is true or was pre-fight hyperbole is unknown.

Zarate had prepared for the bout in the town of Papanoa, Guerrero in what he anticipated would be a very difficult fight against a champion he had a healthy amount of respect for. “Rodolfo Martinez was a good boxer because he had fought with a lot of good opponents and defeated them”, he said. “He was a very good champion but I was in my moment”, he added.

The fight

17,468 fans packed into the Forum that evening in anticipation of a war between two neighborhood rivals. Many of the fans had traveled from south of the border to help contribute to a live gate which exceeded $250,000. By fight time, Zarate was a 3-1 betting favorite against the more experienced and battle tested champion.

There was not a great deal of action in the first round as both fighters afforded one another a large amount of respect. Rather than trade bombs as many had expected, the two boxers were sizing each other up to find available openings. Martinez attempted some body punches but fell short as both fighters seemed to be holding back their power and not showing their cards. Zarate was the aggressor in the second round, taking the initiative but not over extending himself. Martinez was more content to box on the back foot in search for counters. Contact was minimal but the pattern appeared to be setting: Zarate was in the role of the hunter.

Things began to liven up a little bit in the third round, as once again, Zarate is the more aggressive of the two. Martinez did try to work his way inside but was countered for his efforts and momentarily frozen. It was then Zarate tried to pin him in the corner but Martinez escaped and turned southpaw. Almost as soon as he made the switch he landed a hard overhand straight left which buckled the challenger. Zarate quickly regained his composure and was alert as Martinez tried to follow up without trying to risk walking into a hard shot himself. The fourth round was a little more quiet as Martinez came out fighting back in his right handed stance and both boxers showed caution as they sought openings to try and take advantage of. Very few mistakes were being made at this point as both boxers showed excellent technical ability and boxing acumen.

In the fifth round, Martinez switched back to his southpaw stance and almost immediately, Zarate went on the offensive and started to manhandle him near the ropes. No doubt with the third round in mind, Martinez tried another overhand left hand but was quickly countered and Zarate started to punish him with both hands as he chased him to the other side of the ring where he was able to score a knockdown which puts the champion through the ropes. It was a hard left hand which did most of the damage and the resulting two-fisted toppled him over. The rest of the round saw Zarate on the offensive as Martinez tried to cover up and escape but not before getting buzzed again before the end of the round.

Zarate again, was the aggressor in the following round as he felt the championship within his grasp and while the action slowed down, Martinez worked between both stances. Zarate intelligently started to mix in some body punches as Martinez was focused on avoiding the type of heavy artillery which put him on the canvas in the previous round. In a very technical seventh round, Zarate was able to momentarily buzz the champion when he feinted with a left hand before slamming him with a right upper-cut. Martinez tried to mount a body attack as Zarate came forward, but it was the challenger who was doing more damage again, connecting with both hands, particularly with his hard, straight right hand.

Round 8 had a lot of good two-way action as both started to throw more punches. Martinez began throwing in bunches but his punches seemed to be losing their steam and he appeared to be tiring while Zarate was connecting often with the straight right hand as he attacked furiously with both hands.

Zarate expertly closed in on the champion in the ninth round but was deliberate and precise rather than throwing the kitchen sink out there. Martinez, by this point, was struggling to muster any kind of offense and he could not discourage his rival as Zarate got in close and landed a punishing left hand to his gut and followed up with a beautiful right uppercut which laid Martinez out on the canvas where he was unable to recover and was counted out by referee Larry Rozadilla at 1:51 of the ninth round. At the time of the knockout, all three judges had Zarate out in front. Rozadilla had it scored 79-74 whereas John Thomas and George Latka had it 79-73 and 77-75 respectively. “Zarate hits very hard. He will be a great champion. I could never recover from the hook that he connected on me’, Martinez graciously said after the bout as he referred to the punch which hurt him in the fifth round before he went down for the first time. Zarate confessed that he had been hurt but was confident he had the tools to take the title. On several occasions I was hurt, but I was in excellent physical condition, and I showed that I have no glass jaw”, he said.

One of the aspects to Martinez’s game that made it so difficult for many of his opponents was his ability to effortlessly switch stances and be equally effective from both sides. “He was difficult because he knew how to box both orthodox and southpaw and that is difficult for anybody”, Zarate said.

“Martinez was great but he could not take my rhythm and I knocked him out in the ninth round. He won against Rafael Herrera in an era when the bantamweights were great. He switched from southpaw to right and he also hit very hard”, he told The Ring in 2015 when assessing who is toughest opponents were.

The bout featured a little bit of everything as both boxers showed intelligence and technical boxing skills in addition to their much revered punching power. Since both boxers knew the other possessed that ability to erase matters in the blink of an eye, the margin for error was minimal which resulted in a bout which was more technical warfare than a pier six brawl. In displaying the heart of a champion, Martinez showed that he had been a more than worthy champion but Zarate had shown that, not only did he have the enviable ability to end a fight with one punch, he possessed the type of calmness and boxing brain that showed that he could become a truly special champion. “It was a beautiful feeling to be able to fulfill my dream of being champion”, Zarate said when reflecting on the anniversary of this bout.

Epilogue
Rodolfo Martinez

Martinez was never able to reach the same heights again and the disaster of the title loss turned into a full blown catastrophe when he was stopped in four rounds by 21-year old Roberto Rubildino in his next bout. That bout had been for the Mexican bantamweight championship and was aimed at being a fast track at climbing back to the top of the bantamweight ladder. The schedule of consecutive tough fights had finally gotten to Martinez, who at 27 was now on the way down. A move up to the super bantamweight division saw Martinez breathe new life into his career as he upset the fast rising Mike Ayala for the NABF title just 12 months after relinquishing his title to Zarate. The victory over Ayala grew in stature over the years as Ayala rose up the ranks all the way up to his 1979 classic title challenge against WBC featherweight kingpin. Ayala fell short in the 15th round in just about as good a fight as you could hope to see but then went on another string of victories which would see him go six more years without a defeat. Martinez followed up the Ayala victory with a split decision victory over former world title challenger Gilberto Illueca of Panama but was halted in his next bout when he faced Alberto Davila in a final elimination for a shot at his title. Davila ended Martinez’s hopes as he stopped the Tepito man in the 7th round. The Associated Press reported that Martinez had led after six close rounds but was dropped four titles in the 7th round before the bout was halted. The Davilla bout was the last time Martinez mixed at world class level as he fought only one more time, losing on points to unknown Manuel Lara in 1979.

Carlos Zarate

Zarate would go from strength to strength and fulfilled Martinez’s prophecy that he would reign as a great champion, defending his title nine times over the following three years. The knockouts continued and Zarate’s career arguably hit its peak the following year when he was the first Mexican boxer to win the prestigious “Fighter of the Year” honors from The Ring Magazine and earned status as the sports best pound for pound practitioner in the eyes of Boxing Illustrated. Consider that this was while Roberto Duran was in his prime as the most dominant lightweight champion in more than half a century and Carlos Monzon was in the midst of an 80 bout unbeaten streak. The pinnacle of that year and perhaps, the career, of Carlos Zarate came when he faced off against another Mexico City native in Alfonso Zamora. Zamora, like Zarate, was unbeaten and held one of the two bantamweight titles. Although this was a non-title affair thanks to boxing’s ridiculous politics, the WBA champion Zamora entered with a 29-0 record with 29 knockouts and “The battle of the Z boys” was arguably the most significant all Mexico fight in boxing history. Zarate defeated Zamora inside four thrilling rounds and was one of the most entertaining bouts in the history of the bantamweight division. Outside of the Zamora bout, Zarate added further world class scalps such as Paul Ferreri, Fernando Cabenella, Danilo Batista and the excellent Alberto Davila to his list of knockouts but fell short when he attempted a move into the super bantamweight division in 1978 when he was stopped in five rounds by the great Puerto Rican champion, Wilfredo Gomez, for the WBC title. Zarate suffered an injustice and was the victim of one of the most head scratching decisions of the era when he was dethroned by Lupe Pintor on a controversial 15-round decision in June of 1979. Disgusted with the politics of boxing, the stench from the decision and disheartened by a postponement in Pintor’s schedule, Zarate opted to retire at the age of 28. Zarate was brought out of retirement in 1986 when he was asked to box on a card at the Forum for the benefit of the Mexico City earthquake of that year. Despite not having put on gloves for seven years in any form, Zarate felt good and while his intentions were to just participate in that one contest he ended up staying around as he ran up 13 consecutive victories before earning a world title shot against Australia’s WBC super bantamweight champion Jeff Fenech. Zarate was defeated by on a technical decision after the bout was halted after four rounds due to what was adjudged to have been an accidental headbutt as Fenech was deemed unable to continue. Fenech vacated his title and Zarate was given another shot at the vacant title, but was stopped in 10 rounds against Daniel Zaragoza and promptly retired with a record of 66 wins against four defeats with an astonishing 63 knockouts.

Today, Zarate is remembered as one of the greatest Mexican boxers of all-time in addition to rating as one of the finest bantamweights in history. He was immortalized in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota in 1994. His legacy is so strong that on the WBC bantamweight title, his image is displayed on the belt. You can’t discuss great bantamweights without mentioning his name and there is perhaps no bigger tribute that could be paid than to say that when boxing in Tepito is mentioned, he is the first name that comes to mind as the face of boxing in Tepito. Of his championship years, Zarate says:” It was incredible because I chose what I liked best since I was a child which was boxing and thank God I reached the top, representing Mexico. That gave me a lot of pride, a lot of satisfaction to have achieved that. It is the most beautiful thing in my life”, he said. The night he beat Alfonso Zamora is when he felt he performed at his best but when choosing the highlight of his career he could not separate the Zamora fight from the night of May 8th, 1976. “That was when me and my brother Jorge realized the dream of reaching the world championship”, he said.