Personal life

Carlos Zárate has family members who have followed him into boxing. His son Carlos, now retired, fought in the Light Welterweight division and his nephew, Joel Luna Zárate, is the former WBO Latino Super Flyweight champion.

Amateur career

Zárate, considered along with rival Wilfredo Gómez to be among the better punchers of the lighter divisions, had an amateur record of 33 wins and 3 losses, with 30 knockout wins, and he won the Mexican Golden Gloves, or Guantes de Oro, in 1969.

Professional career

In 1970, Carlos made his professional debut with a 2 round knockout win over Luis Castañeda in Cuernavaca. That marked the beginning of a 23 fight knockout winning streak. The only boxers to get past the third round during that streak were Al Torres and Antonio Castañeda, who lasted 5 and 9 rounds respectively, both at Tijuana. Víctor Ramírez became the first boxer to last the distance with Zárate when Zárate beat him on points in January 1974 in Mexico City over ten rounds. Next began his second 20 plus knockout wins in a row streak, when none of his next 28 opponents heard the final bell on their feet.

WBC Bantamweight championship

After knocking out former world title challenger Néstor Jiménez in two rounds at Mexicali to end 1975, the WBC made Zárate their number one challenger at the Bantamweight division. So, after beating César Desiga by a knockout in four on March 29, 1976 in Monterrey, Zárate was faced on the night of May 8 of that year with defending WBC Bantamweight Champion Rodolfo Martínez in Los Angeles. Zárate became a world Bantamweight champion by knocking his countryman out in the eighth round. Zárate next won two fights by a knockout in the second and then defended it against Paul Ferreri, who lost by knockout in 12 in Los Angeles too. He finished '76 with a four round knockout over Waruinge Nakayama in a title defense held at Culiacán.

WBA Bantamweight championship

After beginning 1977 with a third round knockout win over Colombia's Fernando Cabanela in Mexico City, Mexican boxing fans started talking about a possible unification bout between him and fellow Mexican Alfonso Zamora, the WBA's world Bantamweight champion. Nicknamed by the American boxing press as The Z Boys, the two did square off, but not before much hassle and hurdle putting by both the WBC and WBA, who wanted both boxers to pay a large amount of money before sanctioning the bout. So, the California state boxing commission decided to sanction it as a ten round, non title bout instead. Fans didn't seem to care that no world title belt would be involved that afternoon, and they packed the fight venue when Zárate and Zamora met in the LA suburb of Inglewood, California, at the Fabulous Forum on April 23 of '77. Zárate made the tactical mistake of going toe to toe with a shorter but harder hitting puncher. Zárate got tagged repeatedly and then a man wearing gray hooded sweat shirt and sweat pants entered the ring. The fight was stopped and thereafter, Zárate managed to stay away from Zamora. The fight was stopped, it took the police minutes to evict the intruder. After a first round, Zárate the better boxer, with a reach advantage stayed away and outboxed Zamora wearing him down then knocking him out in four to gain recognition by most boxing fans as the undisputed world champion of the Bantamweights. Then, he retained the WBC title with a knockout in six over Danilo Batista, and finished 1977 with a trip to Spain, where he retained the belt against challenger Juan Francisco Rodríguez, beaten in five.

In 1978, Zárate started out by meeting future world champion Alberto Dávila, whom he knocked out in eight at Los Angeles to retain his belt. Then, in April of that year, he made his first of two trips to Puerto Rico that year, to fight challenger Andrés Hernández, who lasted until the 13th. round at San Juan's Roberto Clemente coliseum.

Zárate vs. Gómez

After retaining the title against Emilio Hernandez by a knockout in four and winning a non title bout, Zárate announced he was moving up in weight and challenging the WBC Super Bantamweight champion, Wilfredo Gómez. According to many experts and the Ring Magazine book The Ring: Boxing In The 20th Century, Gómez and Zárate had the highest knockout win percentage of any two boxers paired inside a ring in history: When Gómez and Zárate met on October 28, also at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, the challenger and still world Bantamweight champion Zárate was 52-0 with 51 knockouts, while defending world Super Bantamweight champion Gómez was 21-0-1 with 21 knockouts. Zárate went to the floor four times and tasted the sour taste of defeat for the first time in his career when he was beaten by a knockout in five rounds.

Return to Bantamweight

In 1979, Zárate made what would turn out to be his last successful defense, with a third round knockout win over Mensah Kpalongo in Los Angeles. After winning a non title bout against Celso Chávez by a knockout in five in Houston, Texas, Zárate met gym-mate Lupe Pintor in Las Vegas and lost a close and controversial 15 round decision. Enraged by losing a decision he (as well as many fans) thought undeserved, he announced his retirement from boxing and vowed never to fight as a professional again.

Five year retirement

Zárate spent five years in retirement, but the temptation of the public adulation boxers receive when they become champions and the aroma of the boxing ring led him back into competition as a boxer. Despite still retaining an acceptable amount of his boxing ability, Zárate was nonetheless, a shadow of what he was before his 5-year retirement. In his return bout in 1986 against Adam García, he won a four round decision. 11 more victories in a row, all by knockout, including one over then number one world Super Bantamweight challenger Richard Savage (knocked out by Zárate in five in Mexico City), made him the WBC's number one challenger at the Super Bantamweight division once again.

And so, on October 1987, he traveled to Australia to meet the man boxing fans consider to be the greatest Australian world champion of all time: Jeff Fenech. In a fight contested for Fenech's world Super Bantamweight title, Zárate lost by a four round technical decision. After Fenech vacated the title soon after to pursue the world Featherweight crown, Zárate and countryman Daniel Zaragoza met for the vacant world championship belt, but Zárate came back on the losing end once again, being knocked out in the tenth round and finally announcing his retirement for good.

During the 1990s he also became a member of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame, and recently, he and Wilfredo Gómez met at a boxing undercard in Puerto Rico to commemorate the 25th anniversary of their boxing bout.

He had a record of 66 wins and 4 losses as a professional boxer, with 63 wins by knockout.

Carlos Zárate was voted as the Greatest Bantamweight Ever in 2014 by the Houston Boxing Hall Of Fame. The HBHOF is a voting body composed entirely of current and former fighters.

Professional Record

66 Wins (63 knockouts, 3 decisions), 4 Losses, 0 Draws
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	66-4	Daniel Zaragoza	TKO	10	1988-02-29	Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Loss	66-3	Jeff Fenech	TD	4	1987-10-16	Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Win	66-2	Richard Savage	TKO	5	1987-08-15	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	65-2	Tony Montoya	TKO	3	1987-06-19	Civic Auditorium, San Jose, California, United States
Win	64-2	John Boyd	TKO	5	1987-05-05	Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, United States
Win	63-2	Francis Childs	KO	4	1987-02-20	Civic Auditorium, San Jose, California, United States
Win	62-2	Alex Galván	TKO	7	1986-12-13	Convention Center, Fresno, California, United States
Win	61-2	Edward Rodriquez	TKO	3	1986-11-21	Civic Auditorium, San Jose, California, United States
Win	60-2	Gerardo Esparza	KO	5	1986-09-13	Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Win	59-2	Alejandro García	KO	2	1986-07-19	Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico
Win	58-2	Jesus Muñiz	UD	10	1986-05-23	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	57-2	Héctor Nápoles	KO	2	1986-05-05	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	56-2	Jose de la Dora	KO	3	1986-04-12	Zacapu, Michoacán, Mexico
Win	55-2	Adam García	MD	4	1986-02-25	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Loss	54-2	Lupe Pintor	SD	15	1979-06-03	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	54-1	Celso Chairez	TKO	5	1979-05-01	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, United States
Win	53-1	John Mensah Kpalongo	KO	3	1979-03-10	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Loss	52-1	Wilfredo Gómez	TKO	5	1978-10-28	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
Win	52-0	Rudy González	TKO	4	1978-09-30	Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Win	51-0	Emilio Hernández	KO	4	1978-06-09	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	50-0	Andrés Hernández	TKO	13	1978-04-22	Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Win	49-0	Alberto Dávila	TKO	8	1978-02-25	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Win	48-0	Juan Francisco Rodríguez	TKO	5	1977-12-02	Palacio de los Deportes, Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain
Win	47-0	Danilo Batista	KO	6	1977-10-29	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Win	46-0	Alfonso Zamora	TKO	4	1977-04-23	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Win	45-0	Fernando Cabanela	TKO	3	1977-02-05	Toreo de Cuatro Caminos, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	44-0	Waruinge Nakayama	KO	4	1976-11-13	Estadio General Angel Flores, Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico
Win	43-0	Paul Ferreri	TKO	12	1976-08-28	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Win	42-0	Antonio Paredes	TKO	2	1976-08-02	Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico
Win	41-0	Félix Llanos	KO	2	1976-06-26	Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
Win	40-0	Rodolfo Martínez	KO	9	1976-05-08	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Win	39-0	César Deciga	TKO	4	1976-03-27	Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Win	38-0	Néstor Jiménez	KO	2	1975-12-07	Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
Win	37-0	Jorge Torres	TKO	8	1975-10-11	Auditorio Benito Juarez, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Win	36-0	Benicio Segundo Sosa	TKO	4	1975-09-20	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Win	35-0	José Sánchez	TKO	3	1975-08-16	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	34-0	Orlando Amores	KO	3	1975-06-20	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Win	33-0	Joe Guevara	RTD	3	1975-03-14	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Win	32-0	Alberto Cabanig	TKO	4	1975-02-04	Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Win	31-0	James Martinez	TKO	7	1974-11-23	Forum, Inglewood, California, United States
Win	30-0	Francisco Cruz	TKO	2	1974-10-27	Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
Win	29-0	Magallo Lozada	TKO	5	1974-08-03	Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	28-0	Juan Ordoñez	KO	3	1974-05-25	Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	27-0	Chamaco Limón	KO	3	1974-05-03	Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Win	26-0	Alfonso Ibarra	KO	2	1974-04-09	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win	25-0	Carlos Armenta	KO	1	1974-02-22	Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Win	24-0	Víctor Ramírez	UD	10	1974-01-30	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	23-0	Sixto Pérez	KO	2	1973-12-11	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win	22-0	Eduardo Miranda	KO	5	1973-11-01	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win	21-0	Antonio Castañeda	TKO	9	1973-10-02	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win	20-0	Alberto Torres	TKO	5	1973-08-21	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win	19-0	Francisco Pino	KO	2	1973-07-12	Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
Win	18-0	Juan Ramón Pérez	KO	2	1973-06-02	La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Win	17-0	Juan Ramón Pérez	KO	2	1972-12-03	La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Win	16-0	Armando Carrasco	KO	2	1972-10-31	Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
Win	15-0	Arturo Patiño	KO	2	1972-10-08	Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Win	14-0	Jesús Escobedo	KO	2	1972-08-19	Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Win	13-0	José Luis Morales	TKO	2	1972-03-19	Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win	12-0	José González	KO	2	1972-02-07	Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Win	11-0	Emiliano Mayoral	TKO	3	1972-01-28	Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
Win	10-0	Victor Nava	KO	3	1971-11-26	Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
Win	9-0	Julio Martínez	KO	2	1971-08-07	Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
Win	8-0	Ramón Pinedo	KO	2	1971-05-05	Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
Win	7-0	Fermín Ramos	KO	2	1971-03-20	Toluca, Mexico State, Mexico
Win	6-0	Antonio Lucas	KO	3	1971-02-15	Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
Win	5-0	Alfredo Pérez	KO	2	1970-12-18	Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
Win	4-0	Nuno Temix	TKO	3	1970-11-17	Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
Win	3-0	Costeñito Sotelo	KO	2	1970-04-01	Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
Win	2-0	José Pavón	KO	1	1970-03-02	Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
Win	1-0	Luis Castañeda	KO	3	1970-02-02	Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

[ Source: Wikipedia ]